Monte San Giorgio
I did this hike on the 10th of April, 2026. I had for some time been wanting to visit Monte San Giorgio, and since the weather looked very nice in Ticino on an otherwise grey day in the rest of Switzerland, I took it as a sign and went on the hike below.
Full route: Swisstopo
I took a train from Zürich to Lugano, from where I continued with the train to Mendrisio. After a quick walk out of town, I turned off the road and continued through forest. It was a nice spring morning and a calm flat start to the hike.
After the first short part through forest, the ascent to Meride starts. The trail still goes through forest for some time, and I really liked this part. Just before Meride, the forest opens up and I could see Meride and Poncione d’Arzo in the background.
I only quickly entered Meride, before the trail turned off out of the village again and into the forest. Here, the vegetation changed and the trail ran for parts right next to the rocks, which was a nice change form the open forest.
As I made my way up on the trail on this side of the mountain, I had great views to the east and Monte Generoso. This is another peak in Ticino I would really like to hike up to at one point. There are multiple trails going to the top, and it is also possible to take a train the entire way up.
What I really like about this trail is how it constantly changes between parts through forest and more open parts with great views. As it was early spring, the trees had just started turning green, and it was great walking between them and sense how spring was in the air.
The trail turns around on the other side of Monte San Giorgio, from where you slowly start the ascent towards the top. From here, I could see the snow covered mountain peaks in the distance in direction Locarno and San Salvatore, just on the other side of the lake.
The ascent up to the top of Monte San Giorgio was not too steep, and was for most of the way also through forest. Close to the top, the forest opened up, and I again had views to snow covered mountain peaks in the distance.
Up on the top of Mountain San Giorgio, there is a small house and some benches around it. There are great views over all of southern Ticino from up here, and I spend quite some time walking around and taking pictures. If you want a shorter hike, it is also possible to take the bus up to Meride and start the walk from there.
After a long break, I decided to start the descent back to Meride. It was a nice walk down on the other side of the mountain from where I came up, and the trail was a mix between regular hiking path and more wide gravel road.
Back in Meride, I caught the bus back down to Mendrisio, from where I started my train journey back home to Zürich.
