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Square
Piazza della Riforma
The main square of Lugano, with the neoclassical town hall and cafés with outdoor tables, the starting point for the arcaded streets of the center, such as Via Nassa.
Ticino · Switzerland
Lugano
In the destination Lugano and the Ticino.
In the photo: Lugano and its lake seen from above
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The city
What to expect from Lugano.
Lugano is the largest city in Ticino, the Italian-speaking Switzerland, on the shore of the lake of the same name and between two hills, San Salvatore and Brè. The center features the Piazza della Riforma, arcaded streets like Via Nassa, the cathedral of San Lorenzo above the station, and the church of Santa Maria degli Angioli with Bernardino Luini’s large Passion fresco. On the lakefront are the LAC cultural center, housing the Swiss Italian art museum, and Parco Ciani. Funiculars climb both hills, and boats take visitors to the villages of Gandria and Morcote. Italian is spoken, and the climate is milder than in northern Switzerland.
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The local experience
What to see in Lugano
Church
Cattedrale di San Lorenzo
Lugano's cathedral, on a terrace above the center and below the station, with a Renaissance marble façade and a view of the lake.
Church
Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angioli
Franciscan church consecrated in 1515, at the end of Via Nassa, with the large fresco of the Passion and Crucifixion painted by Bernardino Luini in 1529.
Museum
LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura
Lakeside cultural center, opened in 2015, housing the Museu de Arte da Suíça Italiana, the MASI, and a concert and theater hall.
See 5 more places in Lugano
Park
Parco Ciani
Lugano's main park on the lakeshore, with Villa Ciani, palm trees, camellias, azaleas, sculptures and waterside paths.
Viewpoint
Monte San Salvatore
Hill of about 912 metres above Lake Lugano, reached by funicular since 1890, with a church and terrace at the top and views of the lake and the Alps.
Viewpoint
Monte Brè
Hill of about 925 metres east of Lugano, with a funicular since 1912 from Cassarate, offering views of the gulf and the village of Brè with its stone houses.
Village
Gandria
Medieval fishing village on the shore of Lake Lugano, with houses clinging to the hillside and narrow stepped lanes, reachable by boat or via the Sentiero dell'Olivo.
Village
Morcote
Lakeside village on Lake Lugano, at the foot of Monte Arbostora, with arcaded houses along the waterfront and the stairway that climbs to the church of Santa Maria del Sasso.
Rotas entre países
Lugano is part of the Bernina Express: Chur–St. Moritz–Tirano
The red train that crosses the Alps from Suíça to Itália: viaducts, spiral tunnels, glaciers and the lago Bianco, from Chur to Tirano in about four hours, with a bus to Lugano.
