Summit of Monte San Giorgio and a Foray into Italy

Saturday March 11, 2023 -- After a beautiful early Spring in February, we woke up to snow all over northern Switzerland this morning... Which meant another trip to the South.

We knew there would be strong winds but at least we could expect sunshine, which we did get after initial overcast skies. Our goal this day was to walk to the summit of Monte San Georgio south of Lugano, a mountain we've walked along before, but not to the top. (Granted, we didn't start at lake level, but from the highest point we could reach by bus, the village of Meride. This meant our ascent was only 520 meters instead of 820m). Monte San Giorgio is renowned as one of Switzerland's 13 UNESCO World Heritage Sites because of the abundance of fossils found here (the area having once been part of the Mediterranean Sea millions of years ago).

We were very lucky with clear visibility once again and panoramic views all across Lake Lugano to the north, and parts of Italy to the south. West of the mountain is a bend in the lake, into which extends the promontory of Monte San Salvatore, and which forms the border with Italy. It was Urs' wish to descend on this side of the mountain across the border to the town of Porto Ceresio, actually the southernmost part of Lake Lugano.

Due to irregular public transport from this location, we only had 15 minutes to walk along the boardwalk of this lakeside town, and for Urs to buy his gelato! We then took the 15:20 Milano train (changing of course onto a train back to Switzerland). It's been a long time since we had to navigate foreign public transit, and it takes some getting used to!

As we travel along Lake Lugano heading south to Mendrisio (where we caught the bus to Meride), we pass Monte San Giorgio on its eastern side. The summit is at the arrow.

Bus ride through Arzo, a border town with Italy

Last stop is the village of Meride. The sky became overcast here and it almost looked like rain!

Heading up the trail from Meride along the southern side of the mountain, the first stop will be the church, of course (that fellow was on the bus as well, and he got to the summit before we did). We started at 10:30

Unfortunately, this church was also locked. An interesting item is the large building (mausoleum) which is reserved for an entire family.

This trail is part of several themed trails including No.2 (Trans Swiss Trail). It took us exactly 1 hr 40 minutes to get to the summit, although we did stop for two 5-minute breaks.

Starting at Meride (final stop of the bus line from Mendrisio) we hiked to the summit of Monte San Giorgio, and then descended to Porto Ceresio in Italy, via the health resort at Serpiano.

Much of the trail up the mountain here was an old mule trail paved with uneven rocks which were actually quite slippery and difficult to walk on.

As a distraction to the rather boring uphill trail, I kept an eye out for the many fresh and new flowers growing between the rocks that comprised the trail.

At some point the trail changed to a more comfortable dirt trail through the forest.

We made it to Cassina in 50 minutes, and took a 5-minute break here.

Reaching some clearings higher on the mountain, we now got some very nice views to the south. Most of what we see here is Italy.

Just 10 minutes short of the summit is this abandoned building called Forello. The far section seemed to be old living quarters which I inspected. Three rooms upstairs and two rooms with fire places below, one which was probably previously used for cooking.

What a beautiful huge tree!

Another view to Italy as we near the summit

We got to the summit at 12:20. First a look to the East, to Monte Generoso. Down below along the lake is the railway line from where I took the first photo of Monte San Giorgio

Looking for a good spot to have our picnic lunch. It's a popular summit, and all the good places out of the wind are already taken!

Here's a bench which we really would have liked to have for our picnic lunch, but others beat us to it!

Might as well take some panorama photos before settling on a place for our picnic. This view is to the North toward the city of Lugano at the back of the lake.

The south end of the lake makes a bend here and the border with Italy is right through the middle of the lake. The small section of the lake on the left is in Italy, and the town there is the goal of our hike. Basically, the mountain on the right (Morcote) is in Switzerland, as are we, and the mountain straight ahead is in Italy.

A close-up photo of the town of Porto Ceresio in Italy, which is the goal of our hike (the train station is near the small boat harbor in the center).

Another bench which could have worked for us is already occupied by the gentleman from our bus!!

A close-up view of Monte San Salvatore, which is Lugano's house mountain. The city of Lugano is at the back, and below on the left is the town of Melide, the site of the attraction called "Swiss Miniature". Far to the North in the direction of the Alps, the sky is overcast

Such fantastic visibility this day, beautiful even though the forests are still brown! It was very windy up here!

Panorama view of Lago di Lugano with Monte San Salvatore in the center

We ended up sitting along the wall where I am standing, for our picnic lunch. It was a good spot without wind.

Inside the building (which is actually a chapel) there was a table and fireplace for public use, and you could buy refreshments. The place to pay was unique: A metal pipe built into the stuccoed wall, with just a small slit for the coins! Theft-proof!

Starting off again on our hike at 12:50, our next goal is Serpiano, which we reached in just under an hour. The descent was on a much nicer trail than what we had come up on.

Another look at the ruins of Forello before heading down the western side of the mountain.

We arrived at the health resort of Serpiano at 13:50. The hotel was closed (off-season) and we were the only people around! We took a little photo break here because the view was great as well.

A good look at the popular town of Morcote at the south end of the San Salvatore ridge.

A closer look at Morcote (we have been there several times, most recently in December of 2020, those photos are HERE)

And a very close look at the fabulous "Chiesa Santa Maria del Sasso" (Church of our Lady of the Rock) in Morcote

From this height above the lake, another look north toward Lugano. On the left is Monte San Salvatore, on the right (back) is Monte Boglia, we have been on top of both.

15 minutes from the resort at Serpiano we reached the border to Italy. My camera is in Switzerland right now, and we are sitting at the picnic table in Italy!

Just 10 minutes across the border we reached a small Italian mountain village called "Ca del Monte"

This is a cool doorbell!

Village of Ca del Monte

We are in Italy!

This beautiful bush is being cut back. The owners saw us and offered us a branch, but we had no interest to carry vegetation!

The trail markers in Italy are different than in Switzerland. Here we found another mule trail (paved with cobblestones) leading straight down to lake level. 30 minutes to Porto Ceresio

The whole path down to the lake was a cobblestone mule trail. Not very easy to walk on.

Finally we reached Porto Ceresio, shortly before 3 p.m. Our train leaves at 3:20 p.m., so that doesn't give us a lot of time to walk to the train station, buy a ticket, and stop for ice cream, but we managed!

Alleyways in an Italian city

Houses along the lakeshore

The southernmost point of Lago di Lugano, looking north to Morcote (and the Monte Lema / Monte Tamaro Range on the left) in Switzerland!

Walking along the boardwalk in Ponto Ceresio around the south end of the lake

We actually had enough time for Urs to buy his Gelato, but he said it was very, very soft, and melted too quickly!

Houses in an Italian city

Chiesa Parrochiale di Sant'Ambrogio. Beautiful building, but no time to look at the inside!

From the train station, a look back at the lakeshore city of Porto Ceresio at the foot of Monte San Giorgio, which we descended

A close-up look at Monte Gradiccioli, Monte Tamaro, and the Malcantone region of Switzerland

Light blue is the hike we did this day, starting in Meride and ending in Porto Ceresio. These are all the hikes we have done in this narrow stretch of the country between Italy on both sides.

It has been a long time since we traveled on trains in countries other than Switzerland! From Porto Ceresio, a train runs to Milan, which we took to Arcisate, and changed trains to return to Switzerland at Stabio.

The wagons of Italy's Trenord regional train system. Here we had to change trains in Arcisate. (In Porto Ceresio we had to buy tickets, that was unusual for us and after looking for a ticket machine, we realized you had to buy them at the kiosk!)

Arcisate, Italy (waiting for our train back to Switzerland)

We saw many blossoming trees, so pretty! Also, as we returned to Bellinzona, so many magnolia trees already blooming. We might just miss that this year.