CONTENTS
Overview map
Map key
Introduction
History
Ticino today
Geology and landscape
Plants and flowers
Wildlife
Getting there
Local transport and driving
Information and maps
Weather and when to visit
Accommodation
Food and drink
What to take
Walking practicalities
Safety in the mountains
Using this guide
General information
Walks from Lugano
Walk 1 Lake Lugano shoreline from Paradiso to Gandria
Walk 2 Campione d’Italia to Cantine di Gandria
Walk 3 San Salvatore to Morcote
Walk 4 Monte Caslano
Walk 5 Monte San Giorgio
Walk 6 Monte Tamaro to Monte Lema
Walk 7 Monte Boglia and the Denti della Vecchia
Walk 8 Monte Bar and the Capriasca Valley
Walk 9 Cima di Medeglia and the old Military Road
Walks from Locarno
Walk 10 Along the shore of Lake Maggiore
Walk 11 Sentiero Collina Alta and Sentiero Collina Bassa
Walk 12 Cimetta to Mergoscia via Capanna dei Monti di Lego
Walk 13 The Centovalli from Camedo to Intragna
Walk 14 The Valle del Salto
Walk 15 Along the Val Lavizzara from Fusio to Bignasco
Walk 16 Capanna Cristallina from Robiei
Walk 17 Bosco Gurin to Cimalmotto
Walk 18 Sentiero per l’Arte
Walk 19 Revöira and Ca d Dént
Walk 20 Lavertezzo to the Verzasca Dam
Walks from Bellinzona and Biasca
Walk 21 Monte Carasso, Sementina and the Ponte Tibetano
Walk 22 Capanna Genzianella and Motto della Croce
Walk 23 The ‘Iron Route’ from Carena
Walk 24 Mornera and the Capanna Albagno
Walk 25 Camorino and the Hunger Towers
Walk 26 Capanna Brogoldone and the Santa Maria Monastery
Walk 27 Val Blenio Sentiero Storico
Walk 28 Val Blenio Strada Alta
Walk 29 Lukmanier Pass to Olivone via Passo di Gana Negra
Walks from Airolo
Walk 30 Sentiero Alta Val Bedretto
Walk 31 Circuit of lakes at the summit of the St Gotthard Pass
Walk 32 Sentiero Bassa Val Bedretto
Walk 33 Along the Val Torta to Capanna Cristallina
Walk 34 Nufenenpass and the Upper Val Bedretto
Walk 35 Strada Alta Valle Leventina (north side)
Walk 36 Sentiero Alta Valle Leventina (south side)
Walk 37 Circuit of Lago Ritom
Walk 38 Lago Tremorgio and Capanna Leit
Appendix A Route summary table
Appendix B Useful contacts
Appendix C Glossary of Italian words
Information and maps
Switzerland more or less invented modern tourism (in the way we would understand it today) and not surprisingly it has a very comprehensive tourist infrastructure. There are tourist offices in most large towns (often located in the railway station) where the staff will speak English and will be knowledgeable about local walks – though be warned that most tourist offices close for an hour or two for lunch and are shut on Sunday. The website of the canton’s tourism agency is also crammed full of information and recommendations (www.ticino.ch).
Tourist offices (along with bookshops, hotel receptions and the kiosks attached to railway stations) are also the best places to buy maps. As you might expect, the country is comprehensively and accurately mapped, and a fold-out printed map is vital for any walk (don’t rely on maps viewable by mobile phone, which are less versatile when viewed on a small screen, and also depend on your phone maintaining its battery charge for the whole length of the walk). The series of 1:25,000 fold-out maps with brown covers are unbeatable for their detail, though less detailed maps (with green covers) are also available at 1:50,000 scale. Both are great for hiking and both are published by the Bundesamt für Landestopografie (Swiss Federal Office of Topography or ‘Swisstopo’). Eighteen individual maps in the 1:25,000 series and eight individual maps in the 1:50,000 series cover Ticino – check carefully the area covered by each map before you buy one. In addition, there are other standalone hiking maps for individual regions within Ticino, published by independent publishers (though using Swisstopo cartographic data).
Unfortunately, all these maps are rather expensive to purchase; there seems to be no way around this, though always ask at tourist offices if they have free maps – sometimes these are too basic for hiking purposes, though on occasions the free maps offered by tourist offices can be as detailed as a purchased map, so it’s always worth asking. The best online map of Switzerland is available at www.map.geo.admin.ch/ – you can zoom in and out with ease, and the level of on-screen detail is astonishing.
Red and white track markers show walkers the way – these are on the trail through the Val di Campo on Walk 29