Continuing our Hike in the Maggia Valley, from Coglio to Gordevio

November 15, 2023 -- It's been raining for weeks now in the North, resulting in flooded train stations, mud slides on railway tracks, and rivers and lakes in danger of flooding. So we made what might be the final hiking trip this year into the Ticino... in fact, we did a two-day trip this time, because the forecast was for sunshine, and we could save ourselves about four hours of travel instead of doing two trips.

I had made a hotel reservation in Locarno at a very well-priced hotel near the train station (including a balcony and buffet breakfast!), but unfortunately for us, the weather changed and we had sunshine only on the first of the two days, meaning we could have saved ourselves the overnight costs and easily returned home on the first day after all.

But we had a good five hours of sunshine in the Maggia Valley for our 11-km hike on the first day, starting where we had abruptly left off almost exactly a year earlier (due to early shadow from the mountains at 1 p.m.,those photos are HERE). This time we started in Coglio at 10 a.m., an hour earlier than last time, and this was the perfect timing for our sun-filled walk on the hillside along the east side of the valley. As usual, we visited villages with stone buildings and several churches (some locked, some not) with fantastic artwork. The trail was a combination of up and down through sun-dappled forests and lots of very nice views up and down the valley.  

Before heading to the hotel, we spent another half-hour at the lake in Locarno, enjoying the final rays of sunshine before the sun set. Because it wasn't cold yet, I then still sat for a while on my hotel balcony and admired the mountains surrounding Lago Maggiore, almost like a holiday in the Mediterranean. It was a lovely hotel room and we had a comfortable and quiet night there. 

Leaving home at just after 6 a.m., we got to Locarno at 9:15, and left on the bus for the Maggia Valley at 9:20. This building is near the Locarno train station. "Antica Scuderia" means "Old Horse Stables". A very pretty building now! 

Heading by bus toward the Maggia Valley. This is the view up the Melezza River toward the town of Intragna (still in the shadow of the mountains) at the junction of the Centovalli and Onsernone Valleys. 

Heading up the Maggia Valley now by bus, we just passed the town of Maggia and get a look at the hillside where we later walked along from Coglio to Maggia. 

This is the village of Coglio, where we ended our hike almost exactly a year earlier (those photos are HERE). We started here at 9:50. (3 hours 40 minutes to get here... Before the accident in the Gotthard Base Tunnel, it would have taken an hour less to get here!). 

Our first stop in Coglio was the village church (off photo on the right) but it was locked. This small chapel with frescoes of skeletons was just across from the church entrance. 

Looking back at the church as we did a small tour of the village. We are always disappointed when these village churches are locked. At first we were worried because there was fog just north of here, but that dissipated quickly. 

A very nice building we saw last time as well, but at the time in was already in afternoon shadow at 1 p.m. This time it glows in the 10 a.m. sunlight. 

If you can see it, there is a centipede made of rusty bolts climbing the trunk of this palm tree!

Streets of Coglio before we start on our first uphill section.

We started in Coglio at 9:50, and caught the bus in Gordevio at 15:11. For the entire five hours or so, we managed to stay in the sunshine. (Sunset in Gordevio was about 3 p.m.) 

The early morning sunshine in the forests made for such pretty lighting

Starting on the first uphill section of our hike. We did have a bit of shadow from the mountain here, but that's never a problem when you are walking uphill!

Typical in the Ticino: Many stone steps in the steep mountain sections. 

Emerging from the shadowy forest, we get the first look down onto the village of Coglio, where we started on our hike, and toward the middle section of the Maggia Valley with the renowned flood plains, some of the most beautiful in Europe. 

A closer look at Coglio

The pleasant mountain trail which we walked along, high above the Maggia River. 

On the other side of the valley is the "Valle di Lodano", a side valley which we have not yet explored. There is a do-able hike for us into this valley (4 hours) but one which we would not do in late fall as there is too much shadow. 

A cute little cluster of stone houses at the entrance of the Lodano Valley. 

This is a votive chapel we passed along the way. From here we had a very nice view down into the Maggia Valley. 

Down below is the town of Lodano, at the entrance to the Lodano Valley, and a town we passed through on a (second) hike we did along the Maggia Flood Plain in July of 2020 (those photos are HERE, second part).  

A closer look at the village center of Lodano, on the west side of the Maggia River. 

Maggia River below. It's now 10:45, with plenty of sunshine!

There are always side streams (forming pools) coming down from the steep mountainsides which we have to cross.... carefully, as the rocks are slippery. 

At this location called Pianezz was a junction with two trails, and we picked the higher one. Before heading on, a photo with a humungous old chestnut tree. This one must be hundreds of years old, judging by the size of the trunk. (After the photo I slipped and tumbled and hurt my knee. A bit unfortunate considering we still had over two hours to walk from here!)

A few waterfalls along the way as well.

Another mountain pool. These are always a pleasure to come across. 

This is the mountainside trail we saw from the bus window as we traveled between Maggia and Coglio on the way up the valley. There were several such stone houses along the trail. 

A large clearing here on the hillside with a fantastic view up the Maggia Valley. The flood plains here are apparently one of the most spectacular and best-preserved alluvial landscapes in Europe. (We walked through them in July 2020)

Now looking down the Maggia Valley, we get the first glimpses of the city of Maggia, the main town in the valley of the same name. 

Another view across the valley into the Lodano Valley. 

This whole hillside was yelow with lots of birch trees. 

We came across a farm where there were still some cows grazing!

A look behind us at the farm where there were still about a dozen cows grazing!

A very nice property hidden behind a fence of bamboo and other bushes. I had to find a good spot through the bushes to take a photo!

The city of Maggia below. Our trail takes us down into the city and to the back of the triangular clearing near the river (there is a famous church there, also closed) before heading back up the mountainside. 

And just below us is the parish church of San Maurizio. Once we got down into the city, we took a detour there to have a look at the inside. 

First we have to cross the stone bridge across the Salto River (Riale del Salto) at the entrance of the Valle del Salto (Salto = Jump, or in this case "Waterfall"), a side valley which we did a loop tour of in May of 2016 (Photos HERE). 

On the south side of the Valle del Salto is the Pioda Chapel. From here you can do a 3-hour loop hike into the Valle del Salto. We had our picnic lunch here at noon. The chapel has frescoes from the late 15th Century. These are some of the oldest wall paintings in the Maggia Valley (restored in 1998). 

The Pioda Chapel was built in the late middle ages and has frescoes dating from the 15th and 17th Centuries, some of the oldest wall paintings in the Maggia Valley (restored in 1998). 

On the long set of steps down into the city of Maggia. This is a repeat photo of a similar one we took on the 2016 hike! (Link to the photo to compare --> HERE) 

The path between the dry-stone walls down to the town of Maggia

I also took a photo here on our 2016 hike into the Valle del Salto, only at that time I didn't sit on that wall!

We took a detour to the parish church of San Maurizio on the north side of the town of Maggia. This building is from the early 17th Century, and it contains the remains of an earlier church, probably the main church of the valley back at the turn of the first millenium. There are apparently 100 steps (built in 1881) leading to the church.

The interior of the San Maurizio parish church. This one was unusual as it did not have a center aisle with benches on either side, but rather long benches in the middle. The church was completely renovated in 1996-1998 for 1,750,000 CHF. 

Lots of beautiful Baroque artwork. 

The side chapels are from the Baroque era, but the organ is from 1885. 

From the landing of the San Maurizio church, we get a look at the waterfalls at the entrance of the Valle del Salto, as well as the Pioda Chapel where we had our picnic lunch. (Photos of our May 2016 hike into Valle del Salto are HERE) 

Now we are heading south to the 16th Century "Santa Maria delle Grazie" church at the south end of the clearing near the river. The farmers here are still busy harvesting and drying grass!

The 16th Century "Santa Maria delle Grazie" church was unfortunately locked! Built in 1510, it is one of the oldest churches in the Maggia Valley. The windows were shuttered and we couldn't even look inside!

A sign outside the church indicated that it can only be visited during the months of May to October, three days of the week between 3 and 5 p.m., times we would most likely not be here. So I took some photos from the website ParrocchieMaggia.ch to create this collage, so we could know what the beautiful wall frescoes were like. 

After NOT visiting one of the oldest churches in the Maggia Valley, we climbed up the mountainside again and walked along a lovely level trail through vineyards and forests above the village of Ronchini, and eventually ending in Gordevio. At this point it's 1:20 p.m. 

Small hamlets on the hillside above Ronchini

Vineyards up here seem to indicate that this hillside receives lots of sunshine!

It actually got so warm that I had to change into my skirt with bare legs for the rest of the walk!

It's hard to see on this photo, but this succulent was HUGE!

At this lovely property we found an "unofficial trail" which saved us walking along the paved road. It also saved us some of the uphill climb which we still had to do before descending to Gordevio from above.  

Here we reached the east side of the town of Gordevio, technically the end of our hike (it's now 2:30 p.m, and this town is just being covered by the shadow of the mountains to the west). This was another old church which was locked (Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate).  

At least here the windows were not shuttered, and I was able to take a photo of the interior through the iron grill! This church was built in 1666

The town of Gordevio is split in two sections, separated by the river Brié. The north side of the town is now in shadow (2:35 p.m.), but the south side, called Villa, still promised lots of sunshine, so we headed there. 

Across the Brié river to the south is the other part of Gordevio called Villa. It promised more sunshine and another fabulous church building (hopefully not locked!) so we crossed the river and headed that way. 

The town fountain and community washing trough!

The front of the church called "Chiesa dei santi Giacomo e Filippo", first mentioned in documents of 1296, underwent many changes, especially in the 17th Century. We were pleased to see that this one wasn't locked!

Entering the magnificent church. Many of the decorations and paintings are more recent (19th and 20th Centuries) but still beautiful to look at. 

Looking at the back side of the church from the altar. 

Other details of the church interior. Much of the decoration is more recent from the 19th Century. The bell tower, almost fully restored, is from the renaissance times. 

We stayed as long as possible near the church before crossing the Brié River to the bus stop shortly after 3 p.m. From here we headed back to Locarno, where there was still sunshine at the lake. (Lago Maggiore).

What our 3½-hour walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps, starting in Coglio and ending in Gordevio. We had sunshine for the full five hours we spent here, so our timing was right this time.  

All the hikes we have done in the region around Locarno, and specifically the south end of the Maggia Valley, including the loop tour into the Valle del Salto, starting at the town of Maggia. 

Back in Locarno at the Lago Maggiore at 3:30 p.m., we did indeed have more sunshine here. We stayed till about 4 p.m., when the sun also disappeared here. This view is across the lake to the East. 

This tree had the most beautiful flame-coloured foliage, and I though it looked neat, how that couple was getting their photo taken here. 

We sat on a bench at the lakeshore till the sun went down at 4 p.m, and then we headed to our hotel, which was only a few minutes' walk from the lake and train station. 

Even though the sun had already gone down over the city of Locarno, the air was still mild, and I enjoyed the view from my balcony at the Hotel Garni Muralto. Right across the lake from here is the peak of Monte Tamaro. 

The view from my hotel balcony. The mountains east of Locarno still enjoy some sunshine!

Heading into the heart of the city for supper at a restaurant. This is the Piazza Grande where they hold the popular International Film Festivals. They were just setting up for some kind of event, possibly the upcoming Winter Festival

The hotel gave us a coupon for 10% to their related restaurant (which was not at the hotel but at the Piazza Grande), so we figured we might as well eat there! It was still early, not yet 6 p.m., so not too many people yet. And we were in bed and asleep by 8 p.m. 

Location of the Maggia Valley near Locarno. 

Here are photos of the hotel and breakfast the next morning, before we headed for the second excursion in the southern part of Canton Ticino.

Early morning view from our hotel balcony. This is 8:15 in the morning. Our plan was to leave on the 8:35 train to Lugano, and I was hoping we would have some sunshine by now, but it came only quite a bit later!

Buffet breakfast at the hotel at 7:15. The breakfast was included in the price of the hotel room, which is good for us because we don't eat that much for breakfast. If it is offered separately, it's about 15-20 Francs per person, and we could never eat our money's worth. 

Heading off to the train station now. This is the front of the hotel, our room was on the upper left. There is sunshine on Monte Cimetta above the city, but the cable car is currently out of service for revision, so it's good that we didnt chose this mountain for our second excursion in the area!