Swissminiatur

Take a trip to the Ticino, the Italian-speaking Swiss canton and explore the whole of Switzerland in a couple of hours – well, almost the whole and all in miniature!
The Swissminiatur was created in June 1959 and thus celebrated its 50th birthday in 2009. The open-air exhibition is located at Melide, a pretty village on the shores of Lake Lugano. The park enjoys a stunning setting surrounded by the peaks of Monte Generoso, Monte San Salvatore and Monte San Giorgio. The Swissminiature is in fact a compact version of Switzerland that uses a little artistic licence to give a symbolic insight into the country and its internationally famous names and scenic sights. The exhibition covers an area of some 14,000 m2 and displays over 125 models of patrician houses, castles, cathedrals and other structures, all built to a scale of 1:25. Model railway buffs will love the over 3,500 metres of track that wend through the “country”, with up to 18 trains, funiculars, cogwheel railways, aerial cableways and ships in motion.
Swissminiatur is easy to reach by road and rail and there is also a good bus service from Lugano. Parking is available nearby.