In the resort town of Lugano, tucked away in the southeast corner of Switzerland, locals speak Italian. Sprawling luxuriously along the shores of Lake Lugano, the Swiss town has a splashy, zesty, Mediterranean ambience. The nearest major airport is actually in Milan, Italy.
Lugano attracts vacationers from rainy northern Europe with its sunshine, inviting lake and nonstop shopping. While many travelers come here for the fancy boutiques, others come to wander the lakeside promenade, cruise Lake Lugano, hike from village to village, or zip up the funicular to nearby San Salvatore for a mountaintop view.
The town lies conveniently at the intersection of two of Switzerland’s more scenic train rides: the William Tell Express (from Luzern) and the Bernina Express (to Chur). Blitz sightseers arrive in Lugano on the William Tell one day and depart on the Bernina Express the next.
Lugano’s history is tied to its strategic position: it lies where the Italian world is pressed up against the Alps, and just below the most convenient alpine passes. In 1220, the first road over Gotthard Pass was built. Given this easy access, the Swiss took an interest in acquiring the Italian-speaking region of Ticino, which includes the towns of Bellinzona and Lugano. Bellinzona is named not for the Italian bella (“beautiful”), but for the Latin bellum (“war”) – and this truly was a medieval war zone. Over the centuries, the Ticino region saw many conflicts, including a feisty 1798 fight with Napoleon for independence, which they eventually won.
But the people of Ticino were unable to rule themselves peacefully, and five years later (in 1803), they decided to join Switzerland’s Confederation Helvetica. (The oval “CH” decal on the back of Swiss cars doesn’t stand for chocolate.) With that event, the present-day borders of Switzerland were finally established.
In the late 1800s, Lugano provided a refuge and staging ground for intellectual Italian revolutionaries planning the Risorgimento, the struggle for Italian unification. The revolutionaries chose Lugano because it was Italian-speaking and just a short trip from Milan, yet safely over the border in Switzerland.
Later on, tourism came to Lugano, and the grand lakefront hotels were built, along with more affordable accommodations. (I like Hotel San Carlo, at sancarlo@ticino.com.)
To get a sense of Lugano’s glory days, have coffee and cake at Grand Cafe al Porto, the most historic cafe in town. The “1803” above the fireplace is the date it opened, and also when Ticino became part of Switzerland. The cafe was once a convent, then a refuge for Italian revolutionaries, and later the site of a WWII meeting in which key representatives met to prevent the Germans from ruining Italy with a scorched-earth retreat. In more carefree times, this is where Clark Gable and Sofia Loren dipped cookies in their coffee.
The main square, Piazza della Riforma, is the town’s living room. Lugano is proudly liberal even today, as the name of the square implies. With geraniums cascading on all sides, the square hosts an open-air cinema, colorful festivals and twice-weekly markets.
Lugano’s lush city park, bordering the lake and housing a city museum, is filled with modern art, exotic trees from around the world and flower beds that show off maximum color year-round. The park is lit at night, and is particularly good for a late, romantic stroll.
Today, Lugano is second only to Zurich among Swiss cities in the number of banks. It’s easy for Italians and others with suitcases of hard cash to swing by and take advantage of the secret bank accounts. But despite the Swiss secrecy, the mentality here remains Italian. Rather than the Zurich model, where people “live to work,” the people of Lugano brag that they “work to live.”
Rick Steves of Edmonds (425-771-8303, www.ricksteves.com) is the author of 30 European travel guidebooks, including “Europe Through the Back Door.” He hosts a public radio show, “Travel with Rick Steves” (Saturdays at 2 p.m. on KUOW 94.9 FM) and the public television series “Rick Steves’ Europe” on KCTS, airing at 7 p.m. This week’s schedule:
Monday: Caesar’s Rome
Tuesday: Germany’s Black Forest and Cologne Wednesday: Scotland’s Islands and Highlands
Thursday: Surprising Bulgaria
Friday: Rome: Baroque, After Dark
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