[Idyllchat] Switzerland: day trip to the Ticino

[st.gretener at bluewin.ch]

Betty,

A train trip from Sachseln to Locarno or Lugano (major cities and 
tourist areas in the Ticino) takes around 4 hours (one way). 8 hours 
in train seems to be a long time for a day trip, I agree. But I'm 
doing this "pilgrimage" at least two times a year for the following 
reason:

The weather in the Ticino can be completely different from the 
weather in northern Switzerland. It can happen that you have rain in 
the Heartland for the 3...4 consecutive days with temperatures around 
55° F, while the sun is pushing up the thermometer to 80° F on every 
single day in Ticino. So, when the bad weather is getting on your 
nerves, check the weather forecast for the Ticino!

Furthermore, the Gotthard line that connects the Heartland with the 
Ticino is a scenic train line in Switzerland (of course not so famous 
like other scenic train lines). Specialties are the 7 spiral tunnels 
and the 9.33 miles long Gotthard tunnel. Between Erstfeld and 
Goschenen, near the town of Wassen the train gains is passing two 
spiral tunnels to gain altitude, as a result you can see the church 
of Wassen three times from different perspectives. The Gotthard line 
was opened in 1882 - 125 years ago.  In the course of this jubilee, 
SBB has started with a panorama coach service on the Gotthard line. 
In each direction, 10 trains a day have a panorama coach, you just 
need a first class ticket (no surcharge), seat reservation is 
recommended on Friday to Sunday and throughout the summer.

And if you don't want to return the same way: start your day trip 
with the Lotschberg line (Spiez - Brig), change in Domodossola (first 
city in Italy coming from Switzerland) to the Centovalli train that 
takes you to Locarno and return via Gotthard line - this is still a 
day trip, but you will be riding trains for about 10 1/2 hours.

Have fun when discovering Switzerland!

Greetings from Olten, Switzerland
Stefan






>We are taking the Swiss Heartland tour... the apartment is 
>in Sachseln. Need to know how far it is to Ticino. Is it a day
>trip (there and back with some sightseeing and shopping), 
>or should we spend the night there? Thanks, Betty