Bellinzona • 2 day itinerary for families

I can’t believe it’s taken us this long to visit Bellinzona, a little gem in southern Switzerland with three UNESCO World Heritage castles and plenty of other charm.

A stroll through the old town and a castle visit will be enough to please many. But adding the lively Saturday market, a beautiful hike in the hills, a fun bike ride through the countryside and lots of gelato made for a very memorable family trip.

Here are 5 things to do in Bellinzona for a perfect weekend getaway.

Note: We visited Bellinzona as part of a press trip with four other Swiss family bloggers, sponsored by Ticino Tourism. We’re also thankful to Rapelli for all the fine food they provided and SBB Railway for the transportation and vouchers to giveaway. All opinions stated here are my own.

How to get to Bellinzona

Bellinzona located in southern Switzerland near the Italian border. It is very easy to reach by train on SBB Railway or car, though I highly recommend the train because it’s such an easy, fast connection from most cities. More details about train connections and where to park at the end of this post.

Getting around Bellinzona

Once you get to Bellinzona, everything is so close that you can simply walk or take a shuttle to the castles. Don’t forget to get your free Ticino Ticket from your hotel, hostel or campsite, which includes discounts to various attractions and free public transportation around the entire Ticino region.

1. Shop the Saturday Market

Before heading to the castles, make sure to visit the Saturday market in the Bellinzona old town (located here). I was expecting to pass through the market quickly on our way to our hike. But after an hour, I was wishing we had more time to linger and explore.

The boys were sad the market wouldn’t be open after our hike because they wanted to look for more treasures and treats later. So definitely give yourself plenty of time at the market before whatever else you have planned for the day.

On Saturdays from 8:00 to 13:00, the usually quiet old town of Bellinzona fills to the brim with dozens of market vendors, selling local produce, artisan food items, freshly made sweet & savory treats, and traditional handicrafts. Like any market, you’ll find some stands selling cheap trinkets and clothing from overseas, but thankfully that’s in the minority.

We loved trying lots of foods we don’t typically see in Zürich, like these freshly made cannoli. We could choose a custard flavor and what to dip the ends in. Of course, our kids chose sprinkles!

I was mesmerized by these enormous vats of polenta and the constant stream of customers loading up on fresh polenta for a meal at home.

The market also had entertainment, with a live band in costume, a puppet show accompanied by local junior musicians, and a variety of street performers. I don’t know if it’s always like this but we weren’t there on a festival day or holiday, so it seemed.

More info about the Bellinzona Saturday market on ticino.ch

2. Explore the castles

The main reason to visit Bellinzona is the famous castles, which look like they are straight out of a fairy tale. These castles were built in the medieval age and, in the 1500s, were part of a fortress protecting Switzerland from Italy. Now they are an UNESCO World Heritage site and can be toured by the public. More about the castle history here.

There are three castles to visit – Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro – where you can walk around the ramparts, climb the towers, learn history in the museums, and soak in the valley views.

For more details, see my post: How to visit the Bellinzona castles

We liked that each of the castles had large grassy areas where the kids could run around and be silly and not worry about breaking anything or falling off something. If your child is ready for some imaginative play and needs props, don’t worry; the castle gift shop sells bow & arrow kits and costumes for kids.

You can walk to the castles from town or take a shuttle tour. You can pay entrance fees at individual each castle or buy the Bellinzona pass, which covers all three castles, CHF 30 for a family or CHF 50 with the shuttle.

Castelgrande is the easiest to visit, right in the old town, an easy 600m walk from the train station. You can visit the outer castle grounds and some of the ramparts for free 24 hours a day. It’s also the most accessible for those in strollers and wheelchairs. For a small fee, you can climb the tower, walk more of the ramparts and visit the museum.

Montebello is about 600m above Bellinzona, probably our favorite of the three because of the large grassy area in front of the castle with lots of room for a picnic with a view. It has small museum inside the tower talking about the archaeological history of this area and artifacts found here.

Sasso Corbaro is higher up the hill, about a 1.8 km walk from Castelgrande or 1km from Montebello. Most people take the shuttle here because its so far up the hill. Since this castle is highest on the hill, it has the best views from the ramparts and towers, but honestly, the views are quite similar at all the castles. There was a small art exhibition inside the castle.

For more details, see my post: How to visit the Bellinzona castles

3. Hike the hills above Bellinzona

Before exploring the castles, we started with a hike in hills above Bellinzona, then visited the castles on our way back down. This was a more interesting way for an active family like us to get to the castles instead of riding the shuttle.

Along the way, we passed lots of vineyards, crossed streams, strolled through forests, stumbled upon castle ruins, and had beautiful panorama views of the Bellinzona valley and the surrounding snow capped mountains.

The trail isn’t particularly difficult, but it does climb up and down about 400m of elevation, which meant we were very ready for our picnic once we reached the castles. The full loop was about 8.5 km and took us about 5 hours, including our picnic and visits to castles Sasso Corboro and Montebello.

You can do a shorter version of this hike which just visits the castles, 5.5 km. Both hikes are

See details for the Bellinzona Castle hike here.

4. Ride a bike

We happened to be in Bellinzona during the SlowUp bike event, where they close 50 km of roads between Bellinzona and Locarno so bikes can take over the roads. It’s not a race, more of a big party with lots of food and activities, especially for children along the way. More about SlowUp here.

We had such fun participating in this event. Our kids loved the activities and games at the various stations like this bike obstacle course. They also loved collecting all the freebies the sponsors were giving away, including these balloons which we attached to our bikes. These activities and the happy flow of bike riders helped motivate them to keep riding to the next station. There are SlowUps all over Switzerland this summer. See the full schedule here.

Even if you’re not there for SlowUp, there are lots of bike and skating paths in this valley, a great way to see the countryside at a slower pace. There are two easy paths that reach from Bellinzona to Locarno, mostly on quiet country roads and dedicated bike paths.

Route 31 – Percorso Valle Maggia. This bike route is 22 km (shown below), rated easy with minimal elevation gain. It is particularly recommended for children. This is also route 88 Magadino Skate.

Route 311 – Percorso Pedemontano. This bike route is also 22 km, staying closer to the hills on the south side of the valley.

You can rent bikes at BikePort at the Bellinzona train station, open every day 9:00-12:00 and 14:00-18:00. Their staff was so friendly and helpful and spoke perfect English. They have lots of bike options, including kid bikes, child bike seats, bike trailers for children, etc. We loved that they had optional baskets for the bikes, so we didn’t have to carry all our stuff in our backpacks. It’s best to reserve your bike ahead of time using Rent-a-bike.

5. Taste local flavors

Ticino is the Italian part of Switzerland, where they speak Italian and eat Italian food, with their own regional flavors mixed in. The mountain food culture is strong here with lots of preserved meats, full flavored cheeses (often from sheep and goat’s milk), and creamy risotto and polenta. I loved trying the local honey and sausages, of which the small producers are quite proud.

On our castle hike picnic, we had a big spread of Rapelli salami (a popular Ticino salami maker), local cheese from the market, fruit and bread, a classic Ticino meal. I loved using this cool hiking cutting board from Rappeli that has a little slot to hold the knife. We’ll be using that all hiking season for sure.

Of course, the gelato shops speckle the towns like wildflowers. Yes, Zürich has gelato, but it’s just different down there closer to Italy. We have two favorites in the Bellinzona area.

Gelateria Veneta has two locations. The one just outside the old town on the busy road (Via Henri Guisan 6, 6500 Bellinzona) has more flavors and is open until 22:00. The one in the old town (Piazza Collegiata 1, 6500 Bellinzona) has a nicer setting, but has a smaller flavor selection and closes at 19:00. We’re partial to amarena and coconut, but limone is pretty great too.

We also like Gelateria Ciccio (Piazza Grande, 6512 Giubiasco), which we passed on our bike ride, about 3.5 km from the old town, better to drive there. We read some online review praising this joint and we agree – super yum! It also has a big playground and grassy area right outside, which the kids loved.

Where we stayed

There are many accommodation options in Bellinzona from 4 star hotels to holiday apartments. We stayed at Hotel & SPA Internazionale Bellinzona, which is conveniently located across the street from the train station and a short walk from the old town, main castle, and main shopping area. The staff was very friendly and knowledge about the area, giving us lots of detailed suggestions for other hikes and family outings nearby.

We were in the deluxe suite, which made it very comfortable for our family. Downstairs, the children had a double bed and their own bathroom and more importantly, their own TV. We had a room upstairs (shown above) with a double bed, writing desk, sofa, our own bathroom and shower, big windows stretching around three walls, and a balcony with a view across all of Bellinzona, including the castles.

I loved watching sunset over the mountains and castle from our balcony.

How to get to Bellinzona

This might be one of the easiest small villages in all of Switzerland to reach. It’s right off the freeway and has a direct train connection from Zürich and Milan.

Once you get to Bellinzona, everything is so close that you can simply walk or take a shuttle to the castles. Don’t forget to get your free Ticino Ticket from your hotel, hostel or campsite, which includes discounts to various attractions and free public transportation around the entire Ticino region.

By train: It’s best to take the train to Bellinzona because a) it’s an easy fast connection from Zürich or Luzern and b) you don’t risk getting stuck in Gotthard tunnel traffic, which is notoriously bad on weekends and holidays. The old town and main castle are an easy 500m walk from the train station.

From Zürich, a direct train runs twice an hour, taking only about 1hr45 mins. A round trip ticket with a SBB Half-fare card costs CHF 59.90. They regularly offer Sparbillet discounts on this route if you book early.

By car: Drive to Bellinzona, taking the exit 45 off the A2 freeway and following signs to town.

There are several parking areas in town and street parking in the neighborhood surrounding the old town center. The closest parking to the castle is Autosilo Piazza del Sole (Piazza del Sole 7, 6500 Bellinzona). One website says it charges about CHF 12 for 5 hours. This parking is accessible by lift and so is the castle. Another option is P+Rail Bellinzona at the train station (currently 80 places, open 24/7, CHF 12/day).

Need more ideas for the Ticino region?

As I mentioned above, four other Swiss family bloggers were part of this trip. Check out their Ticino posts for more fun ideas for Ticino. (I’ll add the links as they finish up their posts)

• Die Angelones hiked Valle di Muggio and did a FoxTrail in Locarno.
• Our Swiss Experience hiked at Melide, rated the most beautiful village in Switzerland, and visited Swiss Miniatur.
• Momof4.ch
• Mamarocks.ch visited Cardada

And a video from Ticion Turismo from our day

Need even more ideas? See all our Ticino posts here.