One day trip by car between Como and Lugano lakes (Italy -Switzerland)

Today I share with you a day trip with some friends of mine around the lakes of Como in Italy and Lugano in Switzerland. Driving few hours from Turin through the motorway in the morning. We did not have problem with traffic untill the motorway surrounding Milan. It is common to find some traffic during the weekend many cars are travelling. We followed the direction to Como and then the road on the northern east side of the lake The road became narrower with some curves, I had to slow down also because I would stop to take some photos of some lookout.

The shape of the lake Como looks like an inverted “Y” and it is considered the deepest one in Italy. We stop close to Bellagio situated in the middle between the two most southerly extreme point of lake. We found parking in front of a beautiful lookout of the lake above the town. It requires a car or moto or (if you are trained enough) a bicycle or walk a lot.

Anyway we enjoyed it a lot. Later we moved to the wharf, caught a car ferry and we reached the other side to Cadenabbia. We spent almost one hour to wait the car ferry and cross the lake.

Once we landed we followed the coastal road towards the north untill a small village on the coast named Ca'Bianca and turn on the left following the road SS340 direction Lugano in Switzerland. From that small town traffic became more smoothly. Driving became more confortable without traffic. Few decades of kilometers required to reach the Lugano lake still part of Italian territory.
When we reached the eastern part of that lake and an amazing view seemed to wait for us. We had a stop over to take some photos.

Keep driving along the northern coast we found further stunning views but I had to drive so I missed some part of them. We cross the Swiss boarder without a one-year sticker which is mandatory. Actually I did not need because I did not drive in a Swiss motorway otherwise I had to pay 40 CHF (around 34 euro/ 40 Usd).
The lake Lugano is situated between the Lake Como and Lake Maggiore and it surrounded by the Prealps.
In Lugano we found the parking but we had to pay a ticket. We spent few hours walking around the lake. I am impressed how it looks well organized and tidy.

Lugano is small town part the only one Italian-speaking region (Canton Ticino) in Switzerland. The official language is Italian however the signs are in different languages including French and German which are also official languages in Switzerland.

I found Lugano more expensive than Italy maybe also because of the different currency. Well it is just my impression we spent not that much time if we consider how beautiful and attractive is this location. We decided to drive back to Como lake to avoid to pay that one-year sticker.

(Here a touristic map found in Lugano to give you an idea of the way I drove through).

Even if I found some traffic I feel glad to have gone on an excursion by car around these attractive lakes. Explore new places difficult to reach with pubblic transport.

Hope you like it Thanks for your attention

Best Regards

All the photos are my own property.