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 Lugano the city Lugano may be one of the most charming small
cities of Europe (52'000 inhabitants, or some 100'000
in the greater Lugano area). It is situated in one of the most beautiful
landscapes of Europe, surrounded by a splendid lake
and mountain scenery. It enjoys a mild Mediterranean climate and beautiful subtropical
vegetation, and is the tourist center of Italian
Switzerland. Lugano is a very pleasurable place to relax, whether at its
wonderful, partly palm-lined lakeshore, in its beautiful city park (equally on
the lakeshore) and other parks, or in the pedestrian area of
the old town with its welcoming piazzas, street
cafés, and elegant shops. The meeting
point in Lugano's pedestrian area is the colorful Piazza della
Riforma (shown
in the top picture),
where events and markets take place and where people like to sit
down in a café from the morning to late in the night and to drink a cappuccino
or enjoy a gelato..
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 Lugano the region Lugano
offers a great variety of excursions, among them
boat trips to the many beautiful villages situated
at the Lago di Lugano such as Gandria and Morcote;
leisurely walks along the lake or in the
surrounding mountain areas; cablecar rides to view points such as the Monte San
Salvatore, the Monte Brč, the Monte Generoso and
many others; hiking in the surrounding mountain areas;
art museums and parks and gardens to visit; and finally, sight-seeing trips to the two other major lakes of the
region, the Lago Maggiore and the Lago di Como,
as well as to some of the beautiful towns and villages
along their shores, such as Locarno and Ascona at the Lago Maggiore or Como, Menággio and Belággio at Lake
Como; or visits to Italian market towns such as Luino (Lago Maggiore) or Porlezza (Lago di
Lugano). |
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 Other places of interest And of
course, other major goals of tourist interest such
as the cities of Lucerne, Zurich or Geneva and the
breathtaking mountain scenery of the Engadine (St.
Moritz), of the Valais (Zermatt) or of the Bernese
Oberland (Interlaken between the Lakes of Thun and
of Brienz) are also within a few hours’
reach.
Finally, due to the central situation of
Switzerland in Europe, major European tourist destination
such
as Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Paris, London, Barcelona,
Madrid, Munich or Amsterdam are
also within easy reach. A
good number of these destinations can be reached very conveniently
by means of the high-tech "Cisalpino"
tilting trains. Pictures from some of these excursions can be found in the "Pictures
2002&2003" and "Participants'
Photoalbum" pages.
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