Robiei: the lakes at the head of Val Bavona below the Basodino glacier

At the head of Val Bavona the San Carlo cable car climbs to 1,890 m in eight minutes and drops you into another world: a bowl of reservoirs, pasture and granite below the Basodino glacier, the last glacier in Ticino.

The route

From Robiei we walk the lake loop: Lago dei Cavagnöö, Lago del Zött and Lago Bianco, along dam walls and pasture paths, the glacier in front of us the whole time.

Anyone keen can carry on to the viewpoint over Capanna Basodino. We come back down to San Carlo by cable car.

Who it's for

• anyone who wants high mountains without the climb
• anyone who wants to see a glacier up close while it is still there
• photographers of water and rock

Good to know

The cable car (about CHF 32 return) is not included and runs only from mid-June to mid-October: outside that season this walk does not happen. At two thousand metres the weather turns fast, a shell and layers are compulsory. We do not walk on the glacier: we look at it, because that is alpine-guide ground.

You are crossing into Switzerland

A valid ID in your pocket, not in your rucksack: Switzerland is not in the European Union and border checks do happen.

Mountain rescue is charged for: in Switzerland the helicopter is billed to the person who calls it. Guiddy accident insurance is included, but a Rega card (about €40 a year) or a policy covering rescue costs in Switzerland is what we suggest to everyone.

Swiss francs: huts and cable cars almost always take cards, but a few valley huts are still cash only. The European health card is valid in Switzerland for emergency care.

Getting there

A9 to Bellinzona, then Locarno, Cevio and the full length of Val Bavona to San Carlo: two and a half hours from the ring road.

By car you need the Swiss motorway vignette (CHF 40, valid for the calendar year) if you use the motorway: you buy it at the border, at petrol stations near the crossing, or online.