Locarno, Switzerland

While it’s been a few years now since I lived in Europe, one of my fondest and proudest memories was going to Switzerland to bungee jump! The allure of Switzerland was the beauty and the adventure. It was irresistible to someone like me. My only regret is not getting to spend more time in Switzerland! I would love to go back and see The Matterhorn or go skydiving in Interlaken. While my time was short, I highly recommend going to Switzerland and here is why.

Nice people

I didn’t know this about Switzerland, but I met the nicest people here! We went to a restaurant the first night we got to town for dinner. We had a great dinner and went home to wake up early the next day for bungee jumping. We didn’t know how to call a cab so we went to the only place we knew, the restaurant, to ask for help how to call a cab. Instead of giving us a phone number or calling the cab for us, I kid you not, the guy says one second, let me pull my car around and drives us all there AND gives us his number to call for when we needed a ride home!!!!!!! WHAT. Who does this! For people the restaurant owner had just met the night before. When I was in Italy, cab drivers would hang up on me the second they heard English or an accent. I was shocked at how nice people here are.

As a counter to that, my group did come on the 4th of July and were making a bit of a racket by the lake and one guy came to yell at a particular individual in my group, but I think it was deserved so I won’t hold that against the nice people here.

Clean city

The city is soooo clean and beautiful. There is no trash or graffiti and there is fresh water fountains to drink out of that have THE BEST water I’ve ever tasted. I’m from Oregon originally and a major water snob so for me to say this is a pretty big deal. The beauty and pristine of this lake town is amazing, I just love that they care about their city and the environment so much.

The lake

To build off the cleanliness, another main draw to Switzerland for is the lake and mountain ranges. For Locarno, this meant a beautiful fairytale lake that I had to keep pinching myself to believe it’s real. I am a huge outdoors person having grown up in Oregon so again, for scenery I can get back home (mountains and lakes), I can confidently say that Switzerland blows anywhere else out of the water. Stay for a sunset and the colors you will see glistening off the lake in the shadows of the mountain is unreal.

Airbnb view

To top off all this natural beauty, cap your stay with an Airbnb with an amazing view. The Airbnb we choose had a wrap around porch on a hill overlooking the lake. Most of our group slept out here under the stars and didn’t even sleep inside on the beds! Made for good late night conversations and stargazing, dreaming about if life could get any more perfect.

Bungee jumping

What I really came for Switzerland for is the adventure. Switzerland and New Zealand are two of the biggest adventure capitals of the world. Being such a short train ride from Milan where I lived was irresistible. Lucky me, I found bungee jumping near Locarno. Not just any bungee jumping, but the tallest bungee jump in the world at 220 meters AND is in a James Bond movie! Like what!!! How amazing. It was by far one of the best experiences of my entire life and to this day I still brag about what a perfect time I had in Switzerland. There are some moments in your life that you never forget.

Find out more about bungee jumping in Locarno here and read about my experience bungee jumping here (coming soon).