Italy or Switzerland?

poet123 · 13 July 2012 at 9:23AM

We have two days left at the end of an Italian Lakes holiday and we cannot decide where to spend them. We are flying home from Bergamo.

I am leaning towards Verona/Padua or Venice Lido ( we go to Venice proper quite often)

My husband quite fancies venturing into Switzerland. I have been looking at Lugano but I cannot decide.

My reservations are that we will be driving and I don't do heights well so would we have to pass through any mountainous bits to get there from Lake Como?

Other driving issues like permit for Swiss motorways?

Is there enough to do there?

So my question is can anyone help with the above or suggest any other places in the area which might be nice to stay for two nights.
We only fly home at 8pm so we will have all of the third day to get back to Bergamo.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Voyager2002 · 13 July 2012 at 10:18AM

Do you know Bergamo itself? The old town is both beautiful and interesting: truly a gem! And of course Milan is nearby.

A trip to Switzerland would also make a lot of sense:either contact a motoring organisation about the roads or else park the car and use the (excellent) trains. Be aware that the part of Switzerland closest to you is the canton called Ticino, which is Italian-speaking and in terms of history and culture more like Italy than the rest of Switzerland. It is where Swiss people go on holiday (and Germans and others from Europe) but is virtually unknown to the English, and not much English is spoken there.

Lugano and Locarno are both beautiful lake-side resorts with boat-trips and lots of attractions. Further up in the mountains, Bellinzona is a perfect medieval 'Italian' city, although you might prefer to get up there by train. Or from the lakeside you could take a bus up into really steep mountains to visit resorts like Ronco or Ascona.

poet123 · 13 July 2012 at 11:19AM

Thank you, yes, we have visited Bergamo previously and we will be going back on this trip.

Of the two Lugano or Locarno which would you say was the better spot to travel to by car?

We will use other modes of transport when we arrive wherever, but will travel there by car as we will need to return to the airport to drop it off.

My husband would love to do a fishing trip (as would my son) I haven't been able to find anything like that as yet but that would probably swing the destination choice!!

I have been looking at Ascona but then you mentioned mountains! and if that means you need to drive up them to get there that will be out!!

Any other info would be appreciated to help me make an informed choice.

Voyager2002 · 13 July 2012 at 11:30AM

I don't drive, so I'm not the best person to respond if you insist on going everywhere by car. Anyway, Lugano and Locarno are in the lowlands before the mountains, so you could get to either of them easily. From there, just leave your car parked and take the bus up into the mountains (or do you have being a passenger on mountain roads?). Tourism (lie everything else) is well-organised in Switzerland, so I'm sure that you could find fishing trips: search Google for terms like Ticino turismo and you are likely to find a tourist information office.

I just did the search: check out
http://old.ticino.ch/15/common_details.jsp?lang=en&id=96077