Bellinzona is the capital of the Ticino canton, located in Southern Switzerland and bordering Italy. Most famous for its 3 medieval castles, the town was previously under Italian rule and the castles built as fortification against the threat of Swiss invasion.
These castles and fortifications have existed in some form from well before the 13th century, with all 3 castles having been completed between the 14th and 16th century. It is also, rather helpfully, easily covered in a day.
Logistics
Bellinzona is accessible by road and rail with fast trains from Zurich covering the journey in just under 2 hours. Discounts are also easily available for this route for advance bookings. The journey by road can get unpredictable, especially with traffic through the notorious Gotthard tunnel and so the efficient Swiss trains remain the best bet.
Most overnight accommodation in Bellinzona comes with the Bellinzona Pass, which offers free entry to the castles and the civic museum. We stayed at the Hotel Unione in Bellinzona, about a 5-10 min walk from the main train station. While it wasn't necessarily the most luxurious, it did come with this view...
The Castles
Of Bellinzona's 3 castles, Castelgrande is located in the town and accessible by foot or by taking an elevator up to the castle. Montebello and Sasso Corbaro are located further up the hill and can be reached by foot (for the adventurous) or by public transport buses or by a toy train that runs between Bellinzona town and the Montebello and Sasso Corbaro castles.
Rather than start with the castle in town, we decided to start with the highest castle so that at the end of the day, we'd be closer to home and to restaurants and food.
A few meters away from the Unione Hotel, we took the SwissPost Auto Bus #5 going towards Bellinzona Ospedale and got down 5-stops-later at Bellinzona, Nocca. A short walk away from there is Sasso Corbaro.
Sasso Corbaro, meaning dark as a Crow's Feathers and named for the rock on which it stands, was built in the 15th Century.
From Sasso Corbaro, we took the little toy train through a picturesque route to the middle castle of Montebello. Montebello castle is where you will find the starting point of the stone walls (sections of which date back to the 13th century) that previously ran along down to the Castelgrande castle and enclosed the old city.
The courtyard and towers were built between the 14th and 15th centuries with further revisions and their current appearance based on construction done in the 15th century.
The castle has big grassy areas within for picnicking or just running around. We may have done a bit of both.
Montebello also has stairs and ramps that allow long walks along the ramparts and turrets with great views.
Feeling perhaps emboldened (at first) or needlessly adventurous (15 minutes walk later), we walked about a kilometre down from Montebello into Bellinzona for lunch and a break before the final castle stop for the day.
Bellinzona on a sunny Saturday feels like a time machine ride back into the past. Things are slower and quieter despite the restaurants and shops that line the streets. There are brass bands playing in the square, temporary stalls selling bric-a-brac and knick-knacks, cobbled streets winding past ornate doorways and an overarching sense of calm that, at least in my imagination, is from the 70s and 80s.
Right in the middle of the old town and accessible by a short elevator ride up the San Michele hill is the Castelgrande castle.
It is believed that the first settlement on the hill dates back to 5500 B.C. and the earliest fortification from the 4th century A.D. The first documented "castle" is from the 14th century.
Today's castle complex has parts constructed from various periods, from the 14th century and from rebuilds and reconstruction in the 17th, 19th and 20th centuries.
The castle complex has scalable ramparts, though with not-very-high walls (uh-oh), stairs that can take you up the tower and visit the museum (if you buy a ticket).
Excitingly, for me, the towers are called the White Tower and the Black Tower, which conjures Lord of the Rings images.
However, the castle complex also has wide expanses of soft green very-roll-able-in grass that we thoroughly tested.
Bellinzona is a truly pleasant diversion, away from the busy civilization of Zurich. It is perfect for a weekend trip and in Ed Sheeran's words, "it's real, we watched the sunset over the castle on the hill."
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