Lake Lugano is the Swissiest of the Italian lakes, with the border cutting through and around the shoreline. It’s very pretty and has lovely weather and food.
I can’t say that Lugano is my favorite of the Italian lakes. It’s the kind of place you can imagine retiring in (not a bad choice), or spending a very lazy, long summer holiday (also not a bad choice). It’s just not a great destination for a drive-through visit, as getting to the lake is pretty inconvenient and tends to have major traffic issues from most directions, and once there, you need a car, things run sleepy, and not much is happening. Consider a longer visit where you want to relax and are fine focusing on swimming, sunbathing, and making dinner the central activity of the day.
Cima
Cima is on the very Northern end, Italian part, of Lake Lugano. At this point, the road around the lake is narrow, with brief clusters of houses and hotels swelling between the hillside and lake. The northernmost town, Porlezza, is not particularly worth seeking out of spending time in – I’d consider this the most northern spot to target.
We stayed at the very large, fairly high-end, family friendly resort, **Parco San Marco Hotels & Beach Resort. While this would not normally be my style of hotel, it worked very well for our group (with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew). There’s a kid’s club with extensive activities, multiple restaurants, and at least four swimming areas. We focused on the kids pool area with a big water slide (fun), and the very nice lakeside area with a restaurant, bar, swimming platforms/slides, and extensive lounging areas. The rooms are on the basic side, but not small, and I think all have a kitchenette + sitting room and balcony or patio. Breakfast was extensive and very good.
In addition to the burgers and salads place by the lake (good), we had a fancy meal at **Ristorante La Masseria Mediterranean Grill at the hotel. Nice patio, extremely nice servers (very nice to kids), good formal Italian food.
**Il Crotto del Lago was a cute, friendly water-side restaurant, tucked away from the road. Emphasis on seafood, really quite tasty food, reasonable prices. Galen had an order hiccup, but other than that, no complaints.
**Osteria La Lanterna was a slightly nicer option, roadside but with a pretty, grape vine-shaded patio. Food had fancy plating, very tasty, smaller portions. Friendly, accommodating service.
Lugano
Dramatically positioned on a glittering blue lake with mountains towering around, Lugano is very pretty. Wealthy, more Italian than Swiss, nestled into the hills around the lake. It’s a pretty place, but I wouldn’t plan a trip here without a great hotel selected. The town is good for a few hours of exploring.
- For food, **La Cucina di Alice was quite good, homey decor, all food homemade. Italian. Make a reservation.
- *Best Western Hotel Bellevue au Lac: Riva Antonio Caccia 10, Lugano, CH, 6900: while there’s nothing terrible about this hotel, it’s nothing special either and definitely a bit run down. I’d aim for something in a better location and with more charm.
- Just south of town, **Swissminiatur is really cute – a 1950s-era miniature recreation of Swiss historical sites and buildings. It’s definitely for kids, but we found it charming. Give yourself about 45 minutes, it’s not huge.
Further Reading:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/travel/what-to-do-in-lugano.html
