My boyfriend (Lugano native) decided to take me here last week, as he has always wanted to see it and has never had the chance, and he knew that I would love it. We drove around Monte San Giorgio for a little while before he finally stopped and asked for directions from one of the locals. They sent us to Meride, where again, we were unsure where to go. He stopped another local and asked for directions again.

We parked in the main parking lot of Meride just below the vineyards and walked around the town a little bit. It appeared deserted. We found the little museum mentioned in your article, with a little note on a closed door, and went inside. We watched the video and looked around. The fossils that were on display were very well preserved and AWESOME! They also had drawings of what the creatures looked like and what the environment that they were living in at that time probably looked like. A step back in time.

After about 15 minutes in the museum, we wanted to see the site. We walked up the hill to the little church (which was beautiful), dipped our heads in the fountain (it was in the 90s) to cool off and started up the trail to see the fossil site at the top of the mountain. There's a sign that said it was about an hour and a half walk to the site.

The trail was paved with little stones and very steep, surrounded by beautiful trees, steams and butterflies. After about 20 minutes of hiking up the trail with no water and flip flops (we hadn't planned on hiking obviously), we decided it would be smart of us to turn back.

I will definitely be back, hopefully with my kids (6 and 7), some tennis shoes and a few bottles of water and make it to the top of the mountain. The town is empty, but cute and the hike through the mountains is absolutely gorgeous. But it is steep, no switchbacks, just straight up, so be prepared!