SWITZERLAND

This beautiful pilgrimage church Madonna del Sasso with its Capuchin monastery is towering high above Locarno. The old town enjoys the most glorious of locations, on a broad sweeping curve of a bay in the lake, and also clocks up the most sunshine hours of anywhere in Switzerland.

The monastery has a spectacular view of the town beneath it was built to honour the Virgin Mary, who was said to have appeared in a vision in 1480 and was completed by 17th century. The monastery's museum hosts a remarkable collection of sacred art. The twenty-minute walk up through the lush ravine of the Torrente Ramogno is a romance in itself.