Locarno or Lake Como?
 

I have two days to spend in this area during a trip to Switzerland next spring. I have booked a hotel in Locarno, but after seeing Casino Royale this weekend, I'm intrigued by Lake Como. Anyone who has been to both have any preferences in terms of scenery and things to do? Thanks for the feedback!

Locarno is actually in Switzerland on Lago Maggiore, a lake that straddles the Italian-Swiss border. It's in Ticino, the single Italian-speaking Swiss canton. From Locarno, you can take a boat to the Borromean Isles in the middle of the lake. And, from the center of town, you can take a funicular up to the Madonna del Sasso church with a panoramic view of the lake and the Alps. From here you can continue even higher by cable car and then chairlift. Plus you can explore into the Alps. Most of the tourists are German-speaking Swiss and Italians.

Lake Como feels farther from the Alps and maybe a little upper scale. The usual tourist activity is using the ferry boats to visit lakeside towns and beautiful villas open to visitors. It has visitors from all over the world.

Both places have superb scenery with lake and mountains. So pick the one whose tourist activities appeal to you.

I second the notion that Lake Maggiore is everything that Lake Como is so stay with Locarno and boat on that lake and think it's Lake Como.

Italians and Swiss prefer Lago Maggiore to Lake Como. Americans only go to Lake Como. They are both beautiful and the experience is very much the same.

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