Valley Hike from Bosco Gurin to Linescio near the Maggia Valley in Ticino

(Post published on October 8, 2024) 

Thursday October 23, 2014 – First snow of the season came low on the mountains on Wednesday, so our two days off on Thursday and Friday were spent in the south of Switzerland again (Italian part = Ticino) with another two 4-5 hour hikes and a very interesting overnight at Pablo’s Bed & Breakfast in Linescio in the Rovana Valley. 

[Pablo is a cool dude… He inherited his grandmother’s old house and turned it into a bed and breakfast. He drinks wine with his guests, bakes bread for their breakfast, leaves his doors unlocked so his guests can check themselves in while he is cliff climbing in Italy during the day! He also probably doesn’t have a computer because his stack of business cards are individually hand printed, as are his hiking maps….] 

First day we traveled 4½ hours by train & bus to our starting point of Bosco Gurin, a small German-speaking "enclave" in the Swiss-Italian Alps. The snow made it down this far and the alleys were icy. From here we walked 12 km (4 hours) all the way back down the valley to Linescio, mostly just below the sunshine level. This is a side valley to the Maggia Valley, which is a U-shaped valley, and to get to the side valleys you have to drive 2-3 km up zigzag roads, from which you practically look straight down to the valley floor….

After a train ride to Locarno and a bus ride into the Maggia Valley, we change buses here in Cevio, a lovely village in the Maggia Valley at the junction of the Rovana Valley.

We left home about 6 a.m. for the 3¾-hour trip to Cevio (We got here about 10 a.m.). From here another bus takes us up into the Rovana Valley, and further right to the end of the line at the village of Bosco Gurin, another 45-minute bus ride from here. 

The roads are such narrow switchbacks that the regular bus wouldn't make the turns.

This zigzag road literally had 180-degree switchbacks. Our hostel for the night was right at the entrance of the valley, but we took the bus to the end of the line in Bosco Gurin, and walked the 12 kilometers back to Linescio. 

The switchbacks are literally 180 degrees! It is about 2 km of switchbacks from Cevio to Linescio. 

Heading past Linescio now, with its terraced vineyards (there must be enough sunshine for this!)

A look behind us down the Rovana Valley (the river is called the Rovana) into the Maggia Valley as the bus continues toward Bosco Gurin. (Unfortunately, most of our walk back was in the deeper shadow). 

At the junction of the "Valle di Bosco Gurin" and "Valle di Campo" is a town called Cerentino. The bus passes through here on the way to Bosco Gurin, but our trail did not pass here on the way back down. 

The old church in Cerentino, as we pass here by bus. Worth coming to have a look some time in the future..... 

Arriving in Bosco Gurin at about 11 a.m. It has snowed here as well, but mostly melted at the level of the village, although the alleys were a bit icy. 

Bosco Gurin is a kind of German "enclave" within Canton Ticino, and the only place in the Canton where German is the main language spoken.  

Walking around the village of Bosco Gurin before we start on our hike back down the valley. 

Walking around the village of Bosco Gurin before we start on our hike back down the valley. 

The village is at the back of a cauldron-shaped valley and also very popular for skiing in winter. 

From Bosco Gurin we walked just over 11 km back to Linescio, where we spent the night in Pablo's B&B. We started just after 11 a.m. in Bosco Gurin, and arrived in Linescio just after 4 p.m. 

We don't often cross paths with horses...

Look at the little cow watching us from the barn. It was quite shadowy in most of the valley by this time of year. 

Mostly we walked along the Rovana river through the shady forests -- cold, but at least protected from the strong north wind that day

Lunch time!

As we got closer to the junction of the Bosco Gurin Valley and the Campo Valley, we could see that some of the villages higher up on the north side of the valley (not along the valley trail) were in sunshine, so we changed plans and walked up the hillside to pass through the villages of Corino and Camanoglio. This meant walking on some paved roads, but much nicer to be in the sunshine. 

Here is where we left the valley trail to pass through Corino and Camanoglio. Sometimes it's nicer to pass through the villages instead of just being in the forest, especially if the forest is in late autumn shadow!

Corino in the Rovana Valley

Camanoglio in the Rovana Valley. 

Camanoglio in the Rovana Valley. From here we can see into the other side valley called Valle di Campo. 

Camanoglio in the Rovana Valley. 

A look back up the Bosco Gurin Valley

The road ends at Camanoglio and we had a steep descent through chestnut forests back down to the main valley bottom trail.

The entire ground all the way down (350 m altitude) was littered like this. The chestnuts are dropping now, and I collected a whole pocket full!

(Later at home: Here's my harvest... I would have collected more, but not enough time... these I will roast in the microwave!) Side note: In the Italian part of Switzerland, this used to be a popular crop because they are healthy and hearty. There are a lot of baked goods with chestnut paste at this time of year.

Finally back down at the main road to continue on the valley trail. It was a 350-meter descent to here!

The trail passes above a smattering of houses called Collinasca, and what appears to be a very old church. We didn't detour to the old church, though, although it wasn't far. By now it's almost 3 p.m. and we've already been walking for almost four hours and want to get to our B&B soon! 

After another long 2½ kilometers (about an hour) we finally arrive at the first houses of Linesco. It is now near to 4 p.m. and no sunshine anymore here, unfortunately.  

Just below the main road and near the bus stop in the main part of Linescio is a small cemetery. (Across from the church, no photos???) 

The small cemetery in Linescio. 

Even further down the road and near to our B&B we discovered this old mill, whose door was open, so we went in to have a look before going to the hostel. 

I went into the hostel as I was tired, but Urs still wanted to take a bus ride back up the valley and into the other side valley called Valle di Campo, as there was still plenty of sunshine up there, and this was the final bus running up and back down the valley (leaving Linescio about 16:20 for a 40-minute trip). In Cimalmotto the bus has about a 20-minute pause before heading back at 17:20, so Urs had a bit of time to look around. These are the photos he took:

End of the line in Valle di Campo, this village is called Cimalmotto. 

This is the main church in Cimalmotto. The bus got here at about 5 p.m. and waits about 20 minutes before returning for its final run of the day back to Cerentino and Cevio.  

A small votive chapel along the road just below the village of Cimalmotto. 

From the little votive chapel along the side of the road, you get a good look at the next village lower down, it is called Campo (Vallemaggia) and still has lots of late afternoon sun. How lovely!

Back in Linescio at about 6 p.m., we decide to have dinner at the small local restaurant, that red building just a short way up the main road from our hostel. 

Dinner at the local restaurant, Osteria Sascola, cute and cozy. Even Pablo was here to chat with the locals.... the guy on the left behind me!

This was the room we had at Pablo's B&B, very spacious, reasonably-priced including breakfast, shared bathroom (which does not bother us). In the morning he had breakfast prepared for us, with his homemade bread which he baked the night before. We were alone and helped ourselves, as we wanted to leave with the 7:30 bus, and he does not like to get up that early!

What our 12-km hike down the Bosco Gurin and Rovana Valleys looks like on Google Satellite Maps. 

Bosco Gurin is at the end of the Rovana Valley, a side valley to the Maggia Valley in Ticino.