Travel Tips for Ascona-Locarno

1. What is the best time to go?

The climate around Lake Maggiore is predominantly mild and Mediterranean. It is not so hot in summer and very pleasant, especially in the valleys. Even in winter it is not that cold and it only snows at high altitudes in the valleys.

On average, there are 280 days of sunshine a year, making Lake Maggiore a vacation destination that is attractive all year round. If you would like to take photos in the valleys, I would recommend visiting either in summer or fall. As it is relatively warm, the season is also a little longer here, so that nature is already greening up in the valleys around the end of April and beginning of May. Even earlier directly on Lake Maggiore. There are also far fewer tourists in April, May and June than in July and August. Nature stays green for a relatively long time and if you want to marvel at the autumn colors, you have to come around the end of October to the beginning of November. --> But when exactly the first leaves are on the trees in spring and when the leaves change color in autumn cannot be said 100%, because this always depends on seasonal factors such as rainfall and temperatures.

2. How do I get there?

There are various ways to do this. Whether by car, motorcycle, train, bus, plane, boat, bicycle or on foot, there is always a way to get to Lake Maggiore. Plan your journey so that it is the most relaxed for you. There are very good train connections to Locarno and you can even travel directly to many photo spots by bus (but of course you are dependent on the timetables and not quite as flexible as with your own car). If you want to travel by plane from further away, the larger airports are Milan and Zurich. There is also an airport near Locarno, but this is not served as often.

If you come by your own car, you should note that you need a vignette if you want to use the highway, this costs 40CHF and is valid for a whole year in Switzerland.

3. Hotel or holiday apartment?

Since Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe, you should think beforehand whether you want to eat out every day or whether you would prefer to cook yourself. If you would like to cook yourself, it is worth buying the food in one of the neighboring countries before you arrive, as the prices are significantly cheaper there. If you fly to Switzerland and are traveling with a rental car, you can also take a short detour to Italy, for example, because Ascona Locarno is not far from the Italian border.

4. Restaurants

You will find the largest selection of restaurants in Ascona Locarno. The price for 1 x pizza and 1 x soft drink in a restaurant is around €35.

The valleys such as Valle Maggia and Valle Verzasca, have the most photo spots, but far fewer restaurants than Ascona-Locarno.

5. Where should I stay

Of course, it's up to you whether you like it more luxurious or authentic.

In Ascona-Locarno you will find many hotels in every price range. The advantage of staying in Ascona Locarno is that you will also find many restaurants there.

The disadvantage, however, is that you always have to drive into the valleys first, as most of the photo spots are located there. In Ascona Locarno, you can also go shopping or stroll along the promenade.

Most of the photo spots are in the Maggia and Verzasca valleys, so the quickest way to reach them is to stay overnight in the valleys. This is very good in combination with a vacation apartment, as there are not so many restaurants in the valleys. So if you book accommodation there and prefer to eat out, you should first check Google Maps to see if there is a suitable one nearby, otherwise you may have to drive to Ascona Locarno to eat there.

6. My recommendation

In the region you will find a lot of so-called rusticos, which are typical stone houses. If you would like to spend the night in one of these traditional houses, you should have a look at Airbnb there you will find a lot of great accommodations in the Maggia Valley and the Verzasca Valley. In my guide I have also linked a few accommodations in different places in the valleys. But it's better to book these as soon as possible, because the best ones are quickly sold out in the high season. You often have the opportunity to cook there yourself.

I would plan 1-2 nights for both the Maggia Valley and 1-2 nights for the Verzasca Valley. Depending on how much you want to see, you can spend significantly more time there.

7. Camper Van

Another option is to travel by camper van. This gives you the advantage that you can cook for yourself and stay overnight directly in the valleys relatively cheaply. There are some parking spaces where you are allowed to stay overnight with your motorhome for a fee. In some cases there are sanitary facilities and the prices for these are around €20-30 per night. The best way to do this is to download the Park4Night app.

8. Useful Apps

There are so many apps that can be useful on your trip, but here are a few that I use the most.

Google Maps is, in my opinion, the best way to get from A to B as well as to search for restaurants in the area. Maps.me here you can download some maps of regions for free and use them for your trip. The best thing about this is that you don't need any mobile data and almost all hiking trails are marked. Kommot & Alltrails these are special hiking apps where you can find hiking tours. Some of my hikes lead to the apps where the complete route is marked and you can also use them with the free version. SunSeeker, this is an app that shows you where the sun rises and sets. This can be very helpful to see whether a place is more worthwhile for sunrise or sunset.

9. Mobile Data

Mobile data in Switzerland. This can actually be an expensive affair because your EU roaming is not free here. You will often have to pay an extra fee per day on top of your normal rate and depending on how long you stay this can add up. If you are staying for a longer period of time, I recommend buying a local SIM card such as Yallo (Surf unlimited). Here you get unlimited data volume for one month (approx. €40). If you don't feel like looking for a shop, you can easily buy an e-Sim from Holafly, for example. Here you can choose the days flexibly and also get unlimited data volume, the only disadvantage here is that you can't set up a hotspot with it.