Life on the border
The Swiss Customs Museum Cantine di Gandria is located on the shady south shore of the Lake of Lugano, across from Gandria and Monte Brè. Once a minor border guard’s outpost, the building today is part of the village of Cantine di Gandria, together with a group of vintage taverns and rural dwellings, known as grotti and rustici respectively.
The lake, the slopes of the surrounding mountains with their dense stands of chestnut, and the nearby Italian border make a quaint setting for the lonely customs museum, known popularly as the “smuggler’s museum”.
Virtual Tour (in German)