Traveling Ticino: Things to See and Do Near Airolo

Airolo is not an unattractive town and there is enough to keep one busy for two or three days. On a Sunday, we spent a few minutes watching the town band lead a main street procession of churchgoers carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary.

• North of the Airolo is the St. Gotthard Hospice Fort Museum from whose site the southern approach to the Gotthard was defended. Those who came to Ticino via the tunnel may want to drive up the Pass road to the museum and to the summit for spectacular views.

• About 20 minutes by car, south of town, is Piotta and the Ritom. It surely has to be ranked among the great Switzerland funiculars. Not a cog wheel, it instead rides on tracks and is pulled by a cable. The ascent takes 12 minutes and portions of it are near vertical, an 88.7% grade. At the top, a 25-minute walk leads to a lake formed by a dam. Further walking leads to more lakes in this mainly treeless landscape.

To serve the many hikers and walkers that pass this way there is a restaurant by the dam where the Osso Buco looks promising.

Roundtrip fare on the Ritom is CHF 15 for adults and 10 CHF for kids under 16.

• A bit further south is the Michelin one-star town of Giornico with its 12th century church (don’t confuse it with the newer church virtually on the same site).

Throughout this region one sees unique uses of granite, such as being cut into stakes and used to support grape vines that hang five to six feet off the ground. Granite slabs are also used for fencing and sometimes to edge roadways.

• You may wish to continue south to Biasca and then northeast toward Lukmanieer Pass. Lottingna is another one-star town.

• Activities for another day might include a train trip into Lugano for a boat ride on the lake, perhaps disembarking for lunch at Gandria, a quaint but tourist-ridden hamlet built on the steep cliffside overlooking the lake. We had a forgettable meal of salad and flavorless pasta at Ristorante Roccabella.

Autobahn Advice

Drivers leaving Ticino via the Gotthard Tunnel will often encounter rush-hour type slowdowns on the Autostrada. Here’s a tip that may save some time. Exit at Quinta and follow the red road to Airolo where you return to the Autostrada just prior to entering the tunnel.

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