San Bernardino into Italian Switzerland - 5 Days

I flew into Zurich and my friend picked me up to drive me over to his village called Embrach. Its located in the Zurich wine country about 20 minutes north of the city. I arrived on a holiday unfortunately which meant shops were shut, streets empty, everyone home. If you land on a holiday like this and got no one to celebrate with, I'd take a stroll along the streets/roads you're in.

Out of the village and up the farm lanes towards Oberembrach were amazing postcard views. There was a little stream tumbling over rocks beside the path, green fields everywhere and big grey clouds sitting on the hills. On a clear day you can see the Alps from up there which is epic.

The best thing I saw all day was a farm trailer piled with carrots. Just a mountain of them, they use them to feed the deers that are there. So many wild bambis and cows! That is the Zurich countryside - it is farms, not chalets.

The practical one. A lot of the farms out here sell straight from the farm, often from a self-serve fridge or stand with an honesty box. Take coins. It is the cheapest way to eat well in a country where a sandwich will cost you what dinner costs at home.

After the long rest day we started the true journey through Switzerland. My friend had a car so we were able to drive around everywhere and take the scenic route. If you are not being driven, a PostBus runs some of these routes all year. We went the long way, east through Nesslau and up to Schwägalp. There was still snow all over the mountain and the road up there was quiet.

From there it is south and into the mountains proper. The San Bernardino pass road is shut all winter - so in April you go through the tunnel, not over the top. We came out the other side at Pian San Giacomo just after 6pm and it was a different country. Same Switzerland, but the signs are Italian, the cobble stone streets and colorful houses are a strong contrast from grey Zurich and countryside greens.

My friends family had another house in Brissago on Lago Maggiore. We got there just in time for a pink sunset with palm trees in the horizon. Dinner was at Gabietta, a family place right on the lake shore that has been going since 1972, and I had a big dish of baked lasagna, bubbling and cheesy, the first proper Italian thing I ate in Switzerland. And lots of wine.

The next day we went on a long, straight drive through the valley. No plan, no bookings, stop wherever looks good.

Our first stop at Verzasca starts with a lake. Lago di Vogorno sits behind the Verzasca dam, long and dark green, with cloud hanging halfway down the mountains, and the road runs along the edge of it. The dam is the GoldenEye bungee jump, and walking across the top of it is free.

Lavertezzo's water is stunning and crystaly, green clear. It runs over smooth white and grey rocks that the river has polished into curves. I went during the cold soI couldn't take a dip in it, but I walked on the stones which were a bit slippery. There is also the beautiful bridge in the back, a very photoesque picture. One of its two arches is a 1960 rebuild after a flood took it out in 1868.

We kept going up the valley past old stone houses with stone roofs, the kind that look like they grew out of the ground, all the way to Sonogno at the top. From there it is a flat 20 minute walk to La Froda, a waterfall pouring straight off the rock face at the end of the valley.

We drove out of Verzasca and up into Locarno Monti, the part of the town that climbs the hill above the lake. We did what we did all trip, walked the neighbourhood with no plan and stopped at a bar for a beer while the light went. It was early evening, the light was going gold, and everything up there is stacked on top of everything else - pastel houses, palm trees, cranes, balconies, and then snow on the mountains right behind it all. A yellow villa with two palm trees in front of it and white peaks behind is the most Ticino picture I have.

I started at the Piazza Grande down in the centre, which is free. There was also the funicular up to Madonna del Sasso which I didn't do, but it takes you to the church which sits on the rock above town. We drove to Cardada and on up to Cimetta, where you can see the lowest point in Switzerland and the highest point at the same time!

Although I stayed at a friends house, there is a cool thing you can do here which is get The Ticino Ticket. This is where you stay one night in a hotel, hostel or campsite anywhere in the canton and trains and most buses in Ticino are free for your whole stay, plus 20 to 30% off the cable cars and funiculars.

Last morning, and it started with Lago Maggiore and a palm tree in the way.

Brissago sits right on the lake, on the border with Italy, and it is at the lowest point in Switzerland - 193 metres, which after days of mountains is a strange thing to stand at. It feels like the Mediterranean. Cypresses, palms, lemon trees in gardens, old stone houses dropping down the hill to the water. We stayed at a friend's house up in the hamlet of Piodina, above the village, and the view from there over the lake is the reason to go up the hill instead of staying on the shore.

The Brissago Islands, the botanical gardens out on the lake, are seasonal, so check the dates before you plan a morning around them. They sit just off the shore and you get there by boat.

Then the long drive back north, through the tunnel, and out into grey Zurich skies again. By evening we were home in Embrach and the field outside was full of dandelions. Two cows walked straight up to the fence to look at us like we were the strange ones, which, after four days of palm trees, maybe we were.