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Guarding the southern approaches to the San Gottardo and San Bernardino passes, BELLINZONA is the junction-point through which most traffic flows without stopping, but it's worth spending some quiet time here before the bustle of the lakes. High on the town's central rock, and accessible by lift from behind Piazza del Sole, is Castelgrande (Tues-Sun 9am-midnight; www.castelgrande.ch ), most impressive of Bellinzona's three medieval castles. Steps wind down from here to the elegant Renaissance buildings of Piazza Collegiata , dominated by a lavish church and surrounded by atmospheric old-town alleys; Piazza Nosetto is just south, as is peaceful Piazza Indipendenza. On the eastern side of Collegiata, a path rises to Castello di Montebello (Tues-Sun 8am-6pm), with great views, from where a stiff 45-minute climb further up will bring you to Castello di Sasso Corbaro (April-Oct Tues-Sun 8am-6pm), with a particularly welcome vine-shaded restaurant and a spectacular rampart panorama. All three castles house missable historical museums. The train station is ten minutes north of the centre. The tourist office under the arcades just off Piazza Nosetto (Mon-Fri 8am-6.30pm, Sat 9am-5pm; Oct-March Sat closes noon; tel 091/825 21 31, www.bellinzona.ch ) has lots of material and can provide some excellent walking suggestions. The riverside Molinazzo campsite (tel 091/829 11 18; closed Oct-March) is well north of town. Of the hotels , rooms above the Tsui-Fok Chinese restaurant, Via Nocca 20 (tel 091/825 13 32; GBP15-20/$24-32) and the San Giovanni diner, Via San Giovanni 7 (tel 091/825 19 19; GBP20-25/$32-40) are most affordable. Cheap food is available at Inova , Ticino's version of Manora , in the Innovazione store on Viale Stazione. Castelgrande houses the Grotto San Michele (a grotto is a Ticinese tavern for local wine and cheap home-cooking), where you can eat on the panoramic terrace for Sfr14-20. Pavement cafe/bars abound, especially around Via Codeborgo. On a journey north or south, it's worth getting off the train at little GIORNICO , about 30km north of Bellinzona. It was here in 1478 that a Swiss force numbering six hundred defeated a 10,000-strong Milanese army, thereby linking Ticino's future to Switzerland instead of Italy. Giornico is lovely, a typical Ticinese village built on both sides of the tumbling river, with picturesque cobbled alleys, the fine Romanesque church of San Nicolao and a photogenic hump-backed bridge. There are also a couple of terrific grotti , both of them serving excellent home-cooked food; the shaded Grotto dei Due Ponti occupies a fairytale mid-river island, but food at the less attractive Grotto Pergola , south of San Nicolao, is even better.
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