Locarno Tips – Madonna del Sasso hike

The lovely weather has been presenting itself from the side in the last few months. While we are on our way to a boozy (according to the weather forecast) hut tour in the Berchtesgaden National Park, I would like to show you the pictures from our Whitsun weekend rain escape to sunny Ticino. Weather-wise, it worked out, but not everything was idle sunshine – more on that later.

High above Lake Maggiore on the Cardada viewing platform

A visit to Locarno without a detour to the local mountain would be unthinkable for me. I love the Cardada observation deck, which juts out into the vacuum and offers a 180-degree panorama over Lake Maggiore and the Centovalli. I was already up here on my last visit to Locarno and this time we headed straight for the funicular, with which we comfortably overcome the few meters of altitude from Locarno to the Cardada/Cimetta cable car station in Orselina. After soaking up a strong dose of sun, we set off on foot on the way back from Orselina to the old town of Locarno. This can be combined with a detour to the magnificent pilgrimage church of Madonna del Sasso. The impressive location of this church building amazes me every time.

The most beautiful town square in Switzerland

If you walk down from Madonna del Sasso to Locarno via the Stations of the Cross (Via Crucis), you will end up in the middle of the maze of alleys of the small old town. The only pity is that beautiful squares, such as Piazza Sant’Antonio, are misused as parking lots. Instead, the Piazza Grande presents itself puddled out and we enjoy the first pizza of the year outside in the sunshine under the arcades. And when you check the miserable weather conditions on the northern side of the Alps, it feels twice as wonderful.

Postcard scenery in Ascona

After the pizza chat, we take the bus from Via della Pace for about 20 minutes to Ascona Posta. I don’t want to miss the view of one of the most famous postcard motifs in Switzerland – the colorful house front of Piazza Giuseppe Motta. We sit down on the wall parapet in front of the restaurant Seven (unfortunately it occurred to me too late to reserve a table for dinner) and watch the hustle and bustle until the sun disappears behind the horizon. An all-round successful holiday.

More appearance than reality

I remember our accommodation less positively. I spontaneously booked (4 days before) a room at Giardino Lago in Minusio for two nights. A good starting point for exploring around Locarno and towards the Verzsaca Valley. The hotel is part of the Giardino Group and is a member of Design Hotels. My expectations were correspondingly high.

It’s exciting that a few people ask me with suspicion whether this is all “advertising rice” and whether they have to be “sprinkled with advertising content” (yes, there are people who contact me with these problems…). On the one hand, no one “has to” be sprinkled. Reading these posts is voluntary. I don’t annoy you with ugly banner ads or pop-up boxes that can’t be clicked away on mobile. On the other hand, I only tell you things here that I find casual and inspiring. What many of these – I call them “envious” – also tend to overlook is that many of my trips are paid for 100% out of my own pocket. Yes, there are hotels and destinations that ask me if I would like to visit them. There I pick out the ones that I find exciting. After all, I don’t want to waste my free time in boring places and boring accommodations. And when it comes to hotels, I’m a bit of a nerd who spends hours clicking from website to website to find great new tips. In the same way, the Giardino Lago has moved onto my radar in places worth visiting. But for once, I made the wrong choice.

The Giardino Lago has style, no question about it. The view of Lake Maggiore and the location right on the waterfront that leads from Lcoarno to Tenero is also great. The double rooms are a bit small, but still no reason to be annoyed. The shaking of the head started with the service. Due to its location on the waterfront, the terrace is well filled with walk-in customers on beautiful summer days. For the hotel guests, there would theoretically be a cool roof terrace, which, according to the sign at the entrance, is served from 4:oo p.m. Unfortunately, the roof terrace remained deserted, and when I asked the restaurant downstairs shortly before 6:00 p.m., I got the answer that upstairs is not served due to the many guests on the terrace. It did not occur to the good staff to take my order and bring me the aperitif up the two floors. That would have been the least I would have expected from a hotel of this standard.

The uncoordinated group in the restaurant could not make up for their faux pas at the subsequent dinner. If you weren’t careful, you were guaranteed to be served the wrong plate. On Sunday afternoon, I was also able to observe how the service caused some guests at the next tables to shake their heads. If you don’t take part in the Lago Brunch, you can only order from the snack menu. However, this is not clearly communicated, and if you are only made aware of it after about thirty minutes of waiting and you have adjusted to pasta in the meantime, it is unfortunate. All in all, it’s a pity, because I would have liked to rave about this pretty hotel.