After admiring the mountain station, we head into the little-known hiking area.

For a real cable car experience, take the gondola to the Monti di Croveggia from Camorino (near Giubiasco) at weekends and on some weekdays in high summer. The mountain station resembles the construction of a mine winding system - built in 1969, the single-track aerial tramway is a real, technical specialty.

The Monti di Croveggia south of Giubiasco/Bellinzona, a forest clearing at just under 930 m above sea level, was in danger of becoming overgrown in the middle of the last century. There was considerable resistance to a more comfortable, large railway; even the municipality opposed the project. After repeated attempts, a railway project that was much smaller than the original plan was finally realised in 1969 by a mechanical workshop in Bellinzona.

The single-track aerial tramway, which runs on a revolving cable, has no supports and is unique in many respects. The special running gear of the vehicle has carrying rollers, as in the case of two-track ropeways. However, these do not run on a carrying rope, but further up the suspension on the return rope. This technology is otherwise only found in cable crane systems in bridge and dam construction. The top station of the still manually controlled aerial tramway is open and built as a tower-like steel truss construction - a beautifully shaped, filigree engineering structure with the deflection pulley of the haul rope. Passengers exit and enter the cabin here via a long, slender access walkway - for photographers and cable car fans, a unique structure of a unique cable car.

At the Croveggia mountain station, a small forest hiking paradise awaits us in the direction of Val d'Isone or Valle Morobbia, through lush chestnut, beech and conifer forests. A worthwhile tour climbs about 170 metres in altitude to Pian Grande at 1118 m a.s.l., then the trail leads westwards without much effort (almost horizontally) to the Capanna Cremorasco and the Monti del Tiglio, continuing along the wide, panoramic ridge and around the Mattro down to the bus stop in Isone. The walk takes three hours.

Along the cable car or via Val Morobbia or from the above-mentioned Capanna Cremorasco, there are also hiking trails directly down to Camorino to the cable car valley station.

The cable car runs according to the timetable, not on all days www.teleferica-croveggia.ch; in winter the scheduled service is suspended.