Millstrip

Hello,
My husband and I will walk the Via Spluga Aug 24- Aug 29 from Thusis to Chiavenna. We have Aug 30-Sep 5 before we head back to Zurich to fly home on 9/7 morning. We want to stay on one of the lakes - Como, Lugano, Maggiore, or maybe two lakes but we don't want to be bouncing around every night or two. We like to sight see, hike, see vista points, boat rides, walk around the towns, and good food! I know we have to take the train from Lugano to Zurich on Friday Sep 6. This is probably a busy time so we would want to stay in a less crowded area and do day trips to the busy areas. We will take public transportation, we do not plan to rent a car. Is there a price difference between staying in the Swiss side of the lakes vs the Italian side? We keep hearing how expensive Switzerland is. Any suggestions you have about where to stay would be great. Thanks.

Jean

Where to go is subjective. I would prefer the shortest and least convoluted transfers, so I wouldn't consider L. Maggiore in this scenario. If you want time on two lakes, I would do:

Train Chiavenna to Varenna (or Bellano if you want less crowded).
Ferry to Menaggio and bus to Lugano. You could do this by train, connecting at Monza, but the ferry/bus is more scenic and likely shorter overall.
Train Lugano to Luzern, although Lugano to the Zurich Airport is about 2:15 hours with 2 trains per hour. What time is your Sept. 6th flight?

Just me, but I'd spend more time at L. Como than L. Lugano.

In our experience, costs in Switzerland are a bit higher than in Italy, but that wouldn't affect my decision unless I had a really tight budget.

Melnq8

Good on you for walking the Via Spluga! We've walked a few sections of it over the years.

Is there a price difference between staying in the Swiss side of the lakes vs the Italian side?

Yes. Switzerland is very expensive; Italy less so, but the lakes area around Como can be expensive too, as it's such a popular area. Generally food will be cheaper in Italy, sometimes dramatically so. Transportation is generally less expensive in Italy.

We love Chiavenna, and have based there on a few trips and made day trips to Varenna and Belliago. Frankly, a day trip was plenty for us. You can also make the easy day trip to Soglio, Switzerland from Chiavenna. A beautiful part of Switzerland with some nice hikes.

If the Lugano area is more your style, consider staying in Locarno or Ascona.

neckervd

Via Spluga is usually a 4 days hike:
1. Thusis - Andeer
2. Andeer - Spluegen Village
3. Spluegen Village - Pass da Spluga - Isola
4. Isola - Chiavenna

Bus:
Thusis - Spluegen: about every hr
Spluegen - Madesimo: twice daily
Madesimo - Isola - Chiavenna: 6 buses daily

I suppose you will sleep at Chiavenna and then move to one of the lakes.
The fastest way to do that is the train:
Chiavenna dp 7.40 - Colico ar 8.07 - Bellano ar 8.29 - Varenna ar 8.34 - Mandello ar 8.47 - Monza ar 9.26. There you find a connecting train to Locarno:
Monza dp 9.53 - Lugano ar 10.58 - Locarno ar 11.38. This connection works about every 2 hrs.
The nicest way, however, is a boat cruise from the Northern end to the Southern end of Lake Como:
Chiavenna dp by train 8.35 - Colico ar 9.07, dp by boat 9.40 - Como ar 13.40, dp by train 14.23 - Lugano ar 14.58 - Locarno ar 15.38
There is also a bus line from Menaggio/Lake Como to Lugano

As said above, life is cheaper in Italy than in Switzerland (food and accommodation). Transport will not be more expensive, if you get a Ticino ticket from your hotel https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/...ort-in-ticino/
However, the Swiss destinations Lugano and Locarno (and all villages around) offer much moe to do and to see than Lake Como:
2 Unesco sites (medieval castles of Bellinzona and Monte San Giorgio
many outstanding churches and sanctuaries (one of them with a copy of the Last Supper paint by a disciple of Leonardo da Vinci)
1 cog wheel railway, 3 rope railways and 9 gondolas to viewpoints One of them goes to a rope bridge over a alpine canyon
world class modern architecture (Mario Botta) even on mountain peaks
adventure parks
open air museum Swissminiatur
smuggler museum
https://www.ticinotopten.ch/en/museums?
https://www.ticinotopten.ch/en/monuments
boats plying the whole Lake Lugano from Porlezza up to Ponte Tresa (from there frequent buses to Luino/Lake Maggiore)
and the whole Lake Maggiore from Locarno via Luino up to Isola Bella, Stresa and Arona.
Hundreds of km well signmarked panoramic hiking trails (mainly between the countless bus and gondola stops).

In September, a direct train ride from both, Lugano or Locarno, to Zurich HB will last about 3 hrs. There you will have to change for the airport.

Melnq8

Yes, the Ticino Ticket will save you a bundle on transportation. Keep in mind that not all accommodation offers it though (apartments, where we usually stay, do not).

https://www.ticino.ch/en/ticket.html

Millstrip

Thank you, Jean. I like the idea of the ferry to Menaggio (I had that town on a list to look at). We leave the morning of Sept 7, 10 am from Zurich, we we were thinking we would just get to Zurich sometime on the 6th just to be ready to fly home.

Millstrip

Thank you Melnq8, I just realized I have your trip notes from "Getting High in Switzerland" saved, so I will read that more closely. We thought Lake Lugano might be less touristy - than Como, but I will read some more. I worry about the high time of visitors late August. We are staying an extra night and day in Chiavenna after our 4 days of walking.
Another question, we decided we don't want to stay 2 nights in Zurich before our walk starts, so I was looking around Chur and Thusis to spend those 2 nights before we need to be in Thusis the night before we start walking. If this info is in your trip notes, just tell me to go read it,

We leave Sept 7 morning at 10:00 am so we figured we have to spend the night nearby in Zurich. So the 6th we will be making our way back to Zurich - from where is still a question.

Millstrip

Thank you, Neckervd. I recognize your name on some trip reports I have read. I will have to go back and look at them. We struggled on the walking portion as to go to Engadin vs Via Spluga, too many choices! But we thought we would like to see the lake areas of Swizz/Italy border. I like the idea of the boat cruise on Lake Como on the way to Lugano. I think we would enjoy sitting and enjoying the view after our walk. We will spend an extra day in Chiavenna after we finish the hike. We used a walking trip company to make those arrangements. Thanks!

Jean

Just to be clear, the boat from Colico does not go all the way to Lugano. You'd get off the boat in Como, taxi to the train station, and train to Lugano. But if the boat ride from Colico to Varenna (or all the way to Como) appeals to you, make sure you study how well the train and ferry arrivals/departures work together (or not). If just going to Varenna, make sure the particular ferry departure you're considering operates on the day you'll be traveling and will make a stop at Varenna.

https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

https://www.navigazionelaghi.it/en/t...les-lake-como/ [Currently showing schedules through May 26th; check back for summer schedules.]

Melnq8

Another question, we decided we don't want to stay 2 nights in Zurich before our walk starts, so I was looking around Chur and Thusis to spend those 2 nights before we need to be in Thusis the night before we start walking. If this info is in your trip notes, just tell me to go read it,

I'd choose Thusis (and I have) over Chur personally. We've spent five nights there on two trips and really like the town.

Another report that might (or might not) help (covers our stays in Thusis and Chiavenna).

Doing what we do in Switzerland and Northern Italy

Lugano is plenty touristy, but less so than Lake Como IME.

A report from our stay in nearby Locarno with a day trip to Lugano:

Swiss Sojourn

Millstrip

Thanks for the clarification, will do.

neckervd

Como citybus Nr. 1 runs from the boat's, pier (Lungolago Trento) via Como San Giovanni railway station (bus stop San Rocchetto) up to Chiasso railway station (Switzerland),at least every 15 min from 6am until 9.30pm.

Millstrip

Thank you, Melnq8, this will be very helpful. I have got to finish working on this this week! We will stay in Thusis for 3 nights the beginning of our trip. Then, I think we are still leaning towards the Lake Lugano area, but still working on the towns we will stay in.

Thanks, all.

Melnq8

From Thusis you can easily get to Lenzerheide by bus, which makes a nice day trip.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...s/lenzerheide/

I'm working on a trip myself for Lakes Lugano, Como, Orta for off-off season...so many options.

Millstrip

Melnq8,
The link to the Thusis apt through booking.com is no longer available on your trip report. Can you give me the name/address etc. I am not showing much available in Thusis proper for Aug 22-24.
thank you.

Melnq8

Millstrip - I have sent you the link via PM.

neckervd

Thusis is nice, but there are tons of other attractive places around, like
Vals https://www.graubuenden.ch/en/attractions/7132-therme
Flims https://www.flimslaax.com/en/?_gl=1*...MTMyMS4wLjAuMA..
Savognin https://www.valsurses.ch/en
Lenzerheide https://arosalenzerheide.swiss/en/Lenzerheide

Melnq8

And ditto what neckervd says - we've stayed in all the places he's mentioned. Thusis has a shortage of apartments, but does have several hotels.