There’s something for every cyclist in Locarno

Yippee, spring is return­ing! For out­door fans like me, this means dust­ing off the bike and get­ting out on the trail! My jour­ney takes me to Locarno, where the pos­si­bil­i­ties for bik­ing are almost lim­it­less. In addi­tion to trails on the moun­tain, there are also trails along turquoise-blue rivers. Let’s go!

Bike with a view!

Imme­di­ate­ly after arriv­ing in the pret­ty town of Locarno, I jump on my bike. Today, I’m going up high! Part of the Car­da­da Trail at 1340 m ASL is on the agen­da. After climb­ing the first few metres of alti­tude to the Car­da­da-Orseli­na base sta­tion with my own mus­cle pow­er (it’s not pos­si­ble to take my bike on the funic­u­lar rail­way from Locarno to Madon­na del Sas­so), I can take my bike into the gon­do­la. In just a few min­utes, I’m back on the moun­tain with a mag­nif­i­cent view of the bright blue Lake Mag­giore!

Just a few hun­dred metres from the moun­tain sta­tion is the Car­dara-Cimet­ta chair­lift, where I can also trans­port my bike. I don’t let this oppor­tu­ni­ty pass me by, and the high­lights include not only the friend­ly staff, but also beau­ti­ful nature – and, of course, the var­ied and superbly marked trails through grassy land­scapes and over hill and dale. This moun­tain bike route is not suit­able for begin­ners. How­ev­er, it is not a prob­lem for inter­me­di­ate rid­ers.

A well-earned breather

After this adven­tur­ous trip, I head for Locarno Youth Hostel. I enjoy a fine cof­fee on my bal­cony before head­ing towards the lake­side prom­e­nade. Even the path across the world-famous piaz­za is mag­nif­i­cent. Strolling along the shores of the lake makes me feel a bit like I’m in Italy. Back at the hos­tel, I final­ly fill my stom­ach with a deli­cious veg­an Youm­mi menu.

Cycling for all!

The next day I absolute­ly want to bike close to the water! So I’m drawn to the Alta Verza­s­ca Bike Trail. I take the Post­Bus from Locarno train sta­tion to Brione. The cool thing is that pub­lic trans­port is includ­ed in the Tici­no Tick­et. This tick­et is pre­sent­ed to you when you check in at the youth hos­tel. Please make sure to reserve the bus in advance as space is lim­it­ed – and don’t for­get to buy a tick­et for your bike.

The easy and begin­ner-friend­ly trail starts at the «Ai Piéé» part of the vil­lage, wind­ing its way along the almost kitsch-blue Verza­s­ca. Along the way, you will pass var­i­ous vil­lages where you can mar­vel at the orig­i­nal stone hous­es. The tour is fam­i­ly-friend­ly and there are numer­ous pic­nic and bar­be­cue areas in addi­tion to restau­rants. The tour is also ide­al for grav­el bikes.

My bike tips

• Always fol­low the sign­post­ed bike trails to keep nature intact
• Take reg­u­lar breaks and shake out your hands
• Wear a hel­met, knee pads and gloves
• Be care­ful at cor­ners, as oth­er peo­ple are also out and about

More tips

A different Interlaken