Ascona to Vevey-13 nights in Switzerland
 

Airline passengers should rise up in revolt against too tight coach conditions. We were squished on our AA flight from JFK to Zurich- so uncomfortable that sleeping was difficult. On the return we had a few more inches of leg room.

Flying into Switzerland was exciting- so beautiful from the air- green and lush, rolling hills dotted with lakes. Zurich was also beautiful from above- I’ve never flown into a city that looked so clean and fresh with little or no industrial sections. Thank you to all the Fodorites who gave so much helpful advice- we felt well prepared for our Swiss adventure.

Zurich Airport was new and very attractive but sweltering- there was no a/c!! Can this be?

What Swiss People Look Like and How They Dress: our first encounter was at the Zurich airport- they looked like white Midwestern Americans and clothing styles were similar to Omaha.
I had imagined the Swiss to be blonde, blue eyed Heidis or Scandinavian types but we saw relatively few blondes in Switzerland. And as you would expect in the Italian and French parts they looked more like Italians or French. There were very few minorities- occasionally we saw some Swiss of Asian or African descent.

Attire: I can see why LLindaC feels comfortable bringing only hiking clothes on vacation. You really can relax in Switzerland and not worry about dressing up. The country seems to be full of avid hikers and in the summer heat, dress was very comfortable and casual.

Our first stop was the Ticino region near the Italian border on Lake Maggiore.

I’ve posted a review on tripadvisor of the four hotels we stayed at. Because of the heat and humidity in mid June, we cut our stay in Ascona at Hotel Castello Seeschloss to three nights from four. My attempts at booking hotels with airconditioning didn’t really pan out since standards for air conditioning are apparently very different in Switzerland.
Someone told us that in Zurich there is a limit on the number of bldgs that can be air-conditioned- is that true?

I just saw the documentary on Al Gore and his environmental crusade, "An Inconvenient Truth." The US needs to enact similar restrictions but then we'd have to move to San Francisco since we live in the hot and steamy South-couldn't stand it without a/c.

How we'd rank our Ticino favorites:
#1 The tiny village of Rasa in the Centovalli. Thank you Catbert, Ingo and Grasshopper for recommending it-we had a magical afternoon here.
The train ride into the valley was spectacular and refreshingly cool. We got off at the village of Verdasio and took a gondola across the gorge to Rasa.
A helicopter was collecting buckets of water from a lake and dumping it onto a fire on a steep slope across the valley from Rasa. This was entertaining to watch and we met some nice German tourists.
Afterward we had lunch in the only café in Rasa- a little shack/lean-to (is this what you call a grotto?)- the food was simple but so delicious.
We encountered few Americans or British tourists anywhere in the Ticino.
The Swiss and German tourists eating at the Rasa café tried to assist us in our comical attempts at interpreting the menu. We ended up making friends with the other customers and were given a great send-off by a harmonica playing Swiss tourist.

My husband wanted to change careers, become a stone-cutter and make those Ticino roofs!

Unfortunately the wood-fired bakery in Rasa was closed the day of our visit but we admired their perfect stacks of firewood.
We were in awe of the perfection of Switzerland- even the weeds are aesthetically pleasing. Where do people put their garbage? You walk around the houses/gardens and they are perfect from all angles- no junk in back yards or corners.
We wanted to buy a house in Rasa and live there every summer or forever.

Catbert, we were advised by our hotel not to consider the bike trip you suggested- two people told us it was dangerous and hair raising. From the train we could see the road at times and had to agree with their assessment but if you are a very fit and experienced rider, it could be done. Perhaps if you had inquired at our hotel, instead of us, the answer would've been different :)

#2 Flying into the Lugano airport on a prop plane. Spectacular and not scary but thank God the pilot had clear weather conditions. He set down hard- almost like landing on a naval carrier because the runway is ringed with mtns.

# 3 Ferry ride on the lake with stops at little villages- nice breezes and beautiful views. The Brissago botanical gardens were nice.

# 4 Drive into the Verzasca valley

Scenic drive along Lake Lugano with stops in Gandria and Lake Como- thanks Ingo and Schuler!

#5 The food- all of our meals in the Ticino were delicious- even at casual road side cafes- no gourmet restaurant research needed.

Ascona is a beautiful, semi tropical (?) city with palm trees and would be great in the off season but it was a little too busy and warm for our taste in the summer.
The lake promenade where our hotel was located was very crowded with tourists- Locarno was even busier with very dense development- we were glad not to be staying there. Ascona was an ideal base, however, for our day trips.
If we were to go again in the summer we would try to stay at a cooler, higher elevation even if inconveniently located. The Ticino countryside was beautiful and definitely one of the highlights of our entire trip.

Madonna del Sasso in Locarno didn’t do a thing for us perhaps because we visited it at the end of a long and sweaty day.
I liked the little church in the Verzasca valley much better. LOL Fodorites who love it- don’t hate me. We got to see the same lake views on a drive up into the hills. One of my peak European experiences ever was the Strasburg, France cathedral at night so it’s not that I dislike big churches…

Lake Maggiore, Lugano and Como were all beautiful and a little hazy during our visit-hard to say which is the prettiest. The gorgeous blue lake colors and lush greenery reminded me of Caribbean volcanic peaks.
Gandria was particularly spectacular- the lake views were ravishing. I’d like to see Morcote on a future visit. Parts of the town of Lugano were lovely- the Hotel Villa Castagnola, located across the street from the lake, looked very appealing.

I’ve made lots of references to the heat-yes, we were HOT! But we were also fortunate to have sunny weather every day of our trip and we met many warm and friendly people in the Ticino. Next, scenic drive to the Engadine and Sils-Maria.

Hi calville,

Thanks so much for posting your report! I can't wait to hear the rest, esp. Lac Leman!

s

Thanks for your report, I'm sure it will be a great help for our September trip (B/O, Locarno, Clarmont and Vevey). Unfortuntately, for us, we're flying AA, JFK to Zurich too.

Thank you Swandav- I've been looking for your report- apparently you didn't write one after your latest trip?
I thought about you on ours- we want to get to Gstaad and Chateau-D Oex the next time.

Mvor-we tried to upgrade with $ and FF miles but alas no availability. I've been reading other Fodor postings- when it comes to coach seating on transcontinental flights, all airlines sound bad. If you aren't squished, you'll be delayed or both. That's why I say the customers need to stage a revolt.

Hi Calville, we fly Delta a couple of times a year to Europe so we're used to revolting! I'm looking forward to your next installment. I really need to post our itinerary for the Swiss gurus to review~

Hi calville,

Nah, I didn't do one after Sep 05. It was so much the same: today I went to the lake and gazed; today I went to the lake and gazed; today I . . . !!! I stayed in Villeneuve, though, and fell in love with it. I'm going to try to find a little apartment there to stay in next summer.

I may have posted something on a blog for friends to look at -- if you're super interested, I can try to find it -- ??

Hey! Get back to writing!!

(thanks!)

s

cmon cmon cmon...btw we used Holiday Inn points for 3 free nights in Lugano. Maybe nothing charming about it but it had A/C!!!! AND a pool and after 93 degree weather, what a delight. Now hurry up and post the rest!

Another addict waiting. Surely it must have been cooler in the Engadine? J.

I'm amazed that you were warned against the bike ride. It's completely downhill and very easy. It wasn't so steep or curvy to ever be frightening. I've done a lot of cycling, but I wouldn't hesitate to take a beginner on the ride.

Mvor-I thought Air France and Delta was the way to go after reading a recent Wendy Perrin article in Conde Nast Traveler mag on foreign airlines being more comfortable on transcontinental flights. Then I started reading bad experiences on fodors...
British Air had lots of delays and caused problems for us on the return...AA gave out wrong info..
Flying these days sure is an uncomfortable hassle.

Linda- I'm very impressed about your a/c at the Holiday Inn in Lugano. Was it a typical US motel type unit and was it really effective? Just like the US -you could get the room really cool? What were the bed linens like? European all cotton or typical American poly/cotton sheets?

Thanks everyone for your interest in my report- I'll try to get the next installment done in the next few days.

calville...honestly I don't remember the linens- I guess it was basic hotel and just okay.The hotel was in a great location and very nice. We did have a thermostat on the wall. It wasn't cold like we can manage in the US- ya know 68, but about 72, which felt amazing at that point. We were in major altitude the next 3 days, but when we got to Montreux and Geneva, it was suffering. My question is, why can't they at least provide a room fan?

Linda- I wondered about fans myself- why don't they have ceiling fans in all the hotels if they don't have a/c?
The heat and humidity levels at both Lake Maggiore and Lake Geneva were shocking. Maggiore of course was a little worse.
In Wengen at the end of June, we met a couple from Phoenix who had been traveling throughout Switzerland for a month. They claimed their hottest city was Chur and they got so desperate they went to a Co-op grocery store (unairconditioned of course) and opened up freezers! By the way, their favorite town was Appenzell which we'd like to see someday.
Next time we go to Europe it will be in the very off season- possibly even winter where we can be guaranteed of cool temps. Of course for the higher elevations like the Engadine the weather was perfect.
Re: sheets- I am so impressed with the quality of European bed sheets-even modest hotels have sheets that in the US you'd only find in a few 5 star hotels!
I can't stand polyester sheets- thread count doesn't concern me as much.
Euopean cotton lingerie is also superior to American.

Catbert-I only caught quick glimpses of the road from the Centovalli train but it did look intimidating to me with no margin for error- there were no shoulders that I could see and I'd hate to lose brakes on a bike on that road.
We thought the Swiss drivers were maniacs- they barrel ahead on the twisty, narrow mountain roads with utter disregard for lanes- we narrowly missed several head on collisions in the Engadine.
We joked with our friends that perhaps the Ascona hotel clerk thought we were too old (mid 50s) and out of shape to do the bike trip so they asked a second clerk the next morning and he was also very negative about the idea. I wonder if there have been some accidents that the locals are aware of- I don't know.
But seriously, a younger, athletic looking person might have gotten an entirely different response.

The lack of a/c or ceiling fans is due to the lack of necessity in the past fifty years. Now, the climate is either in a temporary or permanent change-hot!

Two years ago, I was staying in Vevey and read that it was the hottest day in 500 years! Part of the Matterhorn fell off, that is, some ice melted unusually and some stone did fall...I made the mistake of visiting Lac Annecy in France the next day, and everyone within thirty miles was around or in the Lake.

We were going to stay at Annecy in a quaint, quiet place. Thank God we did not on that particular day...yes I will visit anytime now but summer due to the temperature rise...

Orval- wow - do you recall what the temp was in Vevey two yrs ago? I hope you were in a comfortable hotel.
We walked past Hotel Negociants several times during our June 2006 Vevey heat wave and I shuddered to think we had considered it. I can imagine it could be very cozy on a brisk fall day- snuggling under a down duvet at night etc. but in the heat and humidity of summer it might be like staying in an unventilated attic. The Negociants is located in a very tight cluster of bldgs.

The portable a/c at Trois Couronnes worked pretty well if you removed most of your clothes and positioned the blower directly on your recumbent body :)

calville, thanks for posting this trip report. I enjoyed it very much. But now ... waiting anxiously for the Engadine part!

Thank you Ingo- I'll start working on it. I'd like to hear about your weekend in S Germany. We still think Eisenberg/Zell outside of Fussen was one of the most beautiful places ever (even after seeing Switzerland). We didn't like Fussen or the castle but I was surprised when someone on fodors dismissed Eisenberg as "inexpensive farms." It was stunning in May with the wildflowers in bloom. Have you been there?
I forgot to report on male exhibitionists in Ascona and Munich (from my teenage daughter). An old geezer at our hotel in Ascona kept prancing around opening and closing his towel by the outdoor pool.
My daughter spent many afternoons sunbathing in Munich's clothing optional English Gardens. She wore her bikini but saw quite an array of male metal hardware/piercings. She was also surprised by the full frontal male nudity on billboards in downtown Munich. My husband noted the co-ed changing area at the Hotel Waldhaus pool- felt he was sneered at for keeping his swim trunks on. LOL- I think he might've kept them on in the sauna. Pretty wild stuff for Americans.

LOLOL....you can always spot the Americans!!

We followed Ingo’s advice and took the scenic route from Ascona, along Lake Lugano, across to Lake Como, along the W shore of Lake Como up to Sils-Maria.
Most sections of the drive were beautiful- thank you so much for recommending it Ingo! Although we spent less than an hour in Gandria, the views of the lake from the town are etched in my mind. An amazing maze of stairs and ancient bldgs with ravishing lake views. The peace and quiet and relative lack of development were also refreshing-only a few tourists when we visited on a Tuesday. Thank you for suggesting it Schuler! I wish we had had time for a Lake Lugano boat/ferry ride.

Because we got a late start, we had lunch in Menaggio, Italy rather than Soglio, Switzerland. Menaggio’s setting on Lake Como was very beautiful. It’s smaller than Locarno/Ascona and seemed less densely developed which made it appealing to us. Lunch was inexpensive compared to Switzerland. We wondered how the average Swiss can afford to live since even groceries are very expensive.
Menaggio’s lakeside promenade was wonderful with many large pots of flowers-overall effect very clean and perfect like Switzerland. I don’t think you could go wrong here especially in the off-season. It was too warm for us in mid June 2006.

As we continued N along Lake Como the scenery gradually became less dramatic and less impressive until we reached higher elevations and the village of Soglio.