Fifteen minutes by funicular, and Lugano's lake spreads out in full sun.
Morcote
Voted Switzerland's most beautiful village. The boat ride there is half the magic.
Morcote sits on a narrow point of land on the southern shore of Lake Lugano, ten kilometres from the city. For centuries it was the lake's largest port, the place where goods from Milan crossed into Ticino before the dam at Melide closed the water in 1847. That trading history still shows in the row of arcaded houses along the shore, their stone porticoes shading the lakefront.
Behind them, cobbled lanes climb into the village. From the centre, a stone stairway of about four hundred steps rises through wayside shrines to the church of Santa Maria del Sasso, built in the 13th century and decorated with frescoes from several eras. The climb is steep and unhurried by necessity.
Below, Parco Scherrer holds palms, camellias and camphor trees collected from around the world by the textile merchant who built it, opened to the public in 1965. Morcote rewards a full afternoon, not a photo stop.
