When I asked my best friend Trix where to go when in Ticino, she sent me one picture and that was decision made. Valle Verzasca, no doubt we have to go there. After our stay in Locarno we moved on up. Only about 30 minutes drive up from Locarno there’s a different world. Valley that is strongly connected with history. Stone buildings, small road with a lot of turns, mountains covered with forest…Idyllic. We were told to visit Lavertezzo, but on our way up there was so many people around that we had no chance to park a car and enjoy the little village as we would like to. We decided to drive further up and finished in Sonogno.
Sonogno is the last village in the valley. Pretty little streets, stone houses covered with flowers and peace. We decided to stay there for a night. The best thing to do there is just to take a walk around the village and stop at some restaurants/ bars (well, there’s 3 of them). We did do that. Grotto Redorta is a lovely restaurant with a breathtaking terrace and delicious ice cream. We unfortunately made a mistake and went for dinner to Restaurant Alpino . Plate with Ticino specialities that was really an antiadvertisement from the place and a disgusting frozen pizza. After this plate you honestly do not wanna eat Ticino specialities again. We know though that lack of quality is a bitch. We paid too much for what we were served (service by the way very nice and attentive). To sum up, cool place to have a drink but eat somewhere else, probably Grotto Redorta is a good place to have your dinner. After our ‘restaurant’ adventure it was time for bed, so yes – finally tent time!
We got up once again really early for 2 reasons. Firstly we wanted to enjoy Lavertezzo on the way down with not a million tourists around and secondly we had planned our via ferrata day. You might have seen a photo of a lovely stone bridge overhanging a river (probably you’ve seen more of those), but one of them might have been the one in Lavertezzo. Pretty small village (like all of them on the way in Valle Verzasca, that is a famous stop among the tourists). The double arch bridge was built in 17th century and is one of the reasons why the village is overcrowded with tourists. Some people jump from it but we saved our energy for via ferrata.
Our last stop was Contra Dam. Impressive 380 m long, was built between 1961-65 and is the fourth tallest in Switzerland. You remember the opening scene from ‘GoldenEye’ when Bond jumps off a dam? Well, it was filmed there. After this movie bang they started to offer bungee jumps from the dam. You can try if it’s your thing (not mine at all…).
It was time to leave Valle Verzasca and drive to our next destination (which wasn’t that easy, but about that soon). We really loved the valley. If you’re in Locarno or somewhere near the valley do not hesitate to go. A bit of a different world just around the corner. Wake up early in the morning to enjoy it with not too many people around, take a drink in one of the restaurants and just think of nothing …. Goditela al meglio (enjoy it to the fullest) as the Italian speaker would say.
Text: Agnieszka Wajs
