Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GROTTO CASTELGRANDE $$
( 091 814 87 87; Salita al Castelgrande; mains Sfr27-32; lunch & dinner Tue-Sun)
For the best
view of Bellinzona's castles illuminated, book a table on the vine-strewn terrace of this at-
mospheric vaulted cellar. Dishes like potato gnocchi with Ticino sausage and wild fennel
strike a perfect balance.
| Italian
Information
Tourist office
( 091 825 21 31;
www.bellinzonaturismo.ch
;
Piazza Nosetto; 9am-6.30pm Mon-Fri, to
noon Sat)
In the restored Renaissance Palazzo del Comune (town hall). Has city audioguides (Sfr7).
Getting There & Away
Bellinzona is on the train route connecting Locarno (Sfr8.40, 27 minutes) and Lugano
(Sfr12.20, 30 minutes). It is also on the Zürich-Milan route. Up to six postal buses head
northeast to Chur (Sfr49, 2¼ hours), departing from beside the train station.
Lugano
POP 55,100 / ELEV 270M
Ticino's lush, mountain-rimmed lake isn't its only liquid asset. The largest city in the can-
ton is also the country's third most important banking centre. Suits aside, Lugano is a vi-
vacious city, with chic boutiques, bars and pavement cafes huddling in the spaghetti maze
of steep cobblestone streets that untangle at the edge of the lake and along the flowery
promenade.
Sights
Take the stairs or the funicular (Sfr1.10, open 5.20am to 11.50pm) down to the centre, a
patchwork of interlocking
piazze
. Porticoed lanes weave around the busy main square,
Piazza della Riforma, which is presided over by the 1844 neoclassical Municipio (town
hall) and is even more lively when the Tuesday and Friday morning markets are held.
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