Arriving in Lugano, Switzerland, was like breathing a completely different air, and a chance for me to be a different person, start fresh, do what I wanted with no one telling me what I should or shouldn't do.
The feeling I got when we got the keys to the apartment was the best I had in a long time, and I felt such freedom and so grown up, like that was the start of something important to me.
Lugano is an amazing but small city, very close to the Italian boarder and so it's native language is Italian - which was one of the reasons i wanted to come here in the 1st place: to learn Italian!
The feeling I got when we got the keys to the apartment was the best I had in a long time, and I felt such freedom and so grown up, like that was the start of something important to me.
Lugano is an amazing but small city, very close to the Italian boarder and so it's native language is Italian - which was one of the reasons i wanted to come here in the 1st place: to learn Italian!
Top of Lugano:
- Walking along Lake Lugano from Castagnola to Paradiso - By doing this path you'll cross the city alongside the lake while getting to see the amazing landscapes of the mountains that surround the city. You can do it anytime of the day, but I advise you to do it either in the early morning, or late afternoon, when you'll see a lot of people jogging or women with their kids (*by curiosity: I've never seen so many FIT new mums in my life as I did in Lugano! I was impressed on how amazing they looked even after 2 or 3 kids!).
- Parco Civico - It's on the path from Castagnola to Paradiso near Lake Lugano and it's a very pleasant park to spend a sunny afternoon alone (you can read a free book close to the library in the park, or you can just sit on the grass and relax) or with friends (make a picnic, take photos, bring your bikini catch some sun and have fun!)
- Monte Brè - This one is amazing! It's a mountain (925m) where from the top you can see the entire city of Lugano and it's surroundings. To get there you either take the funicular (which is VERY expensive) or you can just get the bus that's cheap and it will get you pretty much to the same place for a lot less money.
- Piazza della Riforma - This is a square near the center of the city with a lot of shops close by and where normally people get together at city events. During events there's live music here and everyone goes out in family to enjoy some quality time here.
- Museums - there are Amazing museums in Lugano (I'm not a big fan of museums and I actually enjoyed seeing a lot of them here). Every 1st Sunday of the month there's FREE entrance at all museums
Pros of Lugano:
Cons of Lugano:
- It's beauty is undeniable!
- It's one of the most safe cities (if not the safest) by day and night
- If you like to exercise, it's the perfect place to go jogging
- Everything works perfectly and always on time
- FREE entrance at the museums every 1st Sunday of the month
Cons of Lugano:
- It's REALLY Expensive! (everything in Lugano is expensive, from the food in the supermarkets to the city attractions)
- The exchange money rates are ridiculously high (at least from € to CHF)
- If your thinking about going out to some bar, don't expect to spend less than 6CHF (around €) which is the price of a 33cl beer, the cheapest drink you can buy at a bar. If you want to drink and spend very little, just go to the supermarket (a advise you "Denner" where beer is 0,50CHF yeahh that cheap! And has a high % of alcohol)
- The discotheques around here are weird!! - saw a lot of teenagers falling drunk pretty early in the evening and the music is terrible. Once I went to one where suddenly a almost naked women came out and started dirty dancing on the pole while a bunch of weird guys where surrounding her and taking pictures...not the kinda of place i went back anyway.
- If your coming from a country where people are very social and friendly, you'll get the initial difference shock. In Switzerland people are a little more cold on interpersonal relationships, so it's more difficult to make friends and know people here than normal.
- Many people DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH (yup...this is a harsh one! Went to a library once and as I asked for information no one understood a word of what I said!! They speak Italian and normally either French or German)
- They only sell squared notebooks (this made me very angry!)
- The Winter is REALLY COLD
My Advices to you if you're coming to Lugano:
- Withdrawal money in Italy in Euros (so you won't pay the exchange rates because in the supermarkets you can pay in € and they will give you your change in CHF)
- Go do your shopping in Ponte-Tresa, Italy! There's a huge supermarket with much cheaper prices than in Lugano and with things that you can't even find in Lugano. This is what i advise you to buy in this Ponte-Tresa supermarket so you can save A LOT of money and not die of hunger (meat - this is the most important one! Do not buy meat in Switzerland or your wallet will be completely empty when you leave the market; fruit; pasta; chocolate; wine; olive oil; water - this is not a need cause the water from the tap is pretty good and clean, but still it's cheaper in Italy if you want it; breakfast cereals,potatoes,vegetables,eggs, orange juice coca-cola and that kinda stuff). I recommend you go to Ponte-Tresa to do a Monthly Shop. I can tell you I spent around 120€ in food for the entire month (for 2 people)
- Don't go grocery shopping in "Coop" because from the 3 supermarkets in Lugano, this on is the most expensive.
- Supermarkets close at 18:30 during the week and at 17h on Saturday (Sunday is closed)
- Everything is closed on Sunday!
- There's a cheap bread (0.90CHF pack of 4) you can buy at Denner to make in the oven in less than 5 minutes and it's great for breakfast!
- Always walk! There's no better transportation than walking in Lugano (except if you're arriving at the train station and walk for 3km after a long long travel to get here like i did - not a good idea)