For a magical, Narnia back-of-the-wardrobe experience, visit picture perfect Rasa, Ticino’s quietest, most isolated and inaccessible village. Step out of the tiny cable car, the only link between Rasa and the rest of Switzerland, and you’ll suddenly find yourself in a bucolic nineteenth century time warp without cars or modern buildings.

Around you a totally unspoilt village of traditional stone roofed houses and a land of densely forested mountains, deep gorges and Alpine meadows. Isolated from the world until the cable car was built, Rasa is the last inhabited village in Ticino with no road access.

To get there, take the Vigezzina/Centovalli mountain train from Domodossola to Locarno train and get off at Verdasio station. The hair-raising cable car ride crosses from one side of the valley to the other, 600 metres above the river in the valley bottom. This is not the best time to find out that the cable car is 58 years old and definitely showing its age. Tickets are bought from a machine and the cable car leaves every 20 minutes.

There are no cable car rides between November and March which means that Rasa is totally deserted through the winter months, essentially a ghost town.

The whole journey to Rasa is tailored made by private van service transport and with the public cable car station located next to the Domodossola-Locarno mountain railway line.

Manageable in one day, in addition to Rasa, there are a couple of other picturesque hamlets which have recently been expertly renovated, Bordei and Terra Vecchia, both of which can be reached on foot and visited with us.

This immersive into the wild nature of the valley experience is supported by our farm to table lunch boxes with the good local produce.

For these exclusive experiences, we have a direct contact through the fast and confidential WhatsApp channel. Remember, if you are reading this paragraph, it’s because you have accessed a reserved area of the website and are considered a top client of My Lake Maggiore