Riding Boats on Lake Lugano from Melide to Morcote to Paradiso to Gandria

Sunday September 29, 2024 -- We wanted to do a longer trip with our visitors from USA, and even though there was an event going on this day in the city of Lugano (foot races through the city, from shorter races for children, to half-marathons) and we were worried that there might be too many people, but the weather forecast for the region was just too good to pass up a trip to the Ticino. We chose Lugano because our day tickets would include boat rides as well as trains, and there were a couple of old churches we wanted to look at.

We ended up changing plans along the way, but the crowds were less than expected for a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and visiting the town of Morcote at the very south end of the San Salvatore range was definitely worth the trip. (Lots of narrow alleyways, and a long 40-step staircase to the large church of Santa Maria del Sasso, and a visit to the huge mausoleums in the graveyard there). We ended up spending a lot of time on the boats, hitting all the shores of Lake Lugano in the region between Monte San Giorgio / Lugano / Gandria, but ran short on time for a couple of the walks we wanted to do and churches we wanted to look at.

But luckily our guests love riding on boats, so it was a hit with them, and we had a fine pizza dinner in the city before heading home at about 6:30 p.m. The nice thing about Lugano as a destination is that we were back home in less than two hours! And we all rode First Class to boot (very important on a beautiful Sunday, as Second Class is usually packed on this stretch...)

In Melide on Lake Lugano, waiting for our first boat of the day.

Our first goal of the day was the town of Morcote at the south end of the San Salvatore range. The best way to get there was to take the train to Melide, walk to the dock, and catch the boat from there! This first of four boats for the day was called the LUGANO. We got on the boat at about 10:40

From Melide, it was a 20-minute boat ride to Morcote. Our main goal here is to visit the church of Santa Maria del Sasso (Our Lady of the Rock), after visiting all the alleyways in town first.

There is a Grand Tour of Switzerland frame here!

Discovering the alleyways of Morcote

This beautiful cat was a hit with everyone! It came down to the alley to visit.

Alleyways of Morcote

The Ticino palm trees give the region a real Mediterranean flair. Only, these are actually invasive plants from China! They have become such a problem, that there have recently been new laws implemented which forbids the sale, trade or gifting of these trees.

That's a very cute mailbox!

Discovering the alleyways of Morcote

Always cute details around each corner

Back on the main road next to the lake, we make our way to the staircase up to the large church on the hill.

That tree is a called a pine tree, and it's where pine nuts come from

Lakeside promenade

Santa Maria del Sasso towers above us

Heading up a long set of stairs. Along the way we pass a smaller wayside shrine with lovely frescoes. It is called Sant'Antonio Abate and you can peek through the barred windows at the 15th Century frescoes.

View over the rooftops of Morcote. The mountain on the other side of the lake here is alled Monte San Giorgio, and it is one of Switzerland's 13 UNESCO World Heritage Sites for the large amount of fossils found there. (This region used to be underwater from the Mediterranean Sea).

Heading up a long flight of stairs. There are apparently 400 steps leading up to Santa Maria del Sasso.

The view across the south end of Lake Lugano is to Italy. The invisible border is right down the center of the lake. At the back is the town of Porto Ceresio, where we took a boat to later.

The first building we come to is a separate religious building called Oratorio Sant'Antonio da Padova (Saint Anthony of Padua). It was built in mid-17th Century in the hopes that this might deter all the deaths by the plague (It didn't work, but the building was the most beautiful in Morcote at the time.

A stucco craftsman from Turin completed the interior decorations at the time.

Gorgeous sculptures

Ceiling painting depicting the life of the apostles.

Opposite the Oratorio is the entrance to the magnificent Santa Maria del Sasso church. This is a Renaissance-Baroque building completed in various stages from the 15th to 18th Centuries. It is suggested this church was built because the Oratory became too small to accommodate the growing religious population.

The magnificent organ was built in 1700.

The entire interior is one wonderful piece of artwork.

All kinds of different ceilings

The church features three naves and five altars.

A very interesting report on the history of this magnificent church can be found in English on the "Visit Morcote" website at this LINK.

Even the mosaic floors are beautiful

A fantastically-painted dome

The church features three naves and five altars, and a Latin cross (perhaps the one on the right?)

A spectacular view across the roofs of Morcote and this arm of Lake Lugano from the front entrance of the church building. On the left is an impressive cemetery which we are going to have a look at.

Jeff in particular liked the gravestones here.

Just one of many immense family mausoleums in the cemetery on the hill.

Here the deceased live better than many ordinary people. It is said that several well-known people have been laid to rest here.

Heading back down to the lake again along a different road.

On our way back down to the lake. Lots of pretty details everywhere.

The second boat we boarded (at 12:50) was called the ITALIA. It headed south to Porto Ceresio first (across the Italian border), before heading back to Morcote. So we crossed into Italy as well as all the other adventures we had this day!

A look back at the churches and cemetery on the hill as the boat heads south across the border into Italy.

This is Porto Ceresio, an Italian village on the south shore of Lake Lugano.

So many people boarding the boat in Porto Ceresio. The boat trip to here took 10 minutes.

Heading back to Morcote again. I kept an eye on my GPS and took this photo exactly on the border at the center of the lake, as we crossed back into Switzerland.

Enjoying a day on Lake Lugano

The boat docks in Morcote again, and many people boarded here again.

Seen on a Google Satellite Map, this is the excursion we did this day: From Melide by boat to Morcote, then later another hour on the boat across the border to PortoCeresio in Italy, then back to Lugano Paradiso via Campione (Italian enclave within Switzerland), then 40 minutes to Gandria where we had coffee, then back to Paradiso for the lakeside promenade into downtown Lugano where we had pizza before heading back to Zug.

The boat heads over to the base of Monte San Giorgio and stops at Brusino. The large peak at the back is called Sighignola, and the border between Switzerland (on this side) and Italy runs right across the peak.

The boat then heads to a special town at the foot of Mt. Sighignola. This is called Campione and is a full enclave of Italy withing Switzerland on Lake Lugano. The large ugly cement structure is a casino and is the main feature of Campione.

The casino at Campione. We have never been here as there is no charm in it. On this day we considered possibly getting off the boat here, but I wanted to go to Gandria, and there wouldn't have been time to do both.

As the boat heads back toward Lugano (we have to get on a different boat now) we look up the eastern arm of Lake Lugano. The town of Gandria on the left is the next place we want to visit, and it is the most eastern town in Switzerland on the lake here. The mountains and the other towns on this photo are all in italy.

Monte San Salvatore, Lugano's mountain

Docking in Paradiso (part of Lugano). The boat ride on this stretch was a little over an hour. From here we have to take a different boat to Gandria. This view is to Monte Bré. Originally we wanted to take the bus up Monte Bré, but that was where the races were taking place, and we didn't know if the buses were running.

While waiting for the next boat, there was enough time for the boys to get some gelato!

This is a very cute and probably very old olive tree!

Our third boat is now called the MORCOTE. This one travels toward the Swiss/Italian border on the east side of the lake. We boarded at 14:22.

The boat stops at the Italian border on the south side,vwhere there is a Museum about the history of the border activities. The lakeside hiking trail goes no further than here, so many people get on here again!

Approaching Gandria now on the north shore at the foot of Monte Bré. This is the furthest swiss village to the east on this part of Lake Lugano. This was about a 40-minute boat ride from Lugano Paradiso. (We have been here a couple of times, the first time descending from the village of Bré at the top, and then heading west toward Lugano along the "Olive Trail". Those photos are HERE. It was on a wintry day in January 2018)

Getting ready to dock in Gandria. There were so many people waiting to board this boat, and the alleyway they are standing in is so narrow that when we left the boat, we could barely pass them! The boat was supposed to get here at 3 p.m., but it was about 3:10 by the time we debarked.

On the spur of the moment we decided to pop into one of the lakeside restaurants for some coffee! It was the Ristorante Antico, whose terrace we saw from the boat before it docked.

We didn't have time for the 20-minute walk I wanted to do to the next boat dock in the direction of Lugano because our next boat was to leave at 4 p.m., and with the previous boat arriving late, and our stop for coffee, there wasn't enough time. But we did walk a bit along the lakeshore to the olive groves.

The cemetery at the east end of Gandria. From here we walked up a series of steps through an olive grove to the main road above.

Heading back into the village, we stopped at the village church before heading back down to the boat dock. The 16th-Century church is called San Viglio, has a magnificent Baroque interior and a late Medieval bell tower.

For such a small village, this church was magnificent!

Absolutely stunning church interior.

It's 4 p.m. now and we have to hurry, as the next boat from Gandria back to Lugano (Paradiso) leaves at 14:05

That's one very skinny house!

Made it back to the boat dock just in time for the 4 p.m. trip to Lugano. We have to wait in the narrow alleyway for all the other people to disembark!

A look back at Gandria as we head westward to Lugano. From here it's another 35-minute boat ride to the dock at Paradiso.

There is a lovely lakeside walking trail here as the boat heads westward (It's called the Olive Trail). As this is protected by the steep hillside behind it, palms and cacti and other succulents flourish here. We've walked this trail twice and it's the one I wanted to do with my friends this day, but we ran out of time.

The boat docks at the Boutique Hotel Elvezia, with a busy terrace on this nice Sunday afternoon. (When we walked past here in January 2018, it was closed for the season).

Sailboats on the lake

Urs on the boat

Interesting clouds sitting low on the Italian mountains to the East. At the foot of those mountains is Lake Como. Also, another arm of Lake Lugano past Gandria belongs to Italy.

Back in Paradiso at 4:45 p.m., we did a lovely lakeside promenade walk (2 kilometers) to the heart of the city.

Lakeside Promenade in Lugano.

There were so many very pretty palm trees on this lakeside promenade. In particular I liked the one that looked like a pineapple. It seems this is called a Canary Island Date Palm.

The goal of the lakeside promenade was to visit two very grandiose historical churches which we had discovered on the second trip we did to Gandria, having first done the lakeside walk in Lugano at the time (November 2018, those photos HERE). This is one of the two churches, Santa Maria degli Angeli (Our Lady of the Angels), built in about 1500, with the most spectacular full-wall frescoes. Unfortunately, a 4:30 p.m. mass had just started, and they did not want tourists inside, although we did have a peek.

This is the main part of the frescoed wall inside the church of "S.Maria degli Angeli", a depiction of the crucifiction of Christ, a masterpiece of Swiss-Italian Renaissance art. (My photo from 2018)

Intead of going into the church we discovered a side courtyard with an arched alleyway with old frescoes as well. This might possibly have belonged to the Franciscan Convent (part of the churcch), which was closed in 1848.

As it was now 5:15 p.m. and in the hopes the church service would end soon, we hung around for a bit, climbing the stairs of the old defunct funicular for a view across the roofs and bell-tower of the church, and this weird castle tower, which we could not figure out its historical use. Unfortunately we didn't have a chance to go into the church after all.

Continuing along the way we passed another church tucked amongst the otherwise expensive stores on the main shopping streets of Lugano (Louis Vuitton, etc.). This is the 1640 San Carlo Borromeo Church. We had a quick look inside, but were getting hungry and really needed to find a place to have some dinner, which we had at a pizzeria near the Lugano funicular.

Unfortunately we never did make it to the main cathedral in Lugano--Cattedrale di San Lorenzo--the one whose bell tower you can see from the train station in Lugano. It was about 5:30 p.m. and we were all hungry, so we stopped at the first restaurant which served pizza, and that was the "Spaghetti Pomodoro Restaurant" near the city funicular, which we then later took up to the train station for the trip home. (Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of us eating our pizza, so here are a couple of photos from the Internet of the restaurant).

This was exactly the view I had from our table at the pizza restaurant!

We sat in the arched alleyway in front of the restaurant for a nice pizza dinner. The pizza photo on the right is exactly the one Urs and I shared: A Tuna and Onion pizza! Carrie and Jeff shared a "Quattro Stagioni" pizza.

Even though we didn't make it to the St.Lorenzo church, here are photos I took back in 2018 when we visited the two churches at the time. I think the interior of these churches is just as magnificent as popular cathedrals such as St.Peter's in the Vatican, and can be enjoyed without the large crowds!!!! The church is very old, the foundation is still from pre-Medieval times. The vaulted ceiling is from the 13th and 14th Centuries. More interesting information can be found on the Lugano Tourism Website HERE.