The Leonardo Path

The Leonardo Path: the "Wing Way"

26 are its walking days, 540 km is the length: up from Milan to S. Bernardino along the Adda river and Como lake, down from S. Bernardino to Milan along Mesolcina valley, Ticino river and Pavia canal.

This walking and bike path, dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci, wants to focus on territories and places that - from the Milan capital to Swiss Grigioni and Ticino Cantons - had Leonardo as the undisputed protagonist with his works as an artist, a naturalist, a geologist, a mountaineer, engineer and inventor.

The duchy capital Milan, the Adda course, the Lecco branch of the Como lake, the Alpine crown, the current Italian-tongue side of Switzerland, the Ticino course, the Martesana, Grande and Pavese canals were the Lombard areas that Leonardo genius mostly explored and studied.

Leonardo da Vinci was in Lombardy fascinated by the flowing waters and so much interested in the fluids motion: he found in the Adda and Ticino rivers the "en plain air" laboratories for his science studies, his reflections and subsequent his creation-inventions, which later he transponed into his world-famous artistic and technological productions, still nowadays amazing and fascinating the whole world.

The Leonardo Path (also called "The Wing Way", for its peculiar shape that reminds us the Leonardo da Vinci visionary human-flight studies) is based on already known and consolidated existing paths, here below summarized:


  • Martesana towpath from Milan to Trezzo sull'Adda

  • Adda river towpath from Trezzo to Lecco

  • Trails along the Piani Resinelli alp site from Lecco to Abbadia Lariana (in the close future, a lakeside cycle path will also be available)

  • Sentiero del Viandante path from Abbadia Lariana to Piantedo

  • Via Francisca from Piantedo to Chiavenna

  • Via Spluga from Chiavenna to Madesimo

  • Passo del Baliscio from Madesimo to San Bernardino

  • Mesolcina Valley from San Bernardino to Bellinzona

  • Option A: Swiss trail n° 7 from Bellinzona to Lugano and Ponte Tresa

  • Option B: from Bellinzona to Locarno, Cureglia and Ponte Tresa

  • Via Francisca from Ponte Tresa to Busto Arsizio

  • Naviglio Grande towpath from Busto Arsizio to Abbiategrasso

  • Paths in the Ticino river natural Park from Abbiategrasso to Pavia

  • Naviglio Pavese towpath from Pavia to Milan

The suggestion of such prefigured Leonardo Way is intended to offer the Leonardo Path as a new and original touristic-cultural enhancement of all the involved territories, leading them to compete - thanks to the existence of numerous attractive themes - with the most noble European paths.

Alternative route from Bellinzona to Ponte Tresa

The Leonardo sites along the Way