Lago Maggiore, Lago Lugano And Their Beautiful Pastel Villages 💕

When I was younger, I used to have this picture of Ascona hanging on my wall. I was dreaming of another life, where I would be living in this little town by the lake in between the mountains. This week I finally had the chance to actually spend some time in this picturesque place. 😍

The bay of Ascona looked exactly as in my picture. Colourful houses with the church clock behind them, a lake fully surrounded by mountains. It truly was an amazing view. For some reason, I had always imagined that there would be a little town with a historic centre and beautiful old buildings. I was a tiny bit disappointed to see that there was not that much to discover once you went a bit further into the streets. Nonetheless, Ascona is a beautiful place and worth a visit. ♥️ If you’re planning your trip, around two hours should be enough.

Our next stop was Locarno. It’s very close to Ascona, but a lot bigger. Locarno has its own charm and does have a historic city centre, but also hosts a lot of modern shops like you could find in any big city. In Ascona as well as Locarno, you have a beautiful view on the Lago Maggiore. You’ll also find a variety of pastel coloured houses, with oker and other yellowish tones as a clear favourite. If you’re looking for a nice day trip, you can easily combine Ascona and Locarno. They are very close to each other and they’re both not that big. We recommend a nice lunch by the lake in Ascona before you proceed to Locarno. The view is absolutely stunning! 🤩

Driving back to our AirBnB, we stumbled upon this cutesy village that looked as if time had stood still. I couldn’t resist to quickly check it out and take some pictures… As a wine enthusiast, I was also pleasantly surprised by all the vineyards we came across. Almost every house seemed to have one in their backyard! 🍇🍷

The next day we got on our way to Italy and visited Lugano. It was a lot bigger than expected. You can tell it’s a bit of a posh city with all its fancy and expensive shops, but the view you have on Lago Lugano is really astonishing. 😍 It is definitely worth the trip! We only got to spend some hours on site because we were on our way to Bellagio in Italy, but I think you could easily spend the day there. I certainly would love to hike all the way up Monte Bré ⛰ and do the olive trail one day! Unfortunately, today was not the day ’cause our doggo Yoda was getting a bit tired… We took a nice stroll along the lake and visited the Parco Ciani, which has a nice botanical garden and where you can find this beautiful gate which leads to the lake.

We were staying in Maggia, only 15 minutes away from Ascona and Locarno. Although it is very close to the cities, it’s an entirely different place. Maggia is a paradise for hikers, bikers and nature lovers! You really find yourself in the Swiss Alps. 🏔 Ascona, Locarno and Lugano are located in the province of Ticino, which is the Italian speaking part of Switzerland.