Cabbio – Scudellate – Bella Vista
A quiet two-day walk through the Muggio valley to the mountain village of Scudellate, and on up to Bella Vista, the southernmost panorama balcony in Switzerland.
November light in the Muggio valley
When the rest of Switzerland is under snow or lost in fog, the Val di Muggio holds on to its autumn a little longer. Chestnut forests glow red and gold, the villages sit in the sun, and above it all runs the long ridge of Monte Generoso. For one last autumn outing before winter sets in, this corner of Ticino is hard to beat.
The tour starts in Cabbio (628 m), one of the small villages pinned to the hillside like a swallow’s nest. From there the path climbs steadily through the fallen leaves up to Scudellate (960 m), higher up, quieter still, looking across the valley to the abandoned hamlet of Erbonne on the Italian side.
An overnight in Scudellate
Scudellate is a good reason to split the tour over two days. The village has an osteria you probably shouldn’t try to visit without a reservation, and the kitchen is the one you came to the Val di Muggio for: regional produce, Zincarlin cheese from the valley, a glass of Merlot from Mendrisio. In the morning the square in front of the church is yours alone, before the mist lifts out of the valley.
On up to the ridge
On the second day the path leaves the village and climbs through open pasture to the ridge. Up top the view opens both ways: back into the Muggio valley, over into Italy, and on a clear day all the way to the Po plain and the Valais four-thousanders. Bella Vista lives up to its name, and in the golden November light all the more.
Hero image: Burakuberi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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.