My husband, MIL and I will be visiting Lugano next week for the day. We will have approximately nine hours. I would like to visit either Monte Bre' or Monte San Salvatore so I'd appreciate any input on which would be the best as well as the best way to access the funicular start points. I'll admit the small village of Bre' sounds intriguing. Also, anything else fellow travelers have found to be must see's or must do's in the town. And let's not forget food! Many thanks and I look forward to your input!
Posted by
near San Francisco
5364 posts
Depending on how you are traveling (train? car?) the base of the funicular is 400m from Lugano-Paradiso train station. From the top of Monte San Salvatore, there are some well-marked trails down with lovely views across the lake. One passes above the Swiss Miniature Village, which you can glimpse from the trail. We walked down to our hotel in Melide, which has some nice lakefront restaurants.
Posted by
near San Francisco
5364 posts
As you hike down Monte San Salvatore, and depending on which trail you take down, there are some small towns along the way. Heading down towards Melide, we passed through the tiny hamlet of Ciona and had a pleasant lunch (in 2012) at Grotto Osteria Ciona, which still shows on Google Maps. In the other (shorter) direction, hiking back down to Lugano-Paradiso, I see Grotto San Salvatore and Ristorante Grotto del Pep, either of which could be a pleasant lunch stop.
Posted by
near San Francisco
5364 posts
I just found my (2012) photo of the trail signs at the summit of Monte San Salvatore. Hiking times are shown as:
Towards Melide:
1h 20 min Carona
2h 10 min Melide
3h 35 min Morcote
Towards Paradiso:
1h 10 min Pazzallo
1h 35 min Paradiso
And a map shows a path called "Il Sentiero delle 6 chiese" (the path of the 6 churches) as being 2h 30 min.
Posted by
OP
South Carolina
26 posts
Thank you for all the good information! How strenuous are the paths going down the mountain? I don't know that my MIL will be up to a 2+ hour hike even going down.
Posted by
Paris
7300 posts
It's definitely a hike, the terrain is not even and the elevation difference is close to 2,000 feet. It is not physically exhausting because it is downhill (so shortness of breath etc. is not a concern) but it is strenuous, mostly on the knees.
Posted by
near San Francisco
5364 posts
Yes, agreeing with Balso, along the way I picked up a walking stick for the downhill. I don't know about the other direction, towards Paradiso. Given it's a shorter path to the same waterfront elevation, it might be steeper.
You can ride the funicular both up and down.