The ancient settlement of Chiavenna, in Lombardy, near Italy’s border with Switzerland, was once well known among travellers. “Lovely Chiavenna … mountain peaks, huge boulders, with rippling miniature torrents and lovely young flowers … and grassy heights with rich Spanish chestnuts,” wrote George Eliot in 1860.
Eliot wasn’t the only writer to rhapsodise about this charming town. Edith Wharton described it as “fantastically picturesque … an exuberance of rococo”. For Mary Shelley it was “paradise … glowing in rich and sunny vegetation”, while Goethe described it as “like a dream”.
For those pioneering travellers, gentle, sunlit Chiavenna marked their arrival in Italy, having crossed the Splügen Pass, one of the earliest transalpine routes connecting northern Europe to the south. Today, few tourists bother with Chiavenna, heading instead to the better-known Como that lies 60 miles (100km) to the south. They are missing a treat.
Intrigued by the praise once heaped upon this mysterious town, with a picture-perfect location at the foot of the snow-flecked Alps, I decided to spend a week here with my husband. Surrounded by thick chestnut woods and bisected by the crystal-clear River Mera, Valchiavenna (the town’s valley) holds numerous surprises too, from the area’s crotti (natural caves), to a B&B in the ornate villa once inhabited by the great 18th-century painter Angelica Kauffman. It also has dozens of magnificent hiking and cycling trails through a spectacular landscape of waterfalls, glacially sculpted rocks, mossy woodlands, ancient mule tracks and abandoned villages. With barely a tourist in sight.
I travelled from Zurich, taking a train to St Moritz, then a bus over the spectacular Maloja Pass, down 20 vertiginous hairpin bends (known as tornanti) carved from the rock face of the Alps, with sweeping views – lakes, peaks, forests – in all directions. This €20 one-hour bus ride also stops off at the Swiss village of Stampa (birthplace of the artist Alberto Giacometti and home of the Museo Ciäsa Granda, which is dedicated to him), as well as Sils Maria village, home of the Nietzsche-Haus, where Nietzsche spent seven formative summers in the late 19th century, and now a museum. Meanwhile, my husband travelled to Chiavenna by train from Milan, a journey that skirted the scenic shores of numerous lakes, including Lake Como.
The remote Rifugio Uschione. Photograph: Paolo Valentini
Our first day was spent hiking 6 miles upriver along the beautiful Via Bregaglia, a 24-mile hiking trail running from Soglio in Switzerland to Chiavenna, to reach one of the region’s best-known restaurants, the family-run, Michelin-starred Lanterna Verde. After feasting on trout caught minutes before from their own lake, we took the bus back to explore Chiavenna’s old centre, which dates from the 15th century (the medieval town was destroyed by fire). Described by an Italian friend as “like Verona but without the amphitheatre, crowds and chain stores”, the network of cobbled alleys containing ornate frescoed buildings and elaborate fountains is testament to its past as a wealthy trading town.
Chiavenna is home to dozens of crotti, natural cellars embedded in the rocky flanks of the surrounding mountains. Before the advent of refrigeration, the crotti were used for storing wine, cheese and cured meats, and often as places to socialise. Today several operate as restaurants and bars: at Crotto Ubiali and Crotto Ombra, we tucked into two of the town’s signature dishes: sciatt – melt-in-the-mouth buckwheat fritters stuffed with cheese – and gnocchi alla chiavennasca – bread-based dumplings served with melted butter and crispy fried sage. At Crotto Belvedere, we sipped local wine – try Opera, a delicious white from nearby vineyards, that arrives in a bottle labelled with the work of a local artist.
On our second day we explored the Parco delle Marmitte dei Giganti (“giants’ cauldrons”), which slopes up from the town’s eastern edge – a mass of mineral-rich green stone (pietre verdi) natural craters, caused by glacial erosion over thousands of years. From here, hiking trails fan out, tantalisingly, in all directions. We took the 50-minute path to Uschione, an empty, roadless village of stone houses, a church and cemetery, perched high above the valley and wreathed in soft wisps of cloud. Four hundred people once lived here, but today the only inhabitants are long‑eared sheep and Mendi who runs the Rifugio Uschione (doubles from €160), a rustic yet stylish priest’s house where we spent an utterly silent night of perfect sleep. The next morning we took a mossy path upwards to explore abandoned forest crotti, before turning northwards to bask in panoramic views across the valley and up towards the soaring Rhaetian Alps.
Palazzo Vertemate Franchi in Piuro is the only building that survived a landslide in 1618. Photograph: AGF/Alamy
Back in Chiavenna, we headed to the Palazzo Salis B&B, once home to Angelica Kauffman. Here, a lavish frescoed room, complete with antique furniture, painted ceiling, chequered marble floor and breakfast on the terrace costs from €130. After stopping for cups of cappuccino and cioccolata calda (melted dark chocolate with a splash of thick cream) in Sierra Nevada, the town’s cutest roastery, we walked a mile north to Piuro for a tour of the most eye‑popping renaissance villa: Palazzo Vertemate Franchi. The sole surviving building from a 1618 landslide that destroyed the entire village and killed more than 1,000 inhabitants, the palazzo (advance booking and guided tours only) boasts exquisite marquetry, fantastical frescoes and elaborately carved panelling.
Giddy from all these unexpected delights, we strolled a further mile to the dramatic Acquafraggia waterfalls. This double waterfall tumbles 1,300 metres in a series of cascades, and was described by Leonardo da Vinci as “making a beautiful sound and a marvellous spectacle”. With our cheeks gently misted, we climbed the ancient mule path (2,867 stone steps) up to the abandoned village of Savogno, where old stone houses cling precipitously to the mountainside.
A day later, we drove up the 51 tightly twisting, hairpin bends to explore the Splügen Pass. This 40-minute journey climbs 1,780 metres and propelled us into an utterly different, much chillier landscape. We spent a contented night at the legendary coaching inn Albergo della Posta, (doubles from €130) in the tiny hamlet of Montespluga. Little has changed here in 75 years – the 10 bedrooms are cosily panelled in pine, and retain their original furnace stoves.
Leonardo da Vinci was among admirers of the Acquafraggia waterfall. Photograph: Aerial Vision/Alamy
With Shelley’s words about the pass in our heads – “naked and sublime … dim mists, chilling blasts and driving snow” – we walked a three-hour circular path to the Lago di Andossi, revelling in the landscape’s bleak austerity, with its eerily turquoise lakes, luminously green lichen and treeless, craggy peaks. This route also forms the beginning of the 20-mile Valchiavenna cycle path, which took third place in the Italian Green Way Cycle Road awards of 2022. Bike hire is available from Adam’s Bike Tours, and we vowed to return one day to cycle the route.
And then it was back to Chiavenna to investigate the Saturday market, sample its three gelaterias, explore the towering Parco Paradiso (a terraced botanical garden built on the site of the original castle), and to amble around the cloistered church of San Lorenzo, with its gloriously carved 12th-century font. We finished at Chiavenna’s high-security Museo del Tesoro or “treasure museum”, home to the extraordinary La Pace – a jaw-dropping, 11th-century bible cover with the finest goldsmithing and enamelling imaginable, encrusted with emeralds, rubies and pearls. It is yet another reminder of the important role Chiavenna once played in Europe’s history.
We ended our trip by pigging out on the locally inspired tasting menu – it was our wedding anniversary – at the family-run Villa Giade (which also has sleekly modern, reasonably priced bedrooms with the best views in town). Over glasses of wine from the local Nebbiolo grape, we pondered Chiavenna’s many hidden charms, before agreeing that this could be the most quietly romantic town we had ever visited.
The Nordic noir thriller has been praised for its ‘excellent’ action and gorgeous visuals
Megan Nisbet Content Editor
10:45, 09 Feb 2026
The fourth series of a very popular thriller has just dropped on Channel 4(Image: Channel 4)
The fourth series of a very popular thriller has just dropped on Channel 4.
Arctic Circle is the latest box set to dop on the broadcaster’s streaming platform and has been described as a “gripping Finnish crime drama” that follows detective Nina Kautsalo as she investigates a string of dangerous cases that straddle the border between Russia and Finland.
The series first aired back in Finland in 2018 for four seasons, and now all of them are available to binge on Channel 4. Arctic Circle stars Iina Kuustonen in the lead role, alongside fellow cast members Pihla Viitala, Mikko Leppilampi, Venla Ronkainen, and Taneli Mäkelä.
The fourth season sees Nina, now chief of police in Ivalo, investigate a possible threat to an astrophysicists’ conference occurring during the rare Eiscat comet.
As her former boss Jaakko Stenius joins the inquiry, a carbon‑monoxide incident killing 24 care‑home residents, initially ruled accidental, reveals evidence of mass murder.
The synopsis reads: “When the rare Eiscat comet blazes across the endless night sky in its first appearance in two thousand years, it draws scientists from around the world to Ivalo for an international conference.
“After the FBI warns of a potential threat, Nina’s former boss, Jaakko Stenius (Kari Ketonen), arrives to lead a covert investigation with her. As they dig deeper, chilling links emerge between the comet and a fanatical sect determined to fulfill an ancient prophecy before the comet disappears again.”
Set in Lapland, the show has been praised by viewers for its “sublime” casting and gorgeous visuals.
One viewer wrote: “This series has it all: interesting story with multiple plot lines, nice balance between drama and thriller, good acting by everyone involved (Finnish actress Iina Kuustonen is a marvel to watch), and beautiful shots of vast snowy landscapes in Lapland.”
While another said: “Outstanding. This is a top quality show with fine performances and a terrific plot. Good production values with characters that are fully explored.”
Adding: “All good shows there must be an array of engaging characters. Artic Circle has that in spades. The countryside is both haunting beautiful and bleak. It’s an unforgiving environment and has been captured to perfection.”
And a third commented: “The show itself has a brilliant storyline and the location for filming sets the scene nicely. The acting is superb, especially the young girl who plays Venla.”
It come after Channel 4 announced its “most watched show” of 2026, Patience, would be returning to screens for a third season. You can read more on this here.
Series 1 to 4 of Arctic Circle are available to stream on Channel 4 now.
Cash Queens or Les Lionnes follows five women who take on a daring money heist, led by single mum Rosalie.
When she realises that her family has to live on just €30 a week in order to pay off her incarcerated husband’s debt, Rosalie comes up with a plan.
She sets out to rob €100,000 from the bank where she works as a receptionist. Her best friend Kim soon catches wind of the heist and jumps on board, hoping to use her share to open a massage therapy salon.
Rosalie’s cousin, Alex, also joins in and uses her skills as an architecture student to perfect their plan.
They later recruit Sofia, another desperate single mum in need of cash before social services hunt her down. And their final member is Kim’s client Chloé, who is married to the town’s shady mayor.
The newfound friend group then take on the tricky heist, cleverly disguised as men. However, “it’s not long before politicians, police, and gangsters are on their tails, scarcely imagining that a group of ordinary women are behind this band of mercenaries,” states the synopsis.
Its ensemble cast is led by Rebecca Marder, who plays leading lady Rosalie. She is joined by Zoé Marchal as Kim, Naidra Ayadi as Sofia, Pascale Arbillot in the role of Chloé and Tya Deslauriers as Alex.
While the French drama’s plot seems far-fetched, it is actually inspired by a gang of robbers from the late eighties.
According to Tudum: “The series is inspired by the Gang des Amazones, five women who robbed seven banks in the South of France starting in 1989. “
The women famously disguised themselves as men by wearing wigs and fake moustaches.
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Since the eight-episode series premiered last night (February 5), it hasn’t received many reviews just yet. However, Screen Rant described it as a ‘must watch’.
Entertainment publication Gazettely also shared a thoughtful review, writing: “Cash Queens provides a sharp look at economic desperation. It replaces heist glamour with the frantic reality of survival.”
The review continued, praising the show’s plot device of masculine disguises as “biting commentary on the invisibility of working-class women”.
“This production represents a shift in streaming content toward stories prioritizing character depth over spectacle. It succeeds as a grounded portrait of resistance against a system designed to ignore the poor,” they concluded.
