After spending three days in Lugano, I got into the Land Rover and set Geneva as the destination on my Garmin GPS. 

Once I started to drive, I noticed the navigator taking me there via Italy and France. I was a bit puzzled, but followed the route nevertheless, and sure enough, it got me to Geneva, back in Switzerland. When I arrived at my destination, I mentioned this to my friends and was informed that not only was this the best route, it was also the fastest!

This morning I had coffee with my tour guide Peter Knapp, after which we went on a walking tour of Lugano's city centre to see some of the historic buildings as well as some of the newer ones.

Later, we returned to the hotel and then drove about 3km to Gandria, a village on the Italian border. We had a delicious meal here at the Locanda Gandriese, then walked around and explored this pretty village, which has only 219 inhabitants.

After a week in Italy, I left for Switzerland at 7am today, guided by my very reliable Garmin GPS fitted in my Land Rover.

The border crossing was as quick and efficient as you can expect with the Swiss, and I drove all the way to the Splendide Royal Hotel in Lugano.

Lugano is one of those unique areas in Switzerland that combines Swiss quality with Italian influences. It is famous for its lakes and mountains as well as its modern and ancient architecture.