[Anonymous]

23 July 2019 at 16:00:13 #823019

Hi all,

I’ve been off the forum for a couple months as I was on a camping trip around Southern Europe.

On my return to Berlin my wife and I of course swung through Switzerland and stopped in our favourite area – Lake Lugano and of course a stop in Zurich where we used to live.

We camped on Lake Lugano but on the Italian side for 3 nights and then drove to Zurich via the Gotthard Pass, Furka Pass and Grimsel Pass (in a strained Toyota Yaris). These passes join together quite nicely and made a great road trip from Lugano to Zurich (about 6 hours with stops for photos).

See photos attached of Lake Lugano and the mountain passes. I’ll add another post below for Zurich.

If you have any questions please let me know!

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[User]

Reply 1 of 11 • 23 July 2019 at 16:07:06 #918502

Here are some pics of downtown Zurich.

We stayed at a campground on the lake – Fischers Fritz Camping in Wollishofen, lake front about 15 minuted by bus to Paradeplatz.

I included a pic of my favourite restaurant Frau Gerolds as well. In the summer its basically a beer garden with self-serve food/drinks and in the winter they set up a tent for Fondue!

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[Arno]

Reply 2 of 11 • 24 July 2019 at 5:45:22 #918503

Hey Luke, thanks for your report! Magnificent pictures as always! The Belvedere hotel on the Furka pass is still a spooky place I see 🙂 From which location did you take the image “Lake Lugano and Lugano”?

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[User]

Reply 3 of 11 • 24 July 2019 at 7:12:19 #918504

Hi Arno!

The lookout is called the Balcone D’ Italia. It straddles the Italian and Swiss border. The top peak is Italian and about 20 meters down the mountain is another platform (a cable car station that was never finished) for viewing that is Swiss.

I had low clouds but there can be great views of Monte Rosa etc as well. It was a great drive up as well from Porlezza where we stayed on the Lake.

We also visited Gandria where we picked up some Boccolino wine cups. That is a great village to visit and the Olive trail from there to Lugano is a great walk.

I only had my cell phone in Gandria but here’s a pic from where we bought the wine cups: La Bottega di Gandria. It is a bar and a shop for local crafts (very small). It is associated with Tourism Lugano (it has a small tourist info point and is right next to the ferry dock).

I actually sent an Instagram message to Tourism Lugano to ask if they knew some shops where I could buy those wine cups and they replied with this Bottega within 15 minutes – great customer service.

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[Arno]

Reply 4 of 11 • 24 July 2019 at 11:00:13 #918505

Hi Luke,

That’s interesting! A spot I was completely unaware of I must admit. Here’s a link to the location for anyone interested: map.search.ch/?pos=720496,91885&z=102 4.

Gandria is wonderful indeed. Almost like a fairy tail village.

[User]

Reply 5 of 11 • 24 July 2019 at 11:37:16 #918506

Yes, new to me too. The campsite in Porlezza had a brochure on things to do nearby and it was listed there. About a 30 minute drive from the town.

[rockoyster]

Reply 6 of 11 • 25 July 2019 at 6:34:21 #918507

Hi Lucas,

Great photos. I particularly like the Furka Pass one. Oh to be able to ride a motor bike up there!

Thanks for sharing.

[Annika]

Reply 7 of 11 • 25 July 2019 at 7:17:56 #918508

Hi Luke! Nice to see you back here, answering questions and reporting about your own recent trip :-)! I can imagine you enjoyed visiting your former home country. I love your pictures, thanks for sharing them!

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I can personally help you plan your Switzerland trip. View the options

[User]

Reply 8 of 11 • 8 September 2019 at 21:56:30 #918509

Hi Luke,

Good to see you back and as ever writing an interesting and useful report.

Maggie

[User]

Reply 9 of 11 • 9 September 2019 at 6:07:01 #918510

Hi Luke,

Thanks for that report! Lovely pictures and also lovely to see, that you haven’t stepped out from travelling.. 😉

Enjoy, be good and kind regards,
Steph 🙂

[User]

Reply 10 of 11 • 25 September 2019 at 16:17:36 #918511

We will fly into Zurich and would like to see a little bit of Zurich before we go south to Thun where we are staying for the night. Can anyone suggest a must see in Zurich?

[User]

Reply 11 of 11 • 25 September 2019 at 19:40:36 #918512

Hi SusieQ and welcome to MySwissAlps,

you’ll find great tips about what to do and see in Zurich at http://www.myswissalps.com/zu rich/activities, same for Thun at http://www.myswissalps.com/th un/activities.

Also I would like to ask you, please next time start a new thread as your question isn’t connecting to Luke’s original post. See please the forum rules at http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/rules Thank you!