My suitcase was packed and sitting by the door. I had my passport, laptop, and everything I needed for a travel conference in Ticino, Switzerland, and was just about ready to call an Uber to the airport. Then Beato, my 16-year-old cat, had a seizure. Within seconds, the trip I had planned for months became irrelevant. My husband and I rushed Beato to the animal hospital, not knowing whether our little companion of so many years would survive the night.
Anyone who has loved an aging family member understands the helplessness of those moments. Beato couldn’t tell me what he was feeling, but I knew he needed me near.
I called the airline, canceled my departure, and started messaging people expecting me in Switzerland. How could I possibly think about work when this little life was fighting for his life?
I spent the next few days on the couch with Beato on my lap, rubbing his soft coat and assuring him he was loved and cared for. When he started showing interest in food, I felt cautiously hopeful, but leaving him still seemed unimaginable. I kept postponing my decision about traveling to Ticino until my husband assured me that if Beato continued improving, I should go. He would stay home with him 24/7, he promised, and call me immediately if anything changed.
Torn to Travel
Five days after my original departure, I picked up the suitcase and left for the airport. This wasn’t the way I usually felt at the beginning of a trip. There was no rush of anticipation, no excitement about discovering somewhere new. I was relieved that Beato was stable, guilty about leaving him. But, I was still afraid that something might happen while I was thousands of miles away. Even after I boarded my flight from the East Coast, part of me remained at home.
An Unexpected Welcome at Splendide Royal Lugano
After a Trans-Atlantic flight and a train ride into Switzerland’s Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, I arrived in Lugano on a foggy April morning. Low, dramatic clouds hovered over the mountains, and Lake Lugano appeared still beneath them. The scenery should have immediately commanded my attention, but I was exhausted and jet-lagged.
At the Hotel Splendide Royal Lugano, front desk attendant Luigi welcomed me with a glass of prosecco. The historic lakeside hotel began as Villa Merlina around 1870 and became a hotel in 1887. Its chandeliers, high ceilings, and formal interiors still carry the grandeur of another era. It was probably too early in the morning to drink. But after the emotional roller coaster of the previous few days, an overnight flight and a train journey, I accepted the welcome bubbles. The cold prosecco took the edge off, and Luigi’s warmth made me feel immediately welcome.
My mood changed when I entered my room. It was small, with the slightly musty smell I associate with old European buildings, and its little window looked toward another building. I put down my luggage and tried to convince myself that I was being difficult. I was in Switzerland and had a perfectly acceptable room. How much time was I really going to spend there anyway? But I was staying four nights, and after the week I’d had, the thought of returning every evening to a dark room made me feel even heavier.
A Healing Room with a View
I went back downstairs and found Luigi. With my most charming smile, I asked whether he happened to have another room available. Instead of making me feel like a demanding guest, he told me to go upstairs, get some rest, and give him a little time to see what he could find. About an hour later, he knocked on my door and asked me to follow him. “Take a look first,” he said as he opened another door.
The corner room had windows on two sides, a balcony, and an expansive view of Lake Lugano. I opened the doors and felt the cool spring breeze sweep into the room. High ceilings and a crystal chandelier gave the space an old-world grandeur. And the large bathroom had a deep soaking tub, separate shower, and spacious vanity. After days of sleeping badly and worrying constantly, the bathtub alone looked like an invitation to surrender.
A bottle of local Ticino red wine and a box of chocolate pralines from Vittorio Vanini were waiting for me. The Lugano chocolatier dates back to 1871, though I didn’t know its history then. I was touched by Luigi’s effort to find me a room where I would feel comfortable. For the past several days, I had been the caretaker, monitoring every bite Beato ate and every step he took. Suddenly, someone was taking care of me. I stood at the balcony gazing at the lake and felt some of the tension loosen.
Letting Lugano Slow Me Down
I didn’t really want to leave my beautiful new room, but I knew that going to bed in the middle of the day would make my jet lag worse. So I headed outside for a walk. Lugano in April was bursting with life. Along the waterfront and through Parco Ciani, magnolias, camellias, azaleas, and other spring flowers added splashes of color against the lake and mountains. A row of palm trees gave this corner of Switzerland an unexpectedly Mediterranean feel.
I am naturally a visual traveler and usually take hundreds of photographs because they help me remember details long after a trip ends, but that afternoon I wasn’t documenting Lugano for an assignment. I was noticing it for myself. The light kept changing, the lake seemed to change color with it, and every few minutes I found another reason to stop walking.
Exploring Ticino and Beyond
The conference occupied much of the next few days, but I found pockets of time to explore more of Ticino. At LAC, Lugano Arte e Cultura, I moved from contemporary art to enormous windows framing the lake outside. The modern cultural center sits almost directly on the waterfront,. From the inside you can see sunlight flickering across Lake Lugano and boats gliding past the windows.
A visit to Bellinzona brought me beneath the stone walls of Ticino’s capital. Ticino’s capital is home to three castles, Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro, which together with their defensive walls form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the ramparts, I felt a quiet sense of wonder as I looked over the medieval town’s red rooftops, green hills, and the Alpine landscape below.
The Calmness of Lake Maggiore
On a boat ride across Lake Maggiore toward Brissago Island, the gentle movement of the water made the journey feel almost meditative. The mountains rose around us, their reflections shifting with every ripple, and for a little while I stopped thinking about the messages on my phone and everything waiting for me at home. On the larger island, a botanical garden flourished in Ticino’s mild climate and displayed plants from subtropical regions around the world. German businessman Max Emden purchased the islands in the 1920s and later built Villa Emden, which added another layer of history and glamour to the landscape. I walked through palms and exotic plants with Lake Maggiore surrounding me and had to remind myself that I was still in Switzerland.
None of these places cured my anxiety, and I don’t believe travel works like that. Beato was still 16 years old. A seizure had happened, and another could happen. Every time my husband took longer than usual to respond, my mind immediately jumped to the worst possible explanation. Yet somewhere between the lakefront walks, gardens, castles, art, and mountains, worry stopped consuming every moment. Ticino hadn’t taken away the reality waiting for me at home, but it had made room for something else to exist alongside it: curiosity, beauty, gratitude, and even joy.
The Gift of an Unplanned Day
I had one extra day before returning home, and instead of filling it with a carefully planned itinerary, I decided to see where the day took me. A few colleagues suggested an impromptu boat ride around Lake Lugano, so I said yes. After days of schedules and months of planning the original trip, it was fun to simply climb aboard, enjoy the sunshine, and let Lugano provide the entertainment.
The fog and clouds that had greeted me on arrival had disappeared, and sunshine now bounced off the lake. We passed small villages tucked between steep green hills and the water, with colorful houses clustered along the shoreline in scenes that reminded me of the Italian Riviera. We drank prosecco, chatted about nothing particularly important, and soaked up the sunshine. I wasn’t interviewing anyone, rushing to another appointment, or wondering what I needed to accomplish before the end of the day. I was enjoying the company of people who had been strangers only a few days earlier and the pleasure of being on a boat on a beautiful spring day.
Lugano Unplugged
Back in Lugano, I continued wandering on my own. I stopped for a vegetarian pizza, followed it with scoops of gelato and browsed the boutiques without looking for anything in particular. Eventually, I found Vittorio Vanini and bought the same chocolates that had been waiting in my hotel room when I arrived. By then, those pralines had become part of my memory of Ticino, tied to that first morning when I arrived emotionally exhausted, and someone made an unexpected effort to make me comfortable.
That evening, I returned to my corner room at the Splendide Royal and opened the bottle of Ticino red wine that had been waiting for me all week. I poured myself a glass and sat on the balcony overlooking Lake Lugano. With the day’s plans behind me, I could simply sit back, take in the view, and enjoy a quiet moment without rushing to the next activity. I watched the light change over the water and the mountains soften into the evening, knowing that the next day I would begin the long journey home to my husband, my family, and Beato.
Ticino at The Right Time
As a travel writer, I spend much of my life thinking about what makes a place worth visiting. I collect stories, facts, photographs, restaurant names and experiences, then try to translate them into reasons someone else should go. Yet the places that stay with me aren’t always the ones with the longest list of attractions. Sometimes I remember a destination because of who I was when I arrived there.
I arrived in Ticino carrying fear, guilt and exhaustion. Part of me wondered whether I should have come at all, while another part knew that sitting beside Beato indefinitely couldn’t protect him from getting older. Loving an animal for 16 years had given me tremendous joy, but his seizure forced me to confront something I had been able to avoid thinking about for a long time: our time together was finite. Leaving him so soon afterward made that realization even more painful.
But in Ticino fear wasn’t the only emotion I allowed myself to feel. Luigi’s kindness, that first glass of prosecco, the cold air coming through my balcony doors, spring flowers along Lake Lugano, medieval walls in Bellinzona, the botanical gardens on the Brissago Islands in Lake Maggiore, chocolates from a 19th-century Lugano confectioner, and an unplanned afternoon on a boat gradually reminded me that worry and joy don’t have to cancel each other out.
That’s why travel can often be healing. By simply changing your surroundings- leaving home, even briefly- you create distance from the routines and worries that can fill every corner of your mind. In a different place, your attention has something new to settle on, and the constant loop of concern can finally begin to quiet.
If you go to Lugano in Ticino, Switzerland…
Where to Stay
- Hotel Splendide Royal: It sits just outside the bustle of the city center, offering uninterrupted panoramic lake views and exceptional fine dining.
Where to Eat & Treat Yourself
- Ristorante Tango: I ate here twice for the expansive outdoor terrace right on Piazza della Riforma; everything tasted incredibly fresh, and they offer plenty of well-marked vegetarian options.
- Grotto della Salute: For traditional Ticinese grotti, and this garden spot delivers authentic regional staples like slow-braised ossobuco, creamy risotto, and local Merlot.
- Vanini Dolce e Caffè: For artisan gelato – their rich Swiss chocolate and seasonal fruit flavors are unmatched.
- Grand Café Al Porto: Perfect for morning espresso and panettone—the café has been a local cultural salon since 1803.
Where to Go, Shop & Stroll
- People-Watch in Piazza della Riforma: Linger in Lugano’s outdoor living room, admiring the pastel neoclassical palazzi and the vibrant Mediterranean atmosphere.
- Shop the Arcades of Via Nassa: Browse this historic, 17th-century covered arcade for everything from luxury fashion and Swiss watch boutiques to artisanal Ticinese gourmet shops.
- Take the Funicular up Monte San Salvatore: Take this ride for the 360-degree panorama over Lake Lugano and the Swiss Alps, which gives you an immediate sense of Ticino’s dramatic topography.
- Stroll Parco Ciani: Spend mornings walking along these lakeside paths lined with centuries-old trees and manicured flowerbeds.
- Explore Gandria: Take the scenic lakeside Olive Path from Lugano into this preserved former fishing village clinging to the base of Monte Brè.
