Hiking in Switzerland – Gabrielle and Urs

Sunday February 22, 2026 -- With the promise of warm weather (temperatures of up to 14 degrees) this day in the southern Ticino, that's where we headed once again, to our winter hiking go-to region. (In retrospect, it surprisingly turned out to be a warm and cloudless day closer to home as well, in the Reuss Valley region just south of Lake Uri... oh well).

I am still able to map out hiking trails which we haven't tried out yet, but these are getting to be more remote and sometimes sketchy unofficial trails where surprises and detours await us. I try to follow hillsides so we don't have a lot of ascents and descents, and I try to make the journey pass through small villages with churches we can visit. This time, the hillside we walked along (only 9 km) came with lots of "disappointments": Three of the four churches along the way were locked / One of the "unofficial trails" from our map which we needed to follow to access a hilltop chapel did not exist, so we ditched the hillside chapel visit / Another of the "unofficial trails" via a small ravine was officially "off limits" due to storm damage, but we needed to use it to get to the other side, but indeed, a section of the hillside had washed away.... we managed to pass anyway, but definitely not recommended. Furthermore, the air was hazy and so we had little views of Lake Lugano to the south and the surrounding mountains. AND on one single uphill stretch it was so hot I had to change into a skirt and bare legs.

This hike from Cimo (which we passed through on a much better walk we did in January 2025 (photos HERE), passing via Gaggio and Bosco Luganese just north of Agno is not one I would recommend. We often follow "backwoods" trails on our maps, but seldom find them washed out or non-existent, just mostly not cleared.... (And generally we do adhere to notices of "off-limits" trails unless we have come so far that it is difficult to turn back.)

Leaving home at 8:15 a.m. and heading by train to Arth Goldau, where we switch to the fast train to Bellinzona. The weather here in this region is actually looking pretty good, so I am starting to second-guess our plan for this day!

Now we are on the fast train heading south, and it's too late to change our minds, but the weather is looking good here in the Reuss Valley near Flüelen!

At 10 a.m. we get to Lugano and have to switch to the little train to Agno (the Ponte Tresa Train). This is the beautiful new train station in Lugano.

A familiar view over the city of Lugano: The Cathedral Bell Tower. Unfortunately the air is a bit hazy.

On the way to Agno, the train passes the little Muzzano Lake. An option for another excursion would be to walk around that lake, something we have not yet done.

Looking north along Lake Muzzano

Heading toward Agno train station we get a view of the hillside where we will be walking along later. The red line shows approximately where we walked from the left via the ravine with a washed out trail, through vineyards and to the mountain village of Bosco Luganese on the right.

A zoomed view shows a hillside church which we really wanted to visit this day, but the trail we mapped out via the vineyard on the left did not exist. So we had to continue northwards without seeing the chapel. (Urs said it would probably be locked anyway!)

From the train station in Agno we take a bus along winding roads up the hillside. Those palm trees are incredible. Look at how the upper weight is perfectly carried on the very tiny base....

This is in the village of Cimo where we started our hike. We passed through here on our descent to Agno (on the lake below) on the January 2025 hike. At that time I also took a photo over this house, but as it was later in the afternoon, the landscape looked quite different.

This is the little church (called "Oratorio di San Giuseppe") at the south end of Cimo. Today it was locked, but when we were here a year ago, we were able to look at the inside (photo HERE).

We got to the village of Cimo at 10:45 after a 2½-hour trip, and reached the train station in Lamone in time for the 14:46 train back to Lugano, and a 2-hour trip home. So four hours of sunshine. (At the blue X is the washed-out section of trail in the Val Maggiore, which is actually "off limits" but we did manage to pass, as we didn't want to backtrack.)

Views eastward over the countryside as we head out on our hike northwards.

We love the cats!

A nice combination of forest trails, and later roads through vineyards.

All kinds of spring flowers now in the forests!

The next village we got to was called Gaggio. Here is the main square of the village! (We did a little round tour, and by the time we got back, the square was filling with people who seemed to be headed to a party taking place up the stairs in the alley on the left.)

A detour to the village church was a disappointment, as this one also was closed. It is called the "Chiesa della Beata Vergine Immacolata" (Church of the Blessed Immaculate Virgin), consecrated in approximately 1709. A notice on the side of the church invites visitors to admire what is described as a "work of art". What a shame that it was locked. (I have a feeling a lot of these buildings are generally locked in the winter months).

A view down to the wide plain called "Val d'Agno". There is an air strip here, and the little planes are pretty noisy when they are starting up!

A zoomed view to the many vineyards lower down the mountain (we did not walk through there).

As usual, many attractive stone houses in this part of the country.

We had not wanted to walk down the mountain yet, but the only trail connecting to the vineyards further north (according to our map) was a lesser used trail via a side valley called "Val Maggiore". We have often tried out these "unofficial" trails which are usually passable but not kept up, and not had a lot of problems, but when we got here, this sign gave us pause. It read "The 'Death Trail' is not passable due to several land slides". Officially, this trail seemed to be off limits, but having come this far, we chose to check it out anyway, before turning back.

There were a few downed trees to navigate around, and some of the wooden barriers were broken due to those fallen trees, but generally the trail was walkable till close to the bridge at the back where a section of the mountainside was definitely missing. Although not recommended, we were able to pass that spot (at our own risk) and cross the bridge to the other side. But I plan on reporting it, as the path should no longer be marked on our hiking map.

As we reached the vineyards on the opposite side of the "Val Maggiore", we were greeted by these beautiful St.Bernard dogs! These short-haired dogs are the original St.Bernards. You don't see them very often.

Descending now along the paved roads through the vineyards, we were surprised that the trail markers still indicated the option of crossing the Val Maggiore the way we had come.

The road winds its way down from here, but once again we have chosen to stay higher up and follow an older trail which goes straight to the north at the curve in the road ahead. What awaits us this time, we wonder?

A very attractive building in the middle of these vineyards. The trail continues along that very narrow alley on the west side of the house below the railing along the road.

Directly below us is the city of Bioggio.

Not many issues along this older trail as we reached a single clearing in the forest with this vineyard. It is from here where we planned to descend toward the little chapel we had seen from the train. (As it turns out, the little trail simply no longer exists....)

Those are some very good looking chickens, especially the rooster. He was HUGE!

Passing the old farmhouse we met up with the owner, who told us that the trail actually continues northwards from here, a very nice trail in fact, although also "not official". We didn't really believe him that there was no trail below the vineyard, so we went and had a look anyway, but the forest there was overgrown, and there was no trail to be found. So we had to change our plans, unfortunately.

On the alternate trail we reached a small stream and this attractive picnic spot. But to get to the chapel we would have had to backtrack too far, and still get up the hill on the other side, so we left that part of the excursion for another day. Since the first two churches were locked, Urs figured this one would have been locked as well, anyway.

Our trail out of the little valley on the right then led steeply up to the hillside town of Bosco Luganese. On this stretch it got so hot that we had to stop here at this view bench to change into lighter clothes! The view is southward past the airstrip to the western arm of Lake Lugano.

Having changed to lighter clothing, we continued up the long flight of stairs to the church in Bosco Luganese. This one was open, so we had a look inside, of course. The church is called "Chiesa di Sant'Abbondio"

The first mention of the church dates back to 1580, but the current building was constructed starting in 1698, with lots of changes and extensions till the end of the 18th Century.

Details of the inside of the church. The artwork is unique and quite different to what we usually see in such churches.

From the church terrace, a zoomed view of the summit of Monte Generoso to the east.

Large clearings with crocuses !

We then had a final stretch down through the forest to reach the valley bottom, for the final "boring" 20-minute walk to the train station on the east side of the valley.

Down the center of the valley runs the railway line as well as the highway and the canal of the Vedeggio river. It is past that (toward the left) where we have to yet walk to the train station!

One more little church we had hoped to look into on the way through a small village called Manno at the foot of the hill we had just descended. This one also was locked. A lady sitting on a bench in front of the church informed us that she also had wanted to go into the church, but the local lady who unlocks the church every morning had forgotten it this one time!

A small cluster of houses in the old part of Manno.

Crossing the Vedeggio River (and the railway tracks and the highway) on our way through the "industry" to the train station in Lamone-Cadempino. We were rushing again and just made it with five minutes to spare for the 14:46 train to Lugano and then home.

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps, from Cimo to Lamone. We have done other hikes higher up in the Malcantone region, so this is why I had mapped out a hike via the vineyards lower down the hill. We did the pink trail starting in Cimo and ending in Lamone, only an 8-km trail.

On our way back home, we are passing by the two Mythen peaks in Canton Schwyz at about 4 p.m. It looks like it would have been a pleasant afternoon hiking here as well!

And by 4:30 p.m. I was back at the train station in Küssnacht.

Location of the Malcantone region within Switzerland.

ADDENDUM: Adding a couple of photos of the views I have from the little house in Küssnacht (and the train station) in the early morning before heading out on our day-trips.