Excursions around Lake Lugano for a day trip from Zurich/Lucerne

  • swiss>3
    Participant
    5 posts
    3 May 2024 at 21:41:10 #1494382

    My husband and I are planning a day trip from Zurich/Lucerne to Lake Lugano on 5/19 or 5/20, which is a holiday so not sure if is it a good idea to visit Lake Lugano on a holiday or if should we switch to non-holiday day?

    Looking for recommended things to do and restaurants in Lake Lugano on a day trip.

  • Alpenrose555
    Participant
    398 posts
    4 May 2024 at 4:39:48 #1494386

    Hi swiss>3, and welcome to MySwissAlps!

    That’s quite a long way to go for a day trip – a minimum of 2 hrs 43 min from Zürich or 2 hrs 30 from Luzern.

    Tourist attractions won’t be affected by the public holiday, but shops, offices etc will be closed. Shops in railway stations generally remain open.

    You can find information about what to do in Lugano here:

    https://www.myswissalps.com/town/lugano/

    To make the best use of your time, you might prefer to eat at restaurants you come across in the course of your sightseeing, rather than picking one that you have to go out of your way for.

    However, I will mention a lovely traditional grotto restaurant in a remote lakeside setting on the far side of Lake Lugano: the Grotto dei Pescatori. It’s only accessible by boat, and boats are not frequent, so it might not suit you timewise.

    https://www.grottodeipescatori.ch/

    You can check the boat times in the SBB timetable. The stops you want for planning are Lugano Centrale (lago) and Grotto Pescatori (lago).

    Make sure not to miss the last boat back to Lugano!

    The SBB timetable is here:

    https://www.sbb.ch/en

    Help with how to use it is here:

    https://www.myswissalps.com/travel/public-transport/timetable/

    Hope this helps!

    Alpenrose

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    swiss>3
    Participant
    5 posts
    4 May 2024 at 19:55:45 #1496862

    Thanks a lot

     

    Yolanda
    Moderator
    2486 posts
    5 May 2024 at 20:39:54 #1497276

    Hi swiss>3,

    I think an early start would be advisable if you are planning to visit the Lake Lugano area from either Zurich or Lucerne.  That way you can make the most of the day.

    Do use the Swiss timetable that Alpenrose provided, you can plan and gauge journey times to see what is doable for yourself and your husband.

    Kind regards,

    Yolanda

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