Lugano is in the southern part of Switzerland in the Ticino region and it’s one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever see. In Ticino Italian is spoken as the main language and you’ll notice that the vibes, the food and the people are much more closely related to Italy than to Switzerland - it’s a little Italy within Switzerland and has a little bit the best of both worlds. Tourists from all over the country flock to the Ticino region in the summer but also in March/April and October/November as these months tend to already bring bad weather to the northern part of Switzerland while the weather in Ticino is still mild.

I have finally come around to doing the guide for my home town - Lugano - below you’ll find where to eat, drink and sleep in this charming city in the south of Switzerland. It was definitely not easy to list my favourite restaurants as there are really a lot of great places where you can eat or snack. The best part of a trip to Lugano is combining something a bit more fancy with an evening at a “Grotto” to see everything the city has to offer.

On warm spring and summer days in Lugano, a picnic is always a good idea with or without COVID-19 restrictions. The beautiful lake and the majestic mountains surrounding the city invite you to discover the nature and take a break to just sit down, eat good food and enjoy life. I have made a list of my all time favourite picnic spots around Lugano (and some around the Ticino area) which I hope you will enjoy.

This weekend we decided to spend the weekend in Morcote, Ticino and try some restaurants we had been very curious about for some time now. Morcote was voted as the “nicest village of Switzerland in 2016” and it really leaves you breathless every time you go. Even though Morcote is located on 10Km from Lugano and could also be done as a day trip, we decided that we would dedicate our entire weekend to the activities in and around this lovely area.