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The small, almost perpetually sunny city of Lugano, located in Switzerland’s only Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, gracefully straddles a fine line between two identities—it is at once firmly rooted in Switzerland’s famous efficiency and pastoral beauty, while also boasting a very Italian sense of style.
An overlooked jewel hugging its very own lake—Lake Lugano—the city has long been a haven for writers and artists drawn to its palm tree-lined beauty, Alpine foothills, warm summer weather, and relative sense of ease. During the long days of COVID lockdowns, northern Swiss travelers were drawn to the city and its sense of remove (as well as drastically different weather from the rest of the country) in increased numbers. Today the spark of energy ignited by its recent increase in domestic popularity continues, and Lugano has slowly been drawing visitors from further and further afield.
Nearly 10 years ago the city welcomed an impressive new museum, MASI: The Art Museum of Italian Switzerland as part of the larger LAC: Lugano Art and Culture complex, and its contemporary gallery scene began to swell. “It is a very small city with a concentration of art spaces,” Daniele Agostini, a local curator and gallerist, tells Vogue. “A transformation happened some years ago now and there’s been the development of a more exciting art scene in Lugano.”
That transformative spirit has worked its way into Lugano’s wine-growing hills. Renowned for its unique terroir, the area’s unique microclimate also garnered more European and global attention in recent years. “Being in Switzerland, but very close to the Italian border, gives us a microclimate that has some Alpine and some Mediterranean traits at the same time,” Bendetta Molteni, a Ticinio-based oenologist tells Vogue. “Each vineyard here is different. We have porphyry, a volcanic stone, very rich in minerals, which gives us a unique and elegant Merlot, and other vineyards that are very rich in limestone, perfect for Chardonnay.”
With new, intimate wineries within the city limits, a vibrant art scene, a handful of new boutique hotels, and some of the county’s award-winning restaurants, Lugano is a city enjoying a quiet renaissance. The once relatively sleepy city, long overshadowed by its neighbor Como, has now woken up—and established itself as a destination unto itself.
Where to Stay
This elegant, lakeside hotel has been Lugano’s most formidable and luxurious address since it opened in 1887. Today the hotel retains its allure of the late 19th century’s gilded age of travel, with glamorous common spaces and generously sized guest rooms swathed in heavy drapery and with wallpaper that matches the bedspreads. There is little modern about Hotel Splendide Royal—save for the addition of a small pool and spa—but indeed, that is its appeal. The five-star hotel has a timeless feel most notable at the main restaurant, La Veranda, which serves a sumptuous Champagne breakfast buffet and formal dinners attended by a small army of servers.
The hotel has welcomed a who’s who of guests throughout its illustrious history, from diplomats and dignitaries to musicians and movie stars—including Angelina Jolie, Sophia Loren, Patti Smith, Stevie Wonder, and the late Tina Turner, herself a Swiss resident. Most rooms overlook the lake and Lugano’s most famous mountain, San Salvatore, and it’s easy to while away the hours watching boats and swans float over the surface. In addition to its main restaurant, Hotel Splendide Royal is also home to one of Lugano’s most coveted restaurants, I Due Sud. Boasting a Michelin Star, it serves a cuisine drawn from the flavors of, as its name implies, two souths: southern Italy and southern Switzerland. I Due Sud seats just 20 guests, so advance reservations are required.
If the Splendide represents old Lugano, The View represents the future. A new and distinctly contemporary hotel, The View is located in the aptly named village of Paradiso just slightly further around the lake from the Hotel Splendide. The hotel has just 18 suites, all with balconies facing the lake. The suites are designed in sleek chrome and tonal colors and textures more reminiscent of a ship’s staterooms than a hotel’s guestrooms. The emphasis, unsurprisingly, is on the view, which is—from whatever angle you look—stupendous thanks to the hotel’s elevation above the lake, the city, and the Alpine foothills. The View makes up for the fact that it’s not walkable to Lugano’s city center by offering all guests complimentary use of electric Smart cars and bicycles. In addition to making waves as a modern addition to a city otherwise saturated in history, The View is on locals’ lips for its fine dining restaurant which serves Swiss and Mediterranean cuisine and also claims a Michelin Star.
In the hills above Lake Lugano, surrounded by streets so quiet you might think you’re deep in the countryside, is one of the area’s most tranquil stays, the Relais Castello di Morcote. A true boutique hotel with just 12 rooms, Relais Castello di Morcote opened in 2019. Built in the 17th century as a convent, the three-story stone building housed nuns for over 300 years before a brief chapter as an architecture school in the 1980s. In 2018, a local family began an extensive renovation of the historic building, charging architect Francesca Neri Antonello with the meticulous transformation. The work paid mindful attention to the building’s impeccable bones, preserving the original 17th-century painted coffered ceilings, the Arzo marble fireplace, and the 18th-century inlaid wood floors.
A redesign of the rooms into contemporary spaces with moody tones and organic materials complements the views of Lake Lugano and the Morcote hills. Meanwhile, the hotel’s Ristorante, La Sorgente, serves simple breakfasts and elevated grotto-inspired dinners. A 10-minute walk away is the hotel’s 370-acre wine estate, Tenuta Castello di Morcote: The terraced property has been growing grapes since the time of the Romans, and today the estate grows and produces four varieties of wine, including Switzerland’s rarely exported white Merlot. The tasting room echoes the hotel design—both historic and modern, and within eyesight of Morcote’s castle, built in the 15th century by the Duke of Milan. Both the wine estate and the hotel are popular with guests with their own transportation (Morcote is about a 15-minute drive to Lugano’s city center), yet Switzerland’s excellent public transportation means a car rental is far from a necessity.
Where to Eat and Drink
Switzerland is the country that gave the world fondue, raclette, and rösti. And while these mountain staples can be found throughout Lugano—most authentically in small restaurants in the hills outside of town—the fact that the city is in the small county’s Italian-speaking canton means you can find pasta and pizza that rivals any in tourist-heavy Como, just across the border. It’s Lugano’s embrace both the Swiss and Italian sides of its identity that form the basis of its food scene.
The pasta and pizza and gelato will come, but you cannot visit Lugano without exploring its grottos, a type of restaurant typically small, family-owned, and unique to the canton of Ticino, that serves rustic, homemade dishes. Traditionally grottos were quite literally carved out of boulders and used for food and wine storage, and today, many of the area’s grottos retain their homey atmosphere and traditional long stone tables. Grotto Figini in Collina d’Oro, a few minutes from downtown Lugano, serves dishes such as wild rabbit and polenta served with mounds of porcini mushrooms and local mountain cheese. At Vicania in Vico Morcote, you’ll find grotto cuisine served in an elegant space. Dishes like wild boar ragout and risotto stewed with pumpkins are served inside by a large wood-burning fire in the winter or outside in a meadow in the summer.
The pizza in Lugano is served simply and with thin crusts, and any of the restaurants lining Lugano’s main square, Piazza della Riforma, will satisfy. Yet Tango punches above the rest with its lively outdoor seating, no-nonsense servers, and impeccable people-watching vantage point. Its rival is Ristorante della Posta, a family-run spot that feels very much of a different era. Located in Morcote, the best seating is outside on a patio built over the lake. The pizza here, particularly the quattro formaggi, is delicious. It’s fiercely unchanged from the mid-century and you’ll find cigarette holders still in place in the restrooms—both at the urinals in the men’s room and at the sink in the ladies.
The arrival of a new arts center and new hotels like The View have done much to put the small city further on the map. Lugano is now home to three Michelin-starred restaurants, which translates to one for every 20,000 people. In addition to the Michelin-starred restaurants at hotels The View and Splendide Royal, you’ll find Meta. The restaurant opened in early 2020, serves a Mediterranean menu, and has a dining room overlooking the lake.
Perhaps the best place to enjoy Lugano’s lake views is with a glass of hand, and nowhere offers a better view (or martini) than the grand historic hotel Villa Principe Leopoldo. Built in 1868 as a private residence for the Prussian Prince Leopoldo von Hohenzollern, the Belle Époque style villa is now a five-star hotel with a wide lawn perched above the main building. While a glass of Champagne with that view is reason enough to visit, you may be tempted to stay for dinner at their fine dining restaurant.
Meanwhile, Grand Café Al Porto in downtown Lugano first opened in 1803 and was known as a gathering place for writers, artists, politicians, and intellectuals. Today, the elegant café is the city’s most charming spot for an espresso or cappuccino, the latter of which is served the Italian style with a small glass of water. The café is located along Via Pessina, a small street in downtown Lugano where fairy lights hang like chandeliers and locals walk by as if on a runway, peacocking their designer goods. Take a table outside to watch the world go by.
Even if you don’t look for gelato while in Lugano, it will find you. The dessert is served nearly everywhere, from storefronts to street carts. You’ll find some of the best at La Gelateria di Lugano along the lake in downtown Lugano and at La Casa Del Gelato in Morcote.
What to Do
Lugano is a feast for the eyes. The city’s postcard-sized downtown is a pedestrian-only area made for slow strolling, extended meals, and leisurely cappuccinos. Pastel and brightly colored buildings line the piazzas and side streets, and you can lose hours walking, people watching, and window-shopping—the city, Italian in its soul, is no stranger to that country’s labels (Gucci and Prada are just two with storefronts here). The lake is of course the beating heart, and benches and a lovely park make the waterfront the key attraction. In the warmer months, pedal and motorboats are available to rent, and ferries shuttle you to nearby scenic villages, with a popular route being the roughly 15-minute journey to the lakeside village of Gandria.
San Salvatore, Lugano’s most notable mountain, looms heroically over the city. A well-marked hiking trail leads to the top of the roughly 3,000-foot mountain, as does a historic funicular. First opened in 1890, the funicular runs daily and late into the evening, serving a small restaurant at the summit. Sweeping 360-degree view offers vantage points of the city, Lake Lugano, the Alps, and, in the distance, Italy.
First settled by the Romans in the first century BCE, Lugano has an impressive history. Two churches in particular are worth a visit: the Cathedral of San Lorenzo whose façade dates back to the early 16th century, and the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, which is home to a fresco by Bernardino Luini, a disciple of Da Vinci, and considered a Renaissance masterpiece.
A decade ago, Lugano lacked the type of art museum or concert hall that was a destination unto itself, and nearby Milan remained the preeminent venue for performances and exhibitions. In recent years, Lugano has invested in its ability to attract big names in music and the arts, and in 2015 LAC: Lugano Art and Culture was created. A multi-use, multi-genre performing arts venue, LAC hosts theater, dance, and music performances, and is also home to MASI: The Art Museum of Italian Switzerland. MASI’s spacious, contemporary galleries showcase rotating exhibitions, and in its decade of existence, has helped LAC transform the city into a small hub of the arts. Recent exhibitions have included shows of Chagall, Miró, Giacometti, and Dalí, as well as individual shows of works by Alexander Calder and the photographer Luigi Ghirri.
Lugano also has several smaller galleries and art spaces including Sonnenstube, Fondazione Gabriele e Anna Braglia, Museo Gipsoteca Giudici, and Gallerie d’Arte di Lugano where work by emerging, contemporary, and Swiss artists are given prominence.
In 1919, the writer Hermann Hesse moved from Germany to Switzerland and made Montagnola, in the hills outside of Lugano, his home. That home, where Hesse penned some of his most famous novels including Siddhartha, is now a small museum with exhibition rooms, a café, and a self-guided walking tour through the village with stops at places that were significant in Hesse’s work and life.
Ticino also houses the second smallest wine region in Switzerland. As the only canton in Switzerland south of the Alps, its terroir is distinct from the country’s other five regions thanks to its Mediterranean climate, warmer temperatures, and frequent sunshine. One need not stroll far from downtown Lugano to sample the local viticulture and Tenuta Casetllo di Morcote makes for a lovely day trip, while Moncuccetto is a short walk from the city center.