I'll be staying in the Lake Como area for a few days and would be interested in your recommendations for a day trip, by train or otherwise, into Switzerland.

Preferably, it would be scenic and to an interesting town for lunch and walk-around, but probably not a large city. Never been to Switzerland, so I'm open to almost any idea.

Thanks

From Menaggio on the west shore you can bus to either Lugano, a rather large but beautiful city on the lake of the same name, or also to the village of Soglio. The latter is quite scenic and a great place for lunch. Just be sure you know the bus schedules.

Thanks, bob. I'll do a little research on Soglio and the bus schedules. Sounds interesting.

Sorry, hit submit too soon.

Someone said there's a train from Varenna to Chiavenna, from which you can get to Soglio. Does that make sense?

We did Bellinzona from Lake Como and it was a lovely day.

I loved Soglio. After several days of driving in Italy, it was nice to,detour into Switzerland for the day.

Yes, it makes sense. Train Varenna to Chiavenna, bus from there to Promontogno, where you change to another bus to Soglio.

Check schedules at www.sbb.ch

You could even go farther up to the Upper Engadine. I would probably go by bus from Chiavenna first to Sils-Maria, have a walk (or horse-drawn carriage ride) to the Fex Valley (due to lack of time only as far as Fex Crasta, where the little Chapel is), back to Sils-Maria and then to Soglio.

Early start necessary, though. Lunch would be perfect in the Fex Valley (Hotel Sonne e.g.) and coffee/chestnut cake in Soglio.

This may help !

http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Menaggio/Soglio

Lugano is the easier target. Bellinzona is also easy to reach (but I do not like it very much), Locarno is a bit tricky with public transportation.

With careful planning, maybe even St. Moritz over the Bernina railway could be possible.

If you have a car and you are willing to spend for the Swiss highway sticker, a trip I have done several times is Disentis over the Lukmanier pass, about one hour and half driving from Lugano, plus the time to get to Lugano. - Disentis has a Baroque abbey, a very tipical restaurant (Stiva Grischuna) and a little railway station looking like a toy train set. The drive over the Lukmanier is very easy and has some great alpine landscapes. A great afternoon after this drive would be driving Oberalp and Gotthard passes and go back by the highway. Gotthard pass is easy to drive but Oberalp has some narrow and exposed sections.