Aquila (788 m/2,585ft), with neat houses in the Ticinese style, lies at the foot of the Colma massif, which reaches its highest point in the Cima di Pinaderio (2,490 m/8170ft). From here there are alternative routes to Dongio: either on a narrow by-road (5km/3mi longer) which runs above the right bank of the Brenno through a series of pretty
villages and chestnut groves (at Prugiasco, 7.5km/5mi), detour on right, 30minutes, up to the little Romanesque church of San Carlo Negrentino, with 13th-16th C. frescoes); or on the main road, which climbs up the left bank of the Brenno and beyond Dongio turns into the Val Soia, running down from the Rheinwaldhorn (3,406 m/11,175ft).