April 14, 2017 Easter trip to Vallemaggia - 1st day Valle Onsernone

For the Easter weekend we rented a Smart car here in Lugano. We find that it’s the least expensive car rental, but also the least fancy! The car is a mix between a manual and automatic – there’s no clutch, but the car tells you when you have to shift, by pushing the stick forward or back.

Our plans were to spend the holidays in the valleys north of Locarno, in Ticino. Our first stop was to go all the way to the end of Valley Onsernone, to the town of Spruga. We’ve never been to this valley, which is an offshoot of the Centovalli. Our actual final destination were the Bagni di Craveggia – the ruins (and current renovation) of old hot springs baths that are found on the Swiss/Italian border, along the Isorno river. Back in 1823 a hotel had been built to take advantage of the hot baths.

Now, to get to the baths, I had to drive the entire valley – climbing and winding mile after mile. Fortunately, there was not much traffic, and the one thing I didn’t want to encounter was the postal bus (which goes just above everywhere in Switzerland), since the roads are narrow and the bus doesn’t move or back-up – the other driver must do it!  Can be very scary!

 This valley is very steep, and all the towns are perched along the high road through the valley. 

Once I get to Spruga, I’m lucky to find ONE parking spot – on the edge – yikes! I had just driven from WAY down and as far as you can see down the valley to get to Spruga. 

From Spruga we have to walk about 45 minutes down to the river. I’m disappointed in this hike as there is a paved road (open only to a few local summer homes) almost all the way to the baths. I would have liked a wooded hike. 

Almost to the Bagni di Craveggia

We are at the baths, and you can see some of the renovations. We are also disappointed that there are two small open pools in the front – the first one is empty and the second is filled with dirty water from melted snow, and teaming with tadpoles! There are 2 new bathtubs that can be filled, but the water does not turn on. 

 Inside there is a room with all the old tubs. It’s really a remote place and hard to imagine the effort it took people to get here with horse and carriage long ago!

 The ruins of the baths. There was actually an inside room with some water freely running, but impossible to take advantage of it. We just enjoyed the remote outdoors and had our picnic lunch. No soaking for us today. The Isorno river forms the border between Switzerland and Italy. A newer footpath has been constructed across the river which is used during low water levels. Otherwise, it’s a more strenuous hike up and down that mountainside.

 On our way down from the valley, we see the postal bus in front of us. It’s scary enough for me to drive in a little smart car – can’t imagine the nerves of steel the bus drivers must have! In this case, it was great to have the bus in front of me - he forged the way, and if he encountered any drivers coming up the valley, THEY had to move out of the way. I just cruised on behind the bus! 

 Another view of what a steep valley this is. 

As we approach an intersecting valley, we can see the town of Gresso high up.

   At one point in the drive down, we pass the road off into another valley offshoot – the Valley Vergeletto. We still have a long way to our hotel located in Valley Maggia – we don’t explore the Valle di Vergeletto. 

  The little town of Sornico. 

 We have arrived at our hotel in Sornico. Vallemaggia is a very long valley, and Sornico is located in an upper valley called Lavizzara. Here is our hotel at the Ristorante Lavizzara. There are 5 rooms (even with private baths! Hard to find) above the restaurant. The view is beautiful and we even have a balcony out from our room! 

That evening we take a little walk around the town, and check out the inside of the local church. It looks like they did a renovation of the pews around 1750! The church is first mentioned in history in the 14^th century, but they believe it dates to the 11^th century. We'll come back to this church in my story for tomorrow evening. 

Old house in Sornico, Switzerland