Lugano

There is no sea here, but Lake Lugano is a real swimming lake. In July and August the surface water reaches about 23°C. Bathing happens at lidos rather than on beaches: lawns, wooden decks, pools and ladders into the lake, with the main city lido at the mouth of the Cassarate river and smaller bathing spots along the shore towards Castagnola and Paradiso. Villages around the lake, reached by boat, have their own small lake baths.

The season runs roughly from June to early September, and the water is cool outside it. Swimming suits a hot afternoon well, but people who want sand and surf will find it a modest offer.

Food in Lugano is Italian in spirit and Swiss in price. The local tradition is the grotto, a rustic tavern built against cool rock cellars, often in the hills or lakeside villages. Grotti serve polenta, braised meats, risotto, salumi and local cheeses at granite tables under chestnut trees. Ticino's Merlot is the wine to drink, and many vineyards are close to the city. In town there are good pastry shops, cafés with outdoor tables on the arcaded squares and a weekly market in the old centre.

The range beyond this is limited. There is little street food, few cheap options and not much international cooking. Many visitors save serious meals for a trip across the Italian border.

Lugano's sights are pleasant and quickly seen. The old town is a compact grid of arcaded streets and squares in Lombard style, centred on Piazza della Riforma. Above it sits the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, with a Renaissance façade and views over the lake. The finest single work in town is Bernardino Luini's large Passion fresco in the church of Santa Maria degli Angioli. The city's art museum shows its collection in two places: the lakeside LAC arts centre and Palazzo Reali in the old town. Villa Ciani, a stately 19th-century villa, stands among the lawns and trees of Parco Ciani.

The Museum of Cultures in Villa Malpensata and the Hermann Hesse museum in Montagnola, in the hills above town, are worth a visit. A day covers the main sights well.

Evenings in Lugano are mostly about an aperitivo on the lakefront or under the old-town arcades, followed by a long dinner. There are some wine and cocktail bars, a few lounge-style places by the water and one or two clubs. The crowd is well-dressed and mostly local, and prices are high. On summer weekends the lake promenade stays lively for a while, but on most nights the town is quiet well before midnight. Young people who want to go out tend to go to Milan.

The landscape is the reason most people come. Lake Lugano winds between steep, wooded mountains, and two funiculars run from the edge of town to the summits of Monte Brè and Monte San Salvatore. Both give wide views and paths down through chestnut woods and villages. The lakeside path from Castagnola to the fishing village of Gandria is the classic short walk. Monte Generoso, reached by a rack railway, looks over the lakes towards the Alps, and the ridge walk from Monte Lema to Monte Tamaro is one of Ticino's best day hikes.

In about an hour you reach the green water and stone villages of the Verzasca and Maggia valleys. Boats, paddleboards and kayaks are easy to hire on the lake. Spring and autumn are the best times for hiking. Summer can be hot and humid, and the high Alps are further away.

Lugano sits on the border, so day trips cover two countries. Milan, with its cathedral, The Last Supper and the Brera gallery, is just over an hour by train. Como and its lake are about half an hour away. In the other direction, the three medieval castles of Bellinzona, a World Heritage Site, are a short train ride. Beyond them, Locarno and Ascona sit on Lake Maggiore, from where you can continue to the Borromean Islands and their palace gardens.

By boat you can reach Morcote, an arcaded lakeside village with a hillside church and terraced gardens. Bergamo's walled upper town and the vineyards of the Mendrisiotto are also within easy reach. Lucerne is about two hours north through the Gotthard.

Lugano is a safe, calm and easy place for a family break, even though little in it is built for children. The lake does most of the work. Children enjoy boat trips to the villages, swimming and slides at the lidos, funicular rides up Monte Brè and San Salvatore and the rack railway on Monte Generoso. Lakeside Parco Ciani has lawns and playgrounds. At Melide, a short trip away, a park of Swiss landmarks in miniature has been popular with families for generations.

The town climbs steeply from the shore, which is tiring with a pushchair. There is no zoo, aquarium or big science museum, so it suits younger children and outdoor days better than teenagers who want big attractions.

The centre is small enough to walk, and the lakefront promenade connects most of what visitors see. The main obstacle is the slope. The railway station sits high above the old town, and a short funicular links the two. City buses cover the hillside districts and Paradiso. Lake boats serve the waterside villages, and funiculars and rack railways climb the surrounding mountains.

The Swiss rail network makes Bellinzona, Locarno, Como and Milan easy to reach. You do not need a car unless you want to explore the remoter valleys, where roads are narrow and parking in town is scarce.

Lugano's shopping is concentrated in Via Nassa, an arcaded street near the lake lined with Swiss watchmakers, jewellers and Italian fashion houses. It serves a wealthy clientele, and window-shopping under the porticoes is pleasant. The surrounding old-town lanes add delicatessens, wine shops and a few independent boutiques, and the weekly market sells local cheese, salumi and produce.

Towards the Italian border at Mendrisio there is a large designer outlet village. Otherwise there is little depth: few crafts, no great department store and not much for younger, cheaper tastes. Serious shoppers make the trip to Milan.

Lugano is an expensive place to visit, with Swiss prices in an Italian-speaking setting. Lakeside hotels, restaurant meals, wine, boat trips and mountain railways all cost far more than across the border. Grotti and set lunches are the more reasonable ways to eat well. Hotel stays usually include free use of regional public transport, which helps a little. Some visitors save money by eating in Italian lakeside towns on day trips, but there is no cheap way to stay in Lugano itself.

Most of Lugano's cultural life happens at LAC, the lakeside arts centre. Its concert hall has fine acoustics and is home to the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, and its theatre stages drama and dance through the season. The repertoire is mostly classical, with visiting orchestras and soloists, and much of the theatre is in Italian.

In summer, the long-running Estival Jazz festival fills Piazza della Riforma with free open-air concerts, and other evening music events take place by the lake. Outside these, there are few small music venues. Opera lovers usually go to Milan's La Scala.

Lugano has no thermal springs or public bath tradition. Its wellness comes from the pace of the place. Mornings start with a coffee under the arcades, afternoons are spent on a lido or a lakeside bench in Parco Ciani, and long lunches in a grotto stretch into the evening. The mild, sunny climate and palm-lined shore make it an easy place to slow down.

The main spas are in the large lakeside hotels. North of town, near Rivera, is a big indoor complex with pools and saunas. If you want a serious bathing culture you will need to look elsewhere, but for a quiet, unhurried lake stay, Lugano works well.