The Austere and the Sweet Sides of the Ticino

Airolo is popular for its fresh summers and its active winters. It is surrounded by a unique high mountain panorama in the valley of the young Ticino river; above Airolo, the valley is called Val Bedretto and below Valle Leventina.

Airolo used to be the place where people took a rest and changed their horses after the wearing crossing of the Gotthard Pass. Today it is the place where the Gotthard road tunnel releases you again into the daylight.
If, however, you prefer the well-maintained roads over the Pass, you will be rewarded with the magnificent view as well as with a visit to the Gotthard-Museum on top of the pass.

In 1898, a landslide went down from the Sasso Rosso, whereupon the village was rebuilt and protected by a wall.
In Airolo train station, a monument by sculptor Vincenzo Vela commemorates another tragedy: the 177 victims of the railway tunnel construction.