castelgrande

danielhO3210XH

Never mind the stairs. How many time did you use an elevator to get to a castle?You can access it from the main place of Bellinzona: Piazza del Sole. And in second you will be transferred centuries back. When the doors open you will feel that you need to get a sword just to be ready in case a knight will cross your way.But then, after visiting the Torre bianca, that all you need is to relax and maybe take a seat in the wonderful restaurant there.

MchaelT

In Swiss tradition, the structure was well taken care of and serves as a great location to view other castles in the area. Great value since no entry fee!

Naomi326

It is a very beatiful castle. We walked up from the stairs to reach the top of the castle but the ground was a bit wet due to the water drops. When we arrived, we saw some people came out from lifts. So, I guess you may choose either one. There is one museum named Museo Storico up there which u need to pay for about CHF5 for entrance, but we have Swiss pass so it is free. Beautiful and historical view from the castle. Please put it as a MUST-VISIT place in your itinerary.

mrscorrad

What a beautiful area, and interesting castle. We took the train to Bellinzona and walked to the castle, which is the lowest one, near the center of town. At the top there is a grassy knoll, and we sat and had a picnic lunch. Inside we climbed the tower, and on to the second tower. Beautiful views of the city and mountains. Be prepared for lots of stairs, and at the very top is a tight spiral staircase. I had my 2 grandkids - 6 and 3, and I was a bit nervous hanging onto the 3-year-old. Nice that there is a clean restroom for all of us. Wish we'd had time to go to the other castles.

charchay

The architecture, history, views, walking the grounds, service and the overall experience. Watching a wedding party stroll by, considering joining the hot sauna party set up in the castle grounds.

johnwI3453DN

Castelgrande is a huge, well-restored castle complex in Bellinzona. Easy to find, parking is very convenient. Museum and film at first of three stops, towers to climb, grounds to explore. Drive or take a long walk to two more castles up the hill.

RiceMom11

Not your average castle, for sure. way more walking and more outdoor vistas, both of its own wings, as well as the city and mountains. We scheduled a train break for a few hours en route to Lugano just to stroll this town and we weren't disappointed. Totally charming and non-touristy.

gkashar

We booked a tour through the Bellinzona Tourism website for Castlegrand and the Old City. Our tourguide was Julie Guidotti, who is from Minnesota but has lived in Bellinzona for several years. We were two adults and three teenagers. The kids are often bored on tours like this listening to the guide give a history of the place, but Julie did a fantastic job keeping everyone engaged and giving just enough of the history to make it interesting without becoming tedious. The whole tour was about 90 minutes to 2 hours and was just long enough for our group. At the end, two of the kids told me the tour "wasn't that bad," which for them means it was fantastic.

DCTravelers69

I will preface this saying we have lived in germany for two years now and toured lots of castles--so it takes something exceptional to make my whole family enjoy a castle (tour) these days. We stopped in Bellinzona on a drive through switzerland and spent a few hours here. We LOVED the castelgrande--first, it's not a tour, but you get to see a movie (they have one in english) and tour a small exhibit. Then, you can walk around the grounds and climb the tower, go through the long tunnel and walk all around the property seeing unique castle features. We all loved it. I must say, the view is exceptional--you can see churches and fortresses around since the town built seven castles way back in the day. The castle had very little damage from the original structure which is also neat. The woman working at the desk was beyond kind and accommodating--it was lovely. I highly recommend, and we have three young (4, 6, 8) children which can often be hard to entertain at highly historical places.

gdawh10

Castelgrande is the largest of the 3 castles located in Bellinzona. It is huge and you can easily spend a couple of hours on the tour and wandering the grounds. You can also walk the length of the tunnel that is inside of the wall (a couple hundred meters in length). The castle has decent views over the valley and the surrounding mountains (although the view from the other castles was better). It is not the most attractive castle, but it is well maintained and provided an interesting afternoon for my wife and I

7Quin7

The best thing about this castle is that it is so easily reachable from the city center. Furthermore, it contains a tower, and from up there you've got a great view on the other 2 castles as well as Castelgrande itself. When we visited the castle, we didn't have to pay to mount the tower since there was noone to pay/control, which was a great advantage. There's a museum which we didn't visit, since we're not the museum type, and the views from the inside of the castle are breathtaking already. No need to pay for staying inside the museum without daylight, when there are stunning views on a sunny day. After all, you should definetly visit it, if however you are short of time and by car in Bellinzona, visit Castello Montebello, it's even nicer.

Cynruglady

Easy access, very nice variety in the castle and easy to see more, although I wasn't driving the winding roads! Definitely worth the trip from Lake Maggiore. Very interestingly portrayed history of an interesting little region

Cynthia473

I've never toured castles completely alone but did so here. It was quiet, lovely and well worth a visit to each of the 3 separate castles. There was no one there even to collect an admission fee.

728danielaw

The castles are a must. Pay once and go to all three. I suggest walking to absorb the beauty from one castle to another.

匿名

The castles are a must. Pay once and go to all three. I suggest walking to absorb the beauty from one castle to another.