Leisure Activities & Sustainability

Mendrisio is a small town, surrounded by attractions that will make  your participation in RILEM Spring Week 2025 more pleasant and difficult to forget.

  • Museum: an interesting museum near Mendrisio is the unique Museum of Fossils of Monte San Giorgio (UNESCO World Heritage Site). It is very interesting and not too large, so a relatively short visit is possible. It can be reached by bus from Mendrisio Bus Station in up to 20 min. (http://www.montesangiorgio.org/en/).
  • Shopping: Fox Town is a huge outlet shopping mall, located at about 10 min walking distance from the Meeting’s venues. It houses 160 stores and 250 top brands, offering 3.5 km of windows, reportedly at convenient prices. Opening time: daily at 11 – 19 h. (https://www.foxtown.com/)
  • Gambling: Admiral Casino, a neighbour of above-described Fox Town, carries the “Best Swiss casino 2024/2025” award. It offers several games, such as roulette, black jack, poker and slot machines. It houses a cafè, a bistrot and a restaurant, opening daily, typically from 1 pm to 5 am. (https://www.admiral.ch/en/).
  • Eating: Several cosy restaurants and “grottos” (restaurants built inside natural rock cellars) can be found on Viale alle Cantine street. The place is at 25 min walking distance or 11-18 min by bus from Mendrisio Bus Station.
    KFC and Mc Donald’s shops are also very close to the venues, same as Pizza IN, a take-away pizza and excellent ice-creams shops just across Mendrisio Railway Station. (https://pizzain.net/negozio/).
  • Wine tasting: local wine producers can be contacted for wine tasting experiences of prosecco, white and red local wines and local grappa.
  • Sightseeing: Monte Generoso offers (if the sky is clear) a magnificent view of the Alps and a restaurant planned by the architect Mario Botta. The trip to the top takes 1 hour from Mendrisio by train (including cog railway). The return ticket costs approx. 100 CHF per adult.

Lugano: if you want to venture outside Mendrisio, probably the best choice is to go by train to elegant Lugano (on the shores of Lugano Lake), with a large choice of restaurants for all tastes and pockets. Trains from Mendrisio every 10-15 min, for a trip lasting up to 20 min (https://www.myswitzerland.com/de-ch/reiseziele/lugano/).

Morcote: is a charming village, at the shores of Lugano Lake. Restaurants at or by the shore, offer typical local food. It is reachable in 30-45 min by train / bus from the Mendrisio Station.

(Only) if you love model trains, you may like to visit the large collection displayed in Galleria Baumgartner, few steps from SUPSI (opens Wed, Sat & Sun).

Skiing: for those who love skiing, the closest important ski centre is the Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis complex, with 180 km of ski slopes. Hourly trains from Mendrisio take you in 2 ½ hours to Andermatt.

Hiking/Trekking: the area around Mendrisio offers 340 km of hiking trails of different degrees of difficulty, accessible all year round: https://www.mendrisiottoturismo.ch/en/esplora/attivita/itinerari-piedi.html.

For those who want to remain close to the cement industry, the remnants of an abandoned cement plant that was once operated by Holcim can be found in the nice natural park Gole della Breggia (https://www.mendrisiottoturismo.ch/en/commons/details/Parco-delle-Gole-della-Breggia/52602.html).

Sustainable Meeting

Following recommendations from an ad-hoc group, that met in Toulouse during RILEM Week 2024, we are trying to make RILEM Spring Meeting 2025 a sustainable event.

For those willing to travel by train to Mendrisio, below some info on connections from European capitals in less than 12 hours:

  • Amsterdam, Berlin or Vienna: ca. 11 hours
  • Brussels: 9 hours
  • München: 6 ½ – 8 hours
  • Paris: 7 – 8 hours
  • Rome: 4 ½ hours

The conference staff will do its best to organize a sustainable RILEM Spring Convention 2025 by considering the eating and drinking breaks, the technical visits and the leisure activities.