CENTOVALLI RAILWAY

Itinerary: Domodossola-Locarno and the other way around

The Val Vigezzo or Centovalli Train, inaugurated in 1923, runs along a 32 miles route from Domodossola to Locarno with narrow gauge tracks. For an hour and a half, you will cross a wild and romantic area where dizzying bridges, streams of water, vineyards, chestnut woods and villages perched on slopes alternate.

Domodossola, an Ossola town with an ancient market square, the medieval old town and the characteristic stone houses, is the starting point for a journey through an alpine landscape through the Italian Vigezzo Valley and the Swiss Centovalli.
The path that reaches an altitude of 800 meters in height offers glimpses of rural life and beautiful views of the mountains. It is an opportunity to observe the different villages from the window: Santa Maria Maggiore with the mother church of the whole valley dedicated to the Virgin Mary and with an interesting small Museum of the Chimney Sweep, with the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sangue.

The Vigezzo Valley, renowned as the valley of painters and chimney sweeps, introduces the encased Centovalli where the river winds its way through deep gorges. Locarno, in the Canton of Ticino and arrival station, is a charming town on Lake Maggiore with a beautiful lakeside promenade, with the famous Piazza Grande, home of the international film festival in August and with a characteristic old center with small streets, a beautiful Rococo style church dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption and a Visconti castle which houses an archaeological museum inside.