Val Vigezzo and the Vigezzina

The little train between Domodossola and Locarno

Among the most beautiful railway journeys in the Alps, the Vigezzina-Centovalli railway links Domodossola, in Piedmont, with Locarno, on Lake Maggiore in Switzerland, along a route of about 52 kilometres through the Val Vigezzo and the Swiss Centovalli, the "hundred valleys". Opened in 1923, the narrow-gauge line climbs and descends along the steep sides of the valleys, over dozens of bridges and viaducts and through numerous tunnels, offering spectacular views of gorges, waterfalls, chestnut woods, stone villages and bell towers. The journey takes about two hours, with panoramic carriages; in autumn, the "Foliage train" runs through the woods coloured red and gold.

The Val Vigezzo, a wide, sunny valley at about 800 metres, is known as the "Valley of Painters" for the many artists born here, who were trained at the local school of fine arts, the Scuola Rossetti Valentini in Santa Maria Maggiore, still active, and whose works are displayed in the village's art gallery. Santa Maria Maggiore is also home to the Museum of the Chimney Sweep, which recalls the hard history of the many boys of the valley who, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, emigrated every winter to the cities of Italy and Europe to clean chimneys; every year, at the beginning of September, the village hosts the International Chimney Sweeps' Meeting, with hundreds of sweeps from all over the world. Nearby, Re has a large sanctuary.

Tip: remember your identity document, since the train crosses the Swiss border; you can combine the train with a boat on Lake Maggiore to return.

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