Lake Lugano is the main city of the Swiss canton of Ticino, which is described as Switzerland with an Italian accent. The large town has a population of 140,000 when the metropolitan area is included and makes for a perfect day trip from almost anywhere in the Mediterranean since it sits on the border between Northern Italy and Switzerland. Most travelers journey to Lake Lugano for the high-end boutique shopping as well as outdoor recreation such as boating and hiking. The waterfront community features an old town that is surrounded by promenades and public parks. The southern shores of the lake are rich in fossils, especially Monte San Giorgio, where fossils from the mid-Triassic, or 220 million years ago, have been unearthed in large fossil deposits.

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