Tibetan Bridge
I have hiked this hike twice, first on February 15, 2022 and a second time during warmer weather on the 21st of April, 2024. I had heard people mentioning the Tibetan Bridge near Bellinzona and it was my first Swiss suspension bridge to cross.
Full route: Swisstopo
You reach the start of this hike with a bus to Sementina from Bellinzona train station. There are several bus stops along the main road, so it is possible to start and end at various places. You start the ascent immediately and as you climb up past small wineyards and houses, you quickly get very nice views looking back in direction Bellinzona.
After the first hour, you leave the last houses behind and get the first views of the San Bernardo church. The hiking path is a mix between a more narrow trail in the forest, cobble stone path and wider gravel roads. The path is at places relatively steep, but nowhere did I find it problematic.
On both hikes, I spend some time around the San Bernardo church, as it is both very nice and also offers great views over the valley and cities below. On my first hike during winter, I did not meet a single person during the entire hike, so I had a very peaceful time.
From the church, you hike through the fores for a while before you finally reaching the suspension bridge. The pictures below are from the two hikes I did. In February, it had just snowed during the night before my hike, so there was a rather thick layer of snow on the bridge, but as I could see other people had passed, I did not have any problems crossing it.
Walking over the bridge, you have great views, not only down below and towards Bellinzona, but also up through the big ravine to the peak of Cima d’Erbea in the background. I have not done this hike during summer when the vegetations is in full bloom, but I can only imagine it is also worth a visit.
After crossing the bridge and enjoying the last views of the surrounding mountains, it is a short way up before the descent back towards Sementina starts. This part of the path is also a mix of hiking trail through the forest and wider gravelroads with some parts on normal road as well.
Back in Sementina, I took a bus back to Bellinzona and from there made my way back to Zürich with the train.
