We will be in Switzerland in late June next year and want to end our trip in Northern Italy - hiking and sightseeing. We thought we would go to Cortina and then on to Venice for a few days. A friend just suggested Sils Maria near St. Moritz. I believe it is on the Swiss/Italian border. Does anyone have an opinion of these different areas? We only have a week so we will have to focus on one.

jane, Where in CH will you be? <BR>It is not easy to get to Cortina from <BR>most locations. I would consider going <BR>down to Lugano and staying in the Lakes <BR>area---I know a great place between <BR>Lugano and Lago Como with good hiking <BR>options. Much closer, depending where <BR>you start from.

Cortina is at the eastern end of the Dolomites, which must surely be one of the top hiking areas in all of Europe. Try staying at a picturesque little village near one of the main mountain groups in this region (Rosegarden, Sella, Marmolata) or even in Cortina itself. The scenery is breathtaking and there are walks to suit all grades of hiker. The hiking season is from June to October, but you can get up into these mountains by cable car at any time of year.

In September a group of us (3 couples) went to Zermatt for 4 days (the guys climbed the Matterhorn while the girls hiked), then drove across Simplon Pass to Italy (beautiful drive but it is closed now due to an awful mud slide that took out much of the town of Gondo on the border) to Venice overnight and then to Cortina for 2 nights where we did quite a bit of hiking around there (Cinque Torre, etc.). We then drove back up through Austria and Liechtenstein to Switzerland across Klausen Pass back to the Lucerne Area. Note that we live here but it IS doable. We did all this in 8 days. All of us had a great time.

La Via Dei Montini Lariani are the old tracks on the west side of Lake Como and are still used by locals to reach the Alpine pastures called 'Monti.' It stretches from Cernobbio to Sorico. The trail is 130 km. with an average height of 1000 meters with spectacular views of the lake and environs. We stayed in Lenno and walked from the town, past a monastery and found the trail. In any of the places you decide to stay, the local tourism office will have hiking information. It your'e interested in Lake Como, you can email the local tourism through the website of www.lakecomo.com. <BR>Don't forget the water and listen for the cow bells. <BR>Anne