A Family Friendly Weekend Away in Bellinzona

The girls and I had a family friendly weekend away in beautiful Bellinzona this weekend. Bellinzona is the capital of Ticino in the South of Switzerland. It is in the Italian speaking region of Switzerland close to the border with Italy. Bellinzona is known for its three UNESCO World Heritage Site castles, Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro.We stayed at a really casual hotel and ate all our meals there. The kids could easily go to their room and play together and us moms could plan for future adventures together. This is a simple family run hotel with friendly Italian hospitality. The girls and I had a room with a large double bed and a bunk bed for the girls to fight over who slept on top. Heike always wins the sleeping on the top bunk competition. We had a lovely view of the castle from our window.We arrived in Bellinzona from Zurich by train through the brand new Gotthard tunnel, the longest and deepest tunnel in the world at 57 kilometers. From the Zurich HB, the train journey is just over 1 1/2 hours.

When we arrived at our hotel, our friends met us and we had dinner. The girls had gnocchi and spaghetti and we ordered loads of extra veggie sides for us all to share. For breakfast we had a lovely spread including eggs, challah, Bircher Muesli, yogurts, pies, cakes, coffee and juices. And for lunch we all ordered pizza as our girls watched the pizza chef tossing the pizza into the air.On Sunday morning we set off to explore the castles after breakfast. Our friends have been to Bellinzona many times so their girls set off showing mine all around the sites. We walked through a dark tunnel, across castle walls, and through gorgeous castle grounds. It was all a bit surreal as we had the entire town to ourselves. The weather was supposed to be terrible and it was the week after their famous Fasnacht. Essentially, the entire town was empty, making it absolutely wonderful for our first visit.The town of Bellinzona is so small and walkable. After our tour of the castles, we made our way to the beautiful church in the center of town. Opposite the church is a lovely square with a great bakery where we sat and enjoyed pastries and coffee while the girls put on a show for us on the church steps. We really felt like we were in Italy!On Sunday, we took a 4pm train back to Zurich. We arrived home just in time to get the girls tucked nicely into bed after a wonderful 24 hours in Bellinzona. It is amazing to think that only 1 1/2 hours from Zurich is this little historical capital of Ticino with fantastic Italian food, Italian culture, and a wonderful city escape.Have you been to Bellinzona? Where do you love to eat and stay when you are there? We saw this fantastic AirBnB for next time right in the church square and next to the bakery. I think we will try it next time.