Hi

Long weekend coming up and was thinking of driving south. Does anyone have any recommendations i.e towns , villages , hotels where to stay....also a place where there is a little life ...and near a good place for swimming as the weather is supposed to be good....

Much appreciated

Iste

only one recommendation... Stresa... ( stay away from it that is )

mrs and I spent a weekend there a couple of years ago ... dreadful food (everywhere in town.. lord knows we tried ) and a dreadful little hotel

Isola Bella and her sister islands were worth a visit tho.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isola_B...go_Maggiore%29

Go bungy jumping at Verzasca. Totally worth it.
Locarno (when not flooded) is cute to wander through.

Restaurant Centovalli - for superb risotto.

Ponte Romani (or however it is spelt) further up the valley - park on the road and wander down the hillside.

Trip over the board to import olive oil

or is there any place down there where anyone could recommend doing white water rafting or kayaking ?

thx

iste

http://www.ti-sport.ch/1-a-z/raft.html

I know some friends did either rafting, canyoning or bungee jump many years ago but the links from the site above might help.

Be prepared to queue in both directions unless you're creative with your timing

http://www.a2-gottardo.ch/

Be thankful that there are no overnight closures until June now

Locarno is wonderful, but as Boxman noted the Gotthard is a mess.
Just came up that way from Cinque Terre and the tunnel added significant time to and from.....especially the Sunday return.

take the ferry to Laveno and take the cable car up. great view of the region!
cable car station is to the left off the ferry stop. below the church.

If you do drive down - there is often very little difference in going via Chur and the San Bernadino - rather than Gotthard.

Last summer I cycled down from Zurich - leaving Zurich 5am arriving 8pm -via the Gotthardpass