| Travel Destination Guide - Lugano |
Travel Eye on Lugano
(Switzerland)
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Hotels in Lugano |
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Overview:
Lugano is a fairly upmarket resort in Switzerland, with a broad, spacious Piazza della Riforma , a huge café-lined square located at its centre, perfect for eyeballing passers-by over a cappuccino. The lake is a few metres away behind the Neoclassical Palazzo Civico , as are the characterful steep lanes of the Old Town on the opposite side of the square.
Wandering through the dense maze of shopping alleys northwest of Riforma, you' re bound to stumble on the extraordinary Gabbani delicatessen, whose fame spreads far beyond the borders of the canton . the interior is an Aladdin. s Cave of fine salsiccia made especially for the shop, cabinets full of Alpine cheeses from the farmers of Alto Ticino, pastries and foodie delights galore.
From bustling Piazza Cioccaro just past the deli, the atmospheric stepped Via Cattedrale doglegs steeply up to Cattedrale San Lorenzo , characterized by an impressive Renaissance portal, fragments of fourteenth- to sixteenth-century interior frescoes, and spectacular views from its terrace. This area is suited to middle to upmarket and most age groups although high prices tend to attract older tourists and business people.
There are over 50 hotels of most categories which span the bay from the S suburb of Paradiso to the E suburb of Cassarate. They are designed either for leisure tourism, on the lakefront usually with pools, or for business people Locality:
This resort is 2½ mls from Lugano-Agno airport, 44 mls from Milan's Malpensa airport, 50 mls from Linate airport and 153 mls from Zurich airport. The area's largest town situated on Lake Lugano, facing south, it is backed and surrounded by hills in Ticino, the Italian-speaking region of south Switzerland.
Entertainment/Facilities/Attractions/Things to do:
Popular attractions include:
Swissminiatur is an open-air museum where one can admire the most important Swiss buildings and means of transportation on a 1:25 scale.
Minigolf Caslano - The Caslano Minigolf.
Zoo al Maglio - Magliaso, In a suggestive faunal environment on the banks of the Magliasina river, there is a zoo with more than 100 animals from all over the world. Lugano is blessed with any amount of pleasant, atmospheric places to eat , and you'll have no difficulty finding somewhere to suit your mood and your budget. Those on a tight budget should aim for the self-service diner within the big Inova department store just off Piazza Cioccaro, the lower terminus of the station funicular.
The many bars and cafés around Riforma all offer good, inexpensive food at lunch and dinner - yet although they get packed with evening drinkers, hip, bar-hopping Luganesi prefer to tuck themselves away elsewhere, filling out a handful of vibrant bars off the main streets of the centre.
The end of July sees two huge firework displays over the lake, with the Italian enclave of Campione throwing down the gauntlet on July 24 and Lugano itself responding a week later for Swiss National Day on August 1.
During the daytime there are several very good museums, including the famous Villa Favorita in the Castagnola district. The spring concert season featuring classical music; free summer jazz concerts in the main square; a grape harvest festival in the autumn.
Sporting activities include tennis, water-skiing, swimming and sailing.
Nightlife in the area consists of a few nightclubs and a casino in Campione a few miles away.
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