With stunning Swiss landscape views, a delicious meal and a private special hut all for yourself, we can recommend a night in the mountains at Capanna Monte Bar. This is situated near the peak of Monte Bar in the Ticino canton, where you can hike and bike at with an elevation of 1600+ meters.
The capanna is one of many great mountain huts you can stay at across Switzerland as part of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC, with room different room choices, a place to relax and to enjoy refreshments at. You don’t have to stay the night, but Capanna Monte Bar is a great choice to experience a night under the stars in their new special room hut.
About Capanna Monte Bar
With one of the most impressive views of the whole Lugano city and area, the Capanna Monte Bar is the place to be for those who love hiking, with the option to eat and sleep at too.
Some facts about the Capanna Monte Bar are:
- The original hut was first built in 1936
- The building has a 360 degree view thanks to the large windows.
- It has up to 44 beds in comfortable rooms of 2, 4 and 6 persons.
- It is considered one of the most beautiful terrace from which to admire the Lugano area.
- For food, they are open for lunch and dinner serving Ticino gastronomic culture
- The hut is part of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC
Our Personal Experience At Capanna Monte Bar
Read on to hear our experience arriving, staying, the morning after and costs:
Arriving At Capanna Monte Bar
The best way to arrive at Capanna Monte Bar is by hiking or with a bike. We decided to park our car lower on the mountain near the Oratorio dei Santi Fermo e Rustico church, where there are a few paid parking spots. From there we hiked up with our belongings.
The hike up was beautiful, through a forestry area of a zig zag route. There were lots of butterflies during our hike as well as wildlife such as red squirrels. We didn’t rush this route, taking plenty of breaks and enjoying the area. There are some stunning views once above the tree lines.
We arrived at the Capanna Monte Bar at around 6pm and was the perfect time to check in, take a refreshing shower and relax before dinner. It was an easy check in, paying for the night and then putting our stuff in the cabin.
Google Maps Address: 4227+2H Capriasca
Facilities And Dinner
We stayed officially in the ‘special room’ advertised on their site, which is the single cabin with the most stunning view of the region down to the city of Lugano. It is separated from the main building but closeby for good connection. This room consisted of a mattress, towels, bedding and blankets, a little mirror, a table and space for shoes and bags.
For the bathroom and shower, this was located at the main building together with the restaurant. You had to use the crocs to walk around in the main building to help keep the space clean, since many have dirty boots from their local hikes in the area.
For dinner, there was a 3 course meal provided which was included in our room price. We were treated to carrot soup for starter, followed by a delicious meat lasagne and then a lemon mousse for desert. It was all very delicious and filling!
They had a lovely setting of the restaurant right next to the huge windows looking down towards Lugano. There was also a selection of board games and books for the evening if you wanted, great for those also with children visiting for the night.
We have a fully-loaded, high content Ticino Guide listing local things to see, do and explore with each season: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
CLICK HERE
The Night Sky At Monte Bar
Monte Bar is a good place to experience the night sky, such as stargazing in Switzerland.
Once the sun had set and our eyes adjusted to the dark sky above, the stars showed themselves beautifully. Our night at Capanna Monte Bar worked out really well with the clear weather. There wasn’t a single cloud is the sky while we stargazed.
We could see very clearly the sky. We saw many shooting stars, as well as the Tiangong Space Station, Starlink satellites and many other satellite passing over during just a short period of looking up! We tracked the space station and Starlink with the app called ISS detector.
The Morning at Monte Bar
The morning after our sleep was peaceful. We had set up our alarm to wake up early in the hope of seeing a beautiful sunrise. Our 6am alarm showed us the beauty of the the low clouds passing by over Monte Bar.
We took a walk through the clouds, with the sun shining through. The local flowers and landscape was wet from dew, but pretty and not that cold to enjoy before breakfast. We seemed to be the only ones out for a walk at 7am, maybe all the others who slept the night were simply not wanting to see the sunrise.
Breakfast was served at 8am in the main Capanna building. This was a small, fresh buffet but perfect to start the day, with bread, condiments, yoghurt and a mix of cornflakes and muesli. There was also unlimited tea, coffee, milk and juice.
Checkout was at 9am and we had plenty of time to pack after breakfast. It was an easy process, handing over the key and paying for any additional drinks we took that were not part of the package.
During our walk back to the car location, we saw more wildlife such as wild boar (with her babies) and a deer in the forestry area. So sweet to see but it’s good to be aware of your surroundings and keep your distance.
How Much Does It Cost To Stay At Capanna Monte Bar?
So the Capanna Monte Bar has different rooms available split with 2, 4 and 6 beds. Due to this there are different costs based on what you wish to take for the night.
The special room hut that we stayed outside was for 2 people total. This special hut that we stayed in costed a total of 250 CHF. This was in total for the night, which included all the products, facilities, the 3 course dinner and the buffet breakfast.
We felt this was a decent price, based on what a usual 3 course meal in the city of Lugano would cost, as well as what a night would usually cost in a special hut or tiny home that we have experienced in the past.
How To Reserve A Night?
Check their direct website for reservation. Their online booking system is easy to use and otherwise they are very quick with responding (and super helpful) via email if you have any questions!
For payment, you pay when you check in which made it easy for us. It was possible to pay by card, but we also saw cash and twint options too.
Summary Of Our Capanna Monte Bar Visit
We can highly suggest a night at the special room hut location of the Capanna Monte Bar. This mountain location was a great experience for us, as a new experience as expats in Switzerland. This experience made us realise that we would love to do more hiking trips across Switzerland and stay in more mountain huts such as this one.
Both the dinner and breakfast served was deliciously prepared, as well as some additional choices for drinks and snacks if we wanted.
We will definitely consider a visit back to Capanna Monte Bar, as well as new locations on other mountain peaks in Ticino and Switzerland.
Tips For Visiting
Book in advance, especially during the busier hiking months as the special room hut could be booked if you leave it for chance. This makes it a guarantee it’s reserved for you.
It was recommended to bring sleeping bags as the nights can get cold, but for our stay in August, the bedding and extra blanket that was already provided was perfect for us. The temperature was minimum 9 degrees which was okay for our liking, but if you plan on staying yourself, be prepared and check this before visiting.
Card payments are accepted, but good to have some cash for tips! The people looking after the mountain hut did a great job and provided a delicious 3 course meal – which is great to provide a tip!
Leave a Reply