The romantic village of Lavertezzo (545 m above sea level) with its rustici is a good starting point to explore the original Valle Verzasca and its side valleys. A popular photo subject is the old, two-arched stone bridge over the Verzasca river.
With its numerous typical stone houses, Lavertezzo is almost a Ticino “picture-book village”. Sitting in a grotto and enjoying a risotto further underlines this impression. The main attraction is the Ponte dei Salti with two arches from the 17th century. Also known as the Roman Bridge, the stone bridge over the Verzasca River was rebuilt after being partially destroyed in 1960. Also worth seeing in Lavertezzo is the parish church of Madonna degli Angeli from the 18th century, the only baroque church in the valley.
The exclave of Riazzino Piano in the Magadino plain also belongs to the municipality of Lavertezzo in the middle Valle Verzasca. For centuries, the population lived in the Verzasca Valley in summer and spent the winter with their livestock on the plain. While the town in the valley had to struggle with emigration, especially towards Italy, the district in the plain has now become a prosperous small center for trade and commerce in the settlement belt on the edge of the Piano di Magadino.
The Valle Verzasca is a natural, even wild valley in many places with steep slopes and countless waterfalls. The clear, emerald green water of the Verzasca River flows over bizarrely shaped, smoothly polished rocks in the narrow valley. You don't have to follow the riverbed far to find bathtubs and "whirlpools" shaped by nature. The river is also popular among canoeists and divers, but is considered difficult or even dangerous. Below Lavertezzo, just before the valley exit, the river is dammed and forms Lake Vogorno before flowing into Lake Maggiore in Piano di Magadino.