Tesserete - Motto della Croce
I did this hike on the 21st of February, 2025. Ticino is one of my go to areas for hiking in the winter months as you often find snow free trails. I had once before been in this area, hiking from Tesseret to Monte Bigorio, and since I had really liked it, I decided to do the below hike also starting from Tesserete.
Full route: Swisstopo
It was a cold but very nice morning as I started out in Tesserete. Almost everywhere in Switzerland, you have multiple hiking trails and options, always well signaled with the typical yellow color.
The trail out of Tesserete followed a gravel road and it was a nice easy start to the hike. I quickly made my way up in direction Motto della Croce, and could see the snow covered mountains to the north.
After some time, the trail turned into a regular hiking path which in some parts on the way up was quite steep, although not for long. From here, I also got the first glimpse of Motto della Croce, the top of this hike.
As I got closer, I could see the cross standing on the top. The last 15 min were steep, but well worth the effort. It was a hazy day, but the views from the top were still really great and the hazziness made for some very special scenery.
Towards the north and northwest, the air was clear, and I could see really far into Ticino and the line of snow covered mountains. I really like this contrast between the white snow and brown landscape you get here in winter.
Just across form Motto della Croce, to the west, is Monte Bigorio, which I had hiked up to a few years before. I really like when I can see trails I have hiked from a distance in the landscape. Just behind Monte Bigorio, I had clear views to a snow covered Monte Tamaro, and the tower and cable car on top.
After a long break and some lunch, I decided to continue and start the descent back in direction Tesserete. There was snow on the trail for the first half hour, but it wasn’t too much and I could rather easily walk on it. I made my way back into a more vegetated area, before I crossed over to the other side.
From the other side, just below Monte Bigorio, I could see back in direction Motto della Croce. I only walked in the open landscape for a short time, before the path lead back down in the forest and back to Tesserete.
In Tesserete I caught the bus back to Lugano, from where I took the direct train back home to Zürich.
