Hiking near Lugano, Switzerland

I couldn't believe we had spent an entire year here and never actually been to Ticino - the "Italian" Canton of Switzerland!  Well, we had seen it on the train - but clearly that doesn't count - right?  So it took me a few days, but I convinced Nathan that we should do a hike here for our last weekend in Switzerland! 

I found a hike on myswitzerland.com (one of my favorite sites!) from Monte San Salvatore to Morcote and then ending with a boat trip back to Lugano.  Boat trip?  Um hello - you know I'm in!  The train ride was a little far for a one day trip - 3 hours there and back but we had a lot of stuff to do on Sunday (including pack) so we sucked it up and even convinced Sarah and Zann to come with us!

This 4 hour hike was said to have some of the best scenic views in Switzerland and it didn't disappoint!  From the very start it was beautiful!

The summit of the Monte San Salvatore

Same location but to the South

I thought we would have better views of the water during the middle part of the hike, but the trail went through the forest a lot - we even hiked through the Lugano Botanical Gardens - it was still a little early in the season but I know it will be beautiful in a few weeks when everything is in bloom!

Nathan chillin' in the botanical gardens:)

The end of the hike was so amazing - I really thought we were in Italy!

And then - the boat ride back to Lugano!

It really felt like we were in Italy - but cleaner and the public transportation ran on time - ha!:)

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

(ok.- beer the generic beer of Switzerland - ahhhhh!)

The whole time we have been here I have been trying to get a good picture of Nathan and I with the Swiss Flag and Sarah finally got it for us!  I like to call this the money shot!:)  Thanks Sarah!

We walked around the quaint little town of Lugano then had a great Italian dinner at Tango near the water- and topped it off with some gelato, of course!  Great final weekend in Switzerland!

Here's a link to the rest of the pictures it you want to see them!