2 Best Restaurants in Bellinzona, Ticino

The oldest of the city's castles boasts a chic, modern restaurant that offers a serious experience, with daringly cool, postmodern decor, sophisticated cuisine from chef Cyrille Kamerzin, and a wine list that includes more than 70 Ticino Merlots. Downstairs, the more casual Grotto restaurant has a lighter atmosphere, and its stunning summer terrace is a great spot to soak up views and sunshine.

From the heights of the ancient Castello di Sasso Corbaro, this atmospheric restaurant serves meals inside a beautifully restored hall, and in the summer you can dine alfresco at sturdy granite tables in the shady, walled-in courtyard. The cooking, Mediterranean with French touches, includes fresh seafood, good local wines round out the experience, and the 45-minute walk up from the rail station is a virtuous prelude to indulging in desserts like creamy panna cotta and homemade tiramisu.