Two people stand at a viewpoint railing gazing across hazy mountain ranges toward a low sun, with a bench in the foreground.

19 November 2023

Bella Vista

A fine tour onto southern Ticino's great panorama balcony, with views from the Po plain to the Valais 4000ers.

The walk starts in Rovio, where Italian flair meets a Swiss mountain village. From there the path winds up through forests carpeted with huge piles of old leaves, past waterfalls and with great panoramas over Lago di Lugano.

Bella Vista lives up to its name: a grand view over the Po plain and the whole arc of the Alps. It is especially beautiful when everything is bathed in golden autumn light.

A hiker on a stony trail with autumn-red forested slopes and craggy peaks behind.

The craggy summit ridge of Monte Generoso rising above slopes of red and gold autumn forest.

A bare beech tree on a root-tangled ridge crest amid leafless autumn woodland.

A wide panorama over Lake Lugano and hazy blue mountain ranges under a bright sky.

Two people sharing pizza on a rocky perch high above Lake Lugano.

A hiker half-buried and laughing in a deep drift of fallen brown beech leaves.

Two hikers watching a tall thin waterfall drop down a mossy rock face.

Two larch silhouettes against a dusky sky over autumn-coloured hills, a crescent moon above.

Two people in a narrow cobbled village alley beside a large cat mural.

Want to walk this one with me?

I’ll start guiding small groups soon. Leave your email and I’ll write when I schedule this hike.