The weather report on the evening news for Sunday was: “In the north grey in grey and rain is to be expected. In the south lots of sun and temperatures around 15 degrees.” It had been grey in grey all week and it had also rained. A bit of sun would be great. Luckily I live centrally in Switzerland and every country border can be reached in 2-3 hours (max. 4 hours). So I spontaneously decided to take the train south to Locarno. Thanks to the Gotthard tunnel, I reached Locarno in 3 hours 34 minutes (online timetable 😊). That meant getting up early, but what wouldn’t you do for a bit of sun? When I changed trains in Lucerne, I had enough time for a coffee and a “Bachmann”.
Before the Gotthard tunnel it was really grey in grey and in between it was also raining when I looked out of the train window. When the journey through the Gotthard tunnel begins, a special display appears on the train.
“We are now travelling through the Gotthard base tunnel for about 20 minutes. With a length of 57km, this is the longest railway tunnel in the world.”
After the tunnel, it was indeed pure sunshine. However, there was a technical fault with the railway system and so the arrival in Bellinzona was delayed by 10 minutes and my connection to Locarno was gone. Fortunately, I only had to wait 10 minutes for the next train. Everything was half as bad. I enjoyed the sun on the platform.
Arrived in Locarno, I first went to the lake. If you expect a report about all kinds of sights with a historical treatise, you are wrong. I just wanted to enjoy the sun, sit by the lake, walk around the town and take some nice photos. There were many people out and about. Some were lying by the lake, others were sitting on one of the many benches and still others were taking advantage of the weather for a photo shoot.
There was a playground about halfway along the path. This was actively used.
When the direct path by the lake ended, I turned back and found a restaurant with a terrace by the lake. It was about time to have lunch. The sun was shining so strongly that I could enjoy the meal without a jacket, wearing only a sweatshirt.
Simply wonderful. Then we continued towards the city. Past the “Walk of Fame” to the Piazza Grande. The “Walk of Fame” is a collection of handprints of artists from all over the world who have performed at the annual music festival “Moon & Stars”.
This is only a selection, if you want to see all the handprints you have to go to Locarno yourself 😉.
Then we went on to the Piazza Grande. The Christmas market was being set up there in full swing. There was also a big Christmas tree. I found that a bit strange in these warm temperatures.
Past the castle, I simply walked back through Locarno to the lake. Then I enjoyed the sun on the lake again before taking the train back home.
