Our last day in Lugano

By Mark Sukhija

5th January 2009

The bright red funicular heading up to the summit of Monte Bre from Suvigliana in Lugano, Ticino The weather this morning was much improved from yesterdays mistyness. Which was nice. We had hoped to go up Monte Bre yesterday but decided against as the fog/mist would have spoilt the marvellous views.

Having left our bags in a locker at the station, we opted against taking the bus to and instead elected to walk and bask in the sunshine to Cassarate. The ride to the summit of Monte Bre is in two sections - the first furnicular was opened in 1910 and the second (directly accross the road) was inaugurated in 1912.

From the summit, the clear afforded us an excellent view over the Bernese Alps and the Alps of Valais. On an excellent clear day like this it is also possible to see both the Monte Rosa and the famous Matterhorn - inspiration for the probably equally View of the Alps from the top of Monte Bre in Lugano, Ticino famous Toblerone. There is a restaurant at the summit but it was closed on this visit - being firmly low season for Lugano given the 4-day weekend. None-the-less, we came for the views and we got them. The views are spectacular and, with the restaurant in the foreground of the vista, one can appreciate the scale of the vista which stretchs in front you.

Having descended from Monte Bre, we headed slowly back to the train station for our final journey back to Zurich From the base of the lower funicular, we headed through the pleasant Parco Ciani and along the waterfront. With the mountain-tops snow capped, bright blue-skies and crisp, fresh January air was a most pleasant experience.