Lugano, Locarno and Orta San Guilio

Lugano, Locarno and Orta San Guilio

Courtesy of Google Maps

We had a long day ahead of us as we clambered onto our coach for a two hour trip to Lake Lugano and the town of Lugano, the capital of the Swiss Riviera. There was some doubt as we set out as to whether we actually get into Lugano as there was an annual Harley Davidson rally on this weekend and the streets could have been blocked off.  We were fortunate that we were able to get quite close into the town centre where we were to have lunch. 

At the Swiss border, our driver had to pay a road tax of about €50.  Fortunately, the Swiss Customs were not interested in a bus load of Australian tourists.  An important consideration each day is finding a public toilet in Italy and Switzerland.  We got around this today by locating a department store which had a restaurant, and also a toilet.

Lugano is a typical Swiss organised, tidy and expensive town with a nice waterfront mixed with some older buildings of character. 

Lugano

The road to Locarno was predominantly via motorway with substantial tunnel and viaduct. Locarno had some similarities to Lugarno but was probably more attractive and cheaper. We discovered a refreshing non-alcoholic refreshing drink called ‘Rivella’. It has been very hot and keeping hydrated with questionable water quality in some towns, is not that easy. Fortunately, the driver has a supply of cooled water bottles for €1. One of the tricky aspects with the two Swiss towns was the use of Swiss Francs. We had some left over from our earlier stint in Switzerland but ended up using some euros but receiving change on Swiss Francs. Before we left we only had a small amount of small change left over.

Locarno

The drive south from Locarno was along tight twisting road cut into the mountains abutting the western edge of Lake Maggiore. The scenery was impressive as Italians have imposed human occupation and infrastructure into a constrained environment. This results in extensive use of tunnels and bridges and abutments hanging off the sides of the mountains. At times the road narrows to one lane and on several occasions our bus and opposing trucks or buses had to negotiate for space.

The road to Orta San Giulio

Our destination was the small town of Orta San Giulio, beside Lake Orta, a lake with clean spring-fed water from below the mountains. This is a part of the Italian Lakes that the tourists as yet don’t know about, so I hesitate to write about it.  On the above map, it is below Omegna, about half way down the eastern side of Lake Orta.  The group caught a water-taxi to Isola San Guilio, a small island in the lake where a Basilica dedicated to Saint Guilio is found.  The chapel has some amazing frescoes, and the body of San Guilio of Navarra, encased in an impressive silver and glass casket, lies in the crypt. He was the local patron saint.  It is an unusual island, now a Benedictine Abbey, quiet, aged and peaceful, and we paid a respectful visit.

Isola San Giulio

Back at Orta, we relaxed and strolled through the quiet, cobbled streets and explored the quaint little shops.  There was a very impressive art gallery and lots of cultural events happening.  

The sound of a piano being played skillfully, drew us into a small café.  The menu was in Italian, but the waiter was able to interpret for us and some friends.  We had great food and great service.  A dessert of strawberry cheesecake, unlike any he had had before was a delight for Doug, and their apple cake was excellent.  The waterfront was a lovely area to chill as the sun set over the lake.