Excursion with Aunt Ruth to the Remote Village of Indemini

(This post done on December 14, 2021)

Friday September 14, 2018 -- Once in a while, instead of doing a hike, we go on a day's excursion with my Aunt Ruth, to see a part of Switzerland that she is not familiar with. Generally this is some remote valley in the Ticino, as we know of all kinds of neat places off the beaten track there.

On this day we took the long and winding road with the bus from down on Lago Maggiore across from Locarno, up the mountain called Monte Gambarogno, to the furthest community just before the Italian border: Indemini, one of the remotest and most difficult villages to access in Canton Ticino. 

(NOTE: Before the Gotthard Base Tunnel opened in 2017, we were not able to access this village on a day trip. The base tunnel cuts travel time south by about 40 minutes!)

After the one-hour bus ride, we had lunch in the single local restaurant, walked around the old village, discovered a local museum, and returned to the restaurant for dessert.  As we were enjoying dessert, there was some helicopter action in the valley, which always sparks questions of what kind of search might be taking place. Later on we found out that on this very day, on the hills just across from Indemini (in view of our restaurant), an older Italian gentlemen had died while out foraging for mushrooms. He was discovered by hikers on the trail. A trail we were longing to walk on this beautiful day... but that would have been a hard surprise.

More information on this interesting village can be found at this WEBSITE. Of particular note is that it is actually the only Swiss Village in the otherwise Italian valley called Veddasca (to the South), and before the road was built in about 1920 (accessing the village from the North via the Neggia Pass), the only access was on mountain trails. Furthermore, this is the only village in Canton Ticino whose buildings have been built entirely of locally quarried stone. 

NOTE: For some additional very nice photos of the village of Indemini, please also look at the album of the first trip we made there, in May of 2016: CLICK HERE

As the bus heads up Monte Gambarogno from Lago Maggiore, we look down at one of the lakeside villages: Vira, with its two churches

Just a small piece of the 25-km road built in 1920 to basically access the remote mountain village of Indemini, near the border with Italy (the road continues down on the Italian side as well). 

This is a look down at the northern section of Indemini, as we get off the bus (final bus stop on the Swiss side). The village is built on a very steep hillside. 

Here's the restaurant where we had lunch, and returned to for dessert after walking through the village. It's the only open restaurant in the village. 

A selfie of me, Urs and Aunt Ruth at lunch in the Ristorante Indeminese

After lunch we strolled to the South end of the village, where the road crosses into Italy, and into the Veddasca Valley

Chiesa di San Bartolomeo at the very South end of the village of Indemini, just this side of the Italian border. 

Village fountains are always welcome!

Walking back and forth through the very narrow alleyways of Indemini

Alleyways in Indemini

Due to its remoteness and inaccessibility, this village has remained relatively unaltered in the past centuries. 

We discovered a small museum, with old photos about how life used to be in this mountain village

Cool old snowshoes!!!

A look eastward across the valley to the Monte Tamaro (on the left) / Monte Lema range. It was exactly on this forested hillside that hikers found an Italian man (deceased) who had come here to pick mushrooms. 

A sample of some very nice and old architecture here. 

On our way back down the mountain by bus, we got some nice glimpses into the Verzasca Valley and its famous dam, on the North side of Lago Maggiore

Before the 20-km road from the lakeshore was built in 1920, the community of Indemini was accessible only via mountain trails. 

On Google Satellite maps, what the 20-km road looks like: From lake level, over the Neggia pass, and down to Indemini (the road continues down the Veddasca Valley on the Italian side, back down to the lake). 

NOTE: For some additional very nice photos of the village of Indemini, please also look at the album of the first trip we made there, in May of 2016: CLICK HERE.

Here is just a sample:

Village of Indemini, on the first trip we took here in May 2016