A Day in Locarno



Travel Date: August 2017



With Bellinzona in our rear view, we took a 27-minute train journey, left our luggage at the lockers in the station and headed into the town of Locarno.
Located on the shores of Lake Maggiore, Locarno is first mentioned in historic texts from the year 807 A.D. Today, though, it is most famous for the Locarno film festival that takes place in August every year and transforms the town's main square into a cobble-stoned open-air cinema theater.

Locarno has plenty to offer, even for those not attracted to tinsel and the silver screen. It has a vibrant and character-filled old town, a wonderful waterfront promenade, funiculars and cable cars that head up mountains with spectacular views, churches built on a rock face and so much more...

Here are just some of the things that can be done on a day in Locarno.

Take the historic FLMS funicolare to Madonna del Sasso church

Built in the early 1900s, the roughly-800m long funicular FLMS (Funicolare Locarno Madonna del Sasso) railway takes visitors up 200 meters, to the little town of Orselina and the religious and historical church of Sacred Mount Madonna del Sasso.

 

Walking distance from the train session, the funicular has departures every 15 minutes and CHF 7.60 gets an adult return ticket.

The Madonna del Sasso is a sanctuary and pilgrimage church built in the late 15th Century and as the traditional story states, built because Brother Bartolomeo had an apparition of Virgin Mary with Infant on this hill. In the following years, the idea of a Sacro Monte, or a sacred mountain with a series of connected churches built into a natural environment, became popular, leading to the construction of the church.
The church stands on a square with terrific views over Locarno. Inside the church are stucco, frescoes, oil painted canvases and a preserved wooden sculpture of the Madonna from the 1400s.

 


 



Take the Cardara Cimetta cable car for the best Locarno views

The Cardada Landscape promontory is a circular 360-degree viewing platform accessed by a gangway that runs through the trees of the forest. It is said to be a location from where the lowest point of Switzerland (in Lake Maggiore) and its highest point (Dufour Peak) is visible.



 




Accessed by the Cardada cable car, which begins from near the Madonna del Sasso. At a discounted CHF 14 for a return ticket for adults and free for kids with a youth travel card, apart from the view, it also provides the great hidden pleasure of a spectacularly well-maintained and well-thought out children's play area.

 

Apart from the usual swings and slides, the play area contains a sensory walk and an activity center shaped like a ship.

 



Visit the parks by the lake promenade

Around the lake promenade in Locarno are large public swimming pools but also several wonderful public parks, one of which, called the Parco giochi al Burbaglio, we visited post-lunch for some ice-cream and lazing around (for the adults) and some jumping around for the kids.

 

 


Piazza Grande and the Citta Vecchia (Old Town)

Piazza Grande is the main cobble-stoned square of Locarno where many nightly public cinema screenings are held during the film festival. With over 8000 viewers per night, the audience here also forms the largest film jury of any festival, voting for the 'Prix du Public' award.

 


Off the main square are the narrow streets of old town. Walking along its streets, undisturbed and with no vehicular traffic anywhere in sight, we could see reminders of Locarno's ancient history with its small churches and arched or sculpted doorways.


 

There is something to be said about Old Towns. Apart from the fact that it has the potential to lead to income through tourism, it shows an appreciation for history and the past and a recognition that there is value in remembering what happened before.

In general though, everywhere we went in Ticino, we experienced the same old town vibe. Things were slower, quieter, more peaceful, dare I say better, even in a town with an upcoming glitzy film festival.
On a perfect weekend with blue skies, some puffy clouds and the right amount of sun, there were times where it felt like there is no better place to be.

If you have a long weekend coming up and are looking for a place not to far away from Zurich, the small towns in Ticino definitely hit the spot.




















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