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Seasons

The ski season runs from early December to early April, high season hits mid-December to January 6, the last two weeks of February and any early Easter. Summer rates plummet, apart from August. Many resorts shut in April/May and October/November, while rifugi (mountain huts) open from late June to September, the prime hiking season.

Language

Trentino’s first language is Italian but head north to Alto Adige (Südtirol) and you’ll find 75% of the population are German speakers, a legacy of the region’s Austro-Hungarian past. The Ladin language is spoken in both provinces, across five eastern Dolomiti valleys; it’s a direct descendant of provincial Latin.

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Trentino

Trento

pop 117,300 / elev 194m

Trento rarely makes the news these days, but that wasn’t the case in the mid-16th century. During the tumultuous years of the Counter-Reformation, the Council of Trent convened here, dishing out far-reaching condemnations to uppity Protestants. Modern Trento is far from preachy; instead it’s quietly confident, liberal and easy to like. Bicycles glide along spotless streets fanning out from the atmospheric, intimate Piazza del Duomo, students clink spritzes by Renaissance fountains and a dozen historical eras intermingle seamlessly amid stone castles, shady porticoes and the city’s signature medieval frescoes. While there’s no doubt you’re in Italy, Trento does have its share of Austrian influence: apple strudel is ubiquitous and beer halls not uncommon. Set in a wide glacial valley guarded by the crenulated peaks of the Brenta Dolomites, amid a patchwork of vineyards and apple orchards, Trento is a perfect jumping-off point for hiking, skiing or wine tasting. And road cycling is huge: 400km of paved cycling paths fan out from here.

Sights

Helpful plaques indicate which historical era various buildings belong to – often several at once in this many-layered city.

Castello del Buonconsiglio MUSEUM

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( 0461 23 37 70; www.buonconsiglio.it; Via Clesio 5; adult/reduced/family €8/5/7; 9.30am-5pm Tue-Sun) Guarded by hulking fortifications, Trento’s bishop-princes holed up here until Napoleon’s arrival in 1801. Behind the walls are the original 13th-century castle, the Castelvecchio, and the Renaissance residence Magno Palazzo, which provides an atmospheric backdrop for a varied collection of artefacts.

Duomo CATHEDRAL

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(Cattedrale di San Vigilio; 6.30am-6pm) Once host to the Council of Trent, this dimly lit Romanesque cathedral displays fragments of medieval frescoes inside its transepts. Two colonnaded stairways flank the nave, leading, it seems, to heaven. Built over a 6th-century temple devoted to San Vigilio, patron saint of Trento, the foundations form part of a palaeo-Christian archaeological area ( 10am-noon & 2.30-5.30pm Mon-Sat, admission €1.50 or included with Museo Diocesano entrance ).

Museo Diocesano Tridentino MUSEUM

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(Palazzo Pretorio; 0461 23 44 19; Piazza del Duomo 18; adult/reduced €5/3 incl Duomo’s archaeological area; 9.30am-12.30pm & 2.30-5.30pm Wed-Mon) Sitting across the square from the duomo , this former bishop’s residence dates from the 11th century. It now houses one of Italy’s most important ecclesiastical collections with enormous documentary paintings of the Council of Trent, along with Flemish tapestries, exquisite illustrated manuscripts, vestments and some particularly opulent reliquaries.

Piazza del Duomo PIAZZA

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Trento’s heart is this busy yet intimate piazza, dominated, of course, by the duomo , but also host to the Fontana di Nettuno OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP , a flashy late-baroque fountain rather whimsically dedicated to Neptune. Intricate, allegorical frescoes fill the 16th-century facades of the Casa Cazuffi-Rella OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP , on the piazza’s northern side.

Tridentum La Città Sotterranea ROMAN SITE

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( 0461 23 01 71; Piazza Battisti; adult/reduced €2.50/1.50; 9am-noon & 2-5.30pm Oct-May, 9.30am-1pm & 2-6pm Tue-Sun Jun-Sep) Explore Roman Tridentum’s city walls, paved streets, tower, domestic mosaics and a workshop. The site was discovered less than two decades ago, during restoration works on the nearby theatre.

MUSE MUSEUM

(Museo della Scienze; 0461 27 03 11; www.muse.it; Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3; adult/reduced €9/7; 10am-6pm Tue-Fri, 10am-7pm Sat & Sun; ) A stunning new architectural work for Trento, care of Renzo Piano, houses this 21st-century science museum. Design-wise, the building cleverly echoes the local landscape and the museum itself typifies the city’s brainy inquisitiveness. Highly interactive exhibitions explore the Alpine environment, biodiversity and sustainability, society and technology.

Funivia Trento-Sardagna CABLE CAR

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( 0461 23 21 54; Via Montegrappa 1; one way/return €3/5; 7am-10pm, 15min/half-hourly) A brief but spectacular cable-car ride from Trento’s valley floor delivers you to the pretty village of Sardagna – admire the vista over a grappa or two.

Badia di San Lorenzo CHURCH

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(Via Andrea Pozzo 2; 7am-noon, 3-7pm Mon-Sat) The harmonious proportions of this 12th-century church epitomise the calm simplicity of its Bergameschi Benedictine builders. Look up to the cross-vaulting, touchingly festooned with rust-red stars.

Galleria Civica di Trento ART GALLERY

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( 0461 98 55 11; www.mart.tn.it/galleriacivica; Via Belenzani 46; Tue-Sun 10am-6pm) This new city gallery project space steps into the breach while the future of the Trento campus of MART (Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto) remains uncertain.

Activities

The small ski station of Vaneze di Monte (1350m) is a 17km winding drive from Trento and is connected by cable car to its higher counterpart, Vasòn , and the gentle slopes of Monte Bondone (www.montebondone.it) . Criss-crossed by 37km of cross-country ski trails and nine downhill runs in winter, Monte Bondone’s pristine slopes are also home to the Giardino Alpine Botanico (Botanical Alpine Gardens; 0461 94 80 50; www.mtsn.tn.it/Viote_giardino_botanico; Viote de Monte Bondone; adult/reduced €3.50/2.50; 9am-5pm Jun & Sep, 9am-6pm Jul & Aug) , with a collection of Alpine plants from across Europe, as well as an indigenous nature trail. On weekends between December and March, Skibus Monte Bondone, run by Trentino Trasporti, wends its way from Trento to Vason and Viote (free with TrentoRovereto card, one way €3, 7-day pass €15).

For suggested walking itineraries, and information on vie ferrate (trails with permanent cables and ladders) and rifugi (mountain huts), visit the local Società degli Alpinisti Tridentini (SAT; 0461 98 28 04; www.sat.tn.it; Palazzo Saracini Cresseri, Via Manci 57; 9am-noon & 3-7pm Mon-Fri, afternoons only in winter) , staffed by friendly mountaineers.

Tours

The tourist office runs two-hour multilingual walking tours (€6) every Saturday, visiting Castello del Buonconsiglio at 10am or around the town centre at 3pm.

Sleeping

Central hotels book out in early June, when the Festival Economia (2012.festivaleconomia.eu) comes to town, and during other conferences. Agritur Trentino ( 0461 23 53 23; www.agriturismotrentino.com; Via Aconcio 13; 9am-noon Mon-Fri) can put you in touch with rural B&Bs and agriturismi (farm stay accommodation), often only a short drive from the centre.

Elisa B&B B&B €

( 0461 92 21 33; www.bbelisa.com; Viale Rovereto 17; s/d €60/90; ) This is a true B&B in an architect’s family home, with three private, stylish rooms and charming hosts who dispense organic breakfasts (home-baked cakes, freshly squeezed juice, artisanal cheese, eggs), along with invaluable local tips. It’s located in a quiet, residential neighbourhood, a pleasant stroll from the city centre, with lots of eating, shopping and drinking options along the way.

Hotel Venezia HOTEL €

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( 0461 23 41 14; www.hotelveneziatn.it; Piazza del Duomo 45; with/without bathroom s €44/57 d €60/80; ) Rooms in this friendly place overlook the Piazza del Duomo, pretty Via Belanzani or a quiet inner courtyard. The hotel has been recently remodelled including flash bathrooms, while prices remain the same.

Ostello Giovane Europa HOSTEL €

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( 0461 26 34 84; www.gayaproject.org; Via Torre Vanga 9; dm/s/d €16/27/45; reception closed 10am-2pm) This squeaky-clean hostel is bang in the middle of town and just a few minutes’ walk from the main train station (convenient, yes, but also, at times, noisy). Rooms are comfortable and upper floors have mountain views; the mansard-roofed family room on the top floor is particularly spacious.

Albergo Accademia HOTEL €€

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( 0461 23 36 00; www.accademiahotel.it; Vicolo Colico 4/6; s €100, d €165; ) Elegant small hotel in a historic medieval house with rooms that are modern and airy (if a little on the staid side). Suites are luxuriously spacious, including one with a large private terrace and sauna.

Eating & Drinking

Trento’s table is a hearty one and draws many of its ingredients – beef, game, cheese, mushrooms – from its fertile hinterland. There’s a lot of cross-cultural traffic too: cotoletta (schnitzel) and canederli (dumplings) are decidedly northern, polenta and asparagus evoke the Veneto and Garda’s olive oil conjures the Mediterranean. Bakeries brim with apple strudel, but don’t overlook the local carrot cake. Wines to look out for include Trento DOC, a sparkling made from chardonnay grapes, the white Nosiola and the extremely drinkable red, Teroldego Rotaliano DOC. Trentino’s smartly bottled Surgiva mineral water is considered one of Italy’s best, for taste and purity

Uva et Mente PIZZERIA €

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( 0461 190 31 62; Via Dietro le Mura A 35; pizzas €7, meals €15-30; noon-midnight Tue-Sun) A young, friendly team keep the crowds smiling in the bustling basement space or out on the sunny terrace, with steaks, pastas and risottos making the most of fresh, regional ingredients. There’s a €10 lunch deal and a dedicated beer menu, but good pizza is the highlight; a bonus, they can be ordered wholemeal or gluten-free.

Al Tino TRENTINO €

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( 0461 98 41 09; Via San Trinita 10; meals €20; 6.45-9.30pm Mon-Sat) Al Tino has a sweet, old-fashioned dining room and service to match, with a menu dedicated to traditional dishes such as barley soup, canederli in brodo (dumplings in broth) and pork chops.

Pedavena BREWERY €

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( 0461 98 62 55; Piazza di Fiera 13; meals €18-30; Wed-Mon 9am-midnight, Fri & Sat to 1am) Proudly crowd-pleasing and perennially popular, this sprawling 1920s beer hall (complete with fermenting brew in the corner) serves up the comfort food you’d expect: bratwurst, schnitzel and steaming plates of polenta with mushroom stew and slabs of melty white tosella cheese.

Scrigno del Duomo GASTRONOMIC €€

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( 0461 22 00 30; www.scrignodelduomo.com; Piazza del Duomo 29; meals €35, degustation from €50; wine bar 11am-2.30pm & 6-11pm, dining room 12.30-2.30pm & 7.30-10pm Tue-Sun, dinner only Sat) Trento’s culinary and social epicentre is discreetly housed in a building dating back to the 1200s. Take the stairs down to the formal restaurant, with its glassed-in Roman-era cellar, for degustation dining. Or stay upstairs underneath the beautiful painted wooden ceiling for simple, stylishly done local specialities – stuffed rabbit, lake fish, asparagus lasagne with puzzone cheese from Moena, thyme-scented crème brûlée – many made with ‘0km’-sourced produce. A wine at the bar, with generous helpings of Scrigno’s baton-like grissini (Turin-style breadstick), parmesan chunks and olives, is always a pleasure and the staff’s advice on the list is spot on.

Ai Tre Garofani MODERN TRENTINO €€

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( 0461 23 75 43; Via Mazzini 33; meals €38; Mon-Sat 12.30-2pm & 7.30-10pm) While the low-beamed ceiling and deep drapery give a traditional vibe, the staff here deliver a dining experience full of new ideas and local flavours. Diners are welcomed with an amuse-bouche (perhaps a deer and yoghurt mousse) and house-made breads – milk and potato, spelt and seeded. Mountain pine mugo scents a tagliatelle, while a hazelnut crusted hare is accompanied by a dark cocoa sorbet and bitter-sweet roots and leaves. Wines are well chosen and, of course, local.

Il Cappello TRENTINO €€

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( 0461 23 58 50; www.osteriailcappello.it; Piazzetta Lunelli 5; meals €35; Tue-Sat noon-2.30pm & 7-10pm, Sun noon-3pm, Mon 7-10pm) This intimate dining room has an unexpectedly rustic feel, with wood beams and a terrace set in a quiet courtyard. The menu is Trentino to the core, and simple presentation makes the most of good local produce. The wine list is also notable.

Casa del Caffe CAFE

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(Via San Pietro 38; Mon-Sat 7.30am-12.30pm & 3pm-7.30pm) Follow your nose to this coffee bar and chocolate shop for Trento’s best espresso. Beans are roasted on the premises and the crowded shelves feature some of the country’s best boutique products.

Osteria della Mal’Ombra BAR

(www.osteriadellamalombra.com; Corso III Novembre 43; 8.30am-2.30pm & 3.30pm-midnight Mon-Fri, 4pm-1am Sat) Join the locals for good wine and grappa, possibly some spirited political debate and music on Tuesdays.

Cafe de la Paix BAR

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(www.cafedelapaix.org; Passaggio Teatro Osele, (off Via Suffragio); Mon-Sat 10am-midnight, Sun 5.30pm-midnight) With its vintage aesthetic and laidback staff, this hideaway bar is a departure from Trento’s conservative norm. Students start the day here with toast (€2), and the party gets going later with an international menu of snacks, well-priced wine and a rock-and-roll soundtrack.

Information

Hospital ( 0461 90 31 11; Largo Medaglie d’Oro 9)

Police Station ( 0461 89 95 11; Piazza della Mostra 3)

Post Office (Piazza Vittoria; 8am-6.30pm Mon-Fri, to 12.30pm Sat)

Tourist Office ( 0461 21 60 00; www.apt.trento.it; Via Manci 2; 9am-7pm)

Getting There & Away

Train

Trento is well connected. Regular trains leave the main train station (Piazza Dante) for the following destinations:

Bologna (€14, 3¼ hours, every two hours)

Bolzano (€6.40, 30 minutes, four per hour)

Venice (€10, 2½ hours, hourly)

Verona (€7.10, one hour, every 30 minutes)

Next door to the main station, the Trento–Malè train line goes to Cles (€3.70, 1¼ hours) and Malé (€4.40, 1½ hour) in the Val di Non.

Bus

Trentino Trasporti ( 0461 82 10 00; www.ttesercizio.it)

The local bus company runs buses from the InterCity bus station (Via Andrea Pozzo), to and from Madonna di Campiglio, San Martino di Castrozza, Molveno, Canazei and Rovereto.

Rovereto

pop 37,500

In the winter of 1769, Leopold Mozart and his soon-to-be-famous musical son visited Rovereto and found it to be ‘rich in diligent people engaged in viticulture and the weaving of silk’. The area is no longer known for silk, but still produces some outstanding wines, including the inky, cherry-scented Marzemino (the wine’s scene-stealing appearance in Don Giovanni suggests it may have been a Mozart family favourite). Those on a musical pilgrimage come for the annual Mozart Festival (www.festivalmozartrovereto.it) in August. The town that Mozart knew still has its haunting, tightly coiled streets, but it’s the shock of the new that now lures most: Rovereto is home to one of Italy’s best contemporary and 20th-century art museums.

Sights

Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Rovereto ART GALLERY

(MART; 0464 43 88 87; english.mart.trento.it; Corso Bettini 43; adult/reduced €11/7, incl Casa del Depero €13/9; 10am-6pm Tue-Thu, Sat & Sun, to 9pm Fri) The four-floor, 12,000-sq-m steel, glass and marble behemoth, care of the Ticinese architect Mario Botta, is both imposing and human, with mountain light filling a central atrium from a soaring cupola. It’s home to some huge 20th-century works, including Warhol’s Four Marilyns (1962), several Picassos and a clutch of contemporary art stars, including Bill Viola, Kara Walker, Arnuf Rainer and Anslem Keifer. Italian work is, naturally, well represented, with pieces from Giacomo Balla, Giorgio Morandi, Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni. Temporary exhibitions cast a broad net, from easygoing shows of Monet or Modigliani to cutting-edge contemporary surveys.

Casa del Depero MUSEUM

( 0424 60 04 35; Via Portici 38; adult/reduced €7/4, incl MART admission €13/9; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun) The futurists were never afraid of a spot of self-aggrandisement and local lad Fortunato Depero was no exception. This self-designed museum was first launched shortly before his death in 1960, and was then restored and reopened by MART in recent years. The obsessions of early-20th-century Italy mix nostalgically, somewhat unnervingly, with a historic past – bold tapestries and machine-age-meets-troubadour-era furniture decorate a made-over medieval town house.

Church of San Marco CHURCH

(Piazza San Marco; 8.30am-noon & 2-7pm) It was here that the 13-year-old Wolfgang Mozart wowed the Roveretini.

Drinking & Nightlife

Osteria del Pettirosso WINE BAR

(www.osteriadelpettirosso.com; Corso Bettini 24; Mon-Sat 10am-11pm) There’s a moody downstairs dining room but most people come here for the blackboard menu of wines by the glass, many from small producers, a plate of cheese (€7) or a couple of crostone all lardo (toasts with cured pork fat; €2.50).

Information

Tourist Office ( 0464 43 03 63; www.visitrovereto.it; Piazza Rosmini 16; 9am-1pm & 2-6pm Mon-Sat, 10am-4pm Sun) The tourist office has lots of information on Rovereto, town maps and details of cycling trails.

Getting There & Away

Rovereto is around 15 minutes by train from Trento on the Bologna–Brennero line, or a pleasantly rural bus ride (€2.90, 45 minutes).

Brenta Dolomites

The Brenta group lies like a rocky island to the west of the main Dolomite range. Protected by the Parco Naturale Adamello-Brenta, these sharp, majestic peaks are well known among mountaineers for their sheer cliffs and tricky ascents and are home to some of the world’s most famous vie ferrate routes, including the Via Ferrata delle Bocchette, pioneered by trailblazing British climber Francis Fox Tuckett in the 1860s.

On the eastern side of the Brenta group is the Altipiano della Paganella, a high plateau offering some skiing and a range of outdoor adventures. On the densely forested western side is the glitzy resort of Madonna di Campiglio. The wiggly S421, S237 and S239 linking the two make for some scenic driving. Regular bus connections with Trento are plentiful in the high seasons.

While the Superskirama (www.skirama.it; 1/3/7-days €47/136/277) pass covers the Brenta, separate passes are also available. Skiarea passes cover Madonna di Campiglio, Pinzolo and Folgarida-Marilleva (1/3/7-days €46/131/266); specific Madonna di Campiglio or Pinzolo passes are a few euros cheaper. Paganella passes cost €37/95/165, or there is a 5-day pass (€170) that includes a free day in one other Brenta resort.

Altipiano Della Paganella

pop 5000 / elev 2098m

Less than an hour’s drive northwest of Trento, this dress-circle plateau looks out onto the towering Brenta Dolomites. The Altipiano incorporates five small villages: ski resort Fai della Paganella , touristy Andalo , lakeside Molveno and little Cavedago and Spormaggiore .

Sights & Activities

Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta PARK

(http://www.parks.it/parco.adamello.brenta) Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta is a wild and beautiful park encompassing more than 80 lakes and the vast Adamello glacier which was once home to the Alps’ only brown bears. Although this became a protected area in 1967, by then bear numbers had dwindled to just three. Beginning in 1999, park authorities set about reintroducing Alpine brown bears from Slovenia. The first cubs were born in the park in 2002 and more are to be born every winter.

Bears aside, the 620-sq-km park – Trentino’s largest protected area – is home to ibexes, red deer, marmots, chamois and 82 bird species, along with 1200 different mountain flowers, including two (Nigritella luschmannie and Eryshimum auranthiacum) that are unique to the area. This wildlife thrives around the banks of Lago di Tovel, set deep in a forest some 30km north of Spormaggiore in the park’s heart. An easy one-hour walking trail encircles the once-red lake. The lakeside visitors’ centre has extensive information on other walks.

Casa dell’orso
Spormaggiore ANIMAL RESERVE

( 0461 65 36 22; Via Alt Spaur 6; adult/reduced €6/5, incl park admission; 10am-1pm & 2-6.30pm Tue-Sun Jun-Sep, book for other periods) This is the top place to see the Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta’s 20-odd population of brown bears. There are cute displays for kids, and you can book to see the bears in winter dormancy via infrared camera. It’s 15km northeast of Molveno.

Funivie Molveno Pradel CABLE CAR

(one way/return €4/7.20) From the top of Molveno village, a two-seater cable car transports you in two stages up to Pradel (1400m) from where trail No 340, a pleasant and easy one-hour walk, leads to the Rifugio Croz dell’Altissimo at 1430m. Several other trails, of varying difficulty, start from there.

Paganella Ski Area SKIING

The Paganella ski area is accessible from Andalo by cable car and Fai della Paganella by chairlift. It has two cross-country skiing trails and 50km of downhill ski slopes, ranging from beginner-friendly green runs to the heart-lurching black.

Gruppo Guide Alpine
Dolomiti di Brenta HIKING, ROCK CLIMBING

( 0461 58 53 53; guidealpine@visitdolomitipaganella.it) Organises rock climbing and guided walks in summer and ski-mountaineering, ice climbing and snowshoeing excursions in winter.

Sleeping & Eating

The plateau’s five villages have a huge stock of hotels; alternatively, check with the tourist offices for details of the equally numerous farm-stays and self-catering apartments.

Agriturismo Florandonole AGRITURISMO €

( 0461 58 10 39; www.florandonole.it; Via ai Dossi 22, Fai della Paganella; d €100; ) This modern farmhouse may look nondescript from the outside. Inside, however, smart local wood furniture and crisp goosedown duvets give this place a luxury feel. If the views over fields towards the Brenta Dolomites or Paganella ranges beckon, grab a complimentary mountain bike. This is also a working honey farm, with hives, production facilities and a shop to explore.

Camping Spiaggia CAMPGROUND €

( 0461 58 69 78; www.campingmolveno.it; Via Lungolago 25, Molveno; camping 2 people, car & tent €43; reception 9am-noon & 2-7pm year-round; ) These pleasant sites on the shores of Lago di Molveno come with free use of the neighbouring outdoor pool, tennis court and table tennis. It’s an easy stroll into Molveno’s bustling village centre, and entertainment and water sports are on tap in high summer.

Al Penny TRENTINO €€

( 0461 58 52 51; Viale Trento 23, Andalo; meals €28; 11am-2.30pm & 5pm-midnight) First impressions may clock the decor as a little too Alpine-for-dummies, but this is a genuinely cosy spot. A glass of warming Marzemino sets the scene, then out come authentic and tasty Trentino specialities – venison ragù (meat and tomato sauce) with pine nuts, taiadele smalzade (pan-fried fat noodles) or mushroom canederli , all served with homemade bread.

Information

All these tourist offices share a website (www.visitdolomitipaganella.it).

Andalo Tourist Office ( 0461 58 58 36; Piazza Dolomiti 1; 9am-12.30pm & 3-6.30pm Mon-Sat, 9.30am-12.30pm Sun) The main office with good information for both winter and summer activities.

Fai della Paganella Tourist Office ( 0461 58 31 30; Via Villa; 9am-12.30pm & 3-6.30pm Mon-Sat, 9.30am-12.30pm Sun)

Guardia Medica Notturna ( 0461 58 56 37; Piazza Centrale 1, Andalo; 8pm-8am) After-hours medical call-out service.

Molveno Tourist Office ( 0461 58 69 24; Piazza Marconi; 9am-12.30pm & 3-6.30pm Mon-Sat, 9.30am-12.30pm Sun )

Getting There & Around

Free ski buses serve the area in winter.

Trentino Trasporti ( 0461 82 10 00; www.ttesercizio.it) Runs buses between all five villages and Trento (€3.10 to €4.40, 1-2½ hours, up to nine daily) and services to Madonna di Campiglio (€5.10) and Riva del Garda (€6.20) on Lago di Garda; tourist offices have timetables.

Madonna Di Campiglio & Pinzolo

pop 700 / elev 1522m

Let there be no doubt, this is the Dolomites’ bling belt, where ankle-length furs are standard après-ski wear and the formidable downhill runs often a secondary concern to the social whirl. Austrian royalty set the tone in the 19th century, in particular Franz Joseph and wife Elisabeth (Sissi). This early celeb patronage is commemorated in late February, when fireworks blaze and costumed pageants waltz through town for the annual Habsburg Carnival . Despite the traffic jams and mall-like hotel complexes, the central village square has retained something of its essence, overlooked by a pretty stone church and the jutting battlements of the Brenta Dolomites beyond. In summer this is an ideal base for hikers and vie ferrate enthusiasts.

Pinzolo (pop 2000, elev 800m), in a lovely valley 16km south, has a lively historic centre and quite a few less tickets on itself.

Sights & Activities

Chiesa di San Vigilio CHURCH

Pinzolo’s beautifully sited 16th-century Chiesa di San Vigilio merits a visit for its danza macabra (dance of death) decor.

Val di Genova VALLEY

North of Pinzolo is the entrance to the Val di Genova, often described as one of the Alps’ most beautiful valleys. It’s great walking country, lined with a series of spectacular waterfalls. Four mountain huts strung out along the valley floor make overnight stays an option – Pinzolo’s tourist office has details.

Funivie Madonna
di Campiglio CABLE CAR

( 0465 44 77 44; www.funiviecampiglio.it) A network of cable cars take skiers and boarders from Madonna to its numerous ski runs and a snowboarding park in winter and to walking and mountain-biking trails in summer. In Campo Carlo Magno, 2km north of Madonna, the Cabinovia Grostè takes walkers to the Passo Grostè (2440m). Brenta’s most famous via ferrata , the Via Bocchetta di Tuckett (trail No 305), leaves from the cable-car station.

Funivia Pinzolo CABLE CAR

( 0465 50 12 56; www.doss.to; Via Nepomuceno Bolognini 84; one-way/return €8/11 ; 8.30am-12.30pm & 2-6pm mid-Dec–Apr & Jun–mid-Sep) This cable car climbs to the 2100m-high Doss del Sabion , stopping at midstation Pra Rodont en route. Mountain bike hire is available.

Sleeping & Eating

Budget beds in Madonna are non-existent in winter, and most midrange hotels insist on at least half-board and minimum stays during high season. Commuting to the ski fields from the Val di Sole is a doable alternative, and Pinzolo has a few more affordable options.

Camping Parco Adamello CAMPGROUND €

( 0465 50 17 93; www.campingparcoadamello.it; Localita Magnabò, Pinzolo; camping 2 people, car & tent €40; year-round; ) Beautifully situated within the national park 1km north of Pinzolo, this campground is a natural starting point for outdoor adventures such as skiing, snowshoeing, walking and biking. There are also weekly apartment rentals.

Chalet Fogajard AGRITURISMO €€

(Località Fogajard 36, Madonna di Campiglio; d €190 half board; ) If you’re looking for a mountain retreat, this six-room Alpine idyl will fit the bill. Its remote location, down a steep dirt track way south of Madonna’s resort row, is stupefyingly beautiful and blissfully silent. Rooms have a craft ethos that seems from an other era and an atmospheric dining room delivers hearty, wholesome, locally sourced meals. With uninterrupted views of a deep, wooded valley and the jagged Brenta peaks beyond, balcony rooms are worth the extra euros.

Hotel Chalet Del Brenta HOTEL €€

( 0465 44 31 59; www.hotelchaletdelbrenta.com; Via Castelletto Inferiore 4, Madonna di Campiglio; d €140; ) This large place offers smart, comfortable rooms, all with balconies, and the full-range of resort services, including a kids’ club. It’s in one of Madonna’s most picturesque streets, close to the village but quiet and there’s a speedy shuttle service to the lifts.

Chalet La Dolce Vita DESIGN HOTEL €€€

( 0465 44 31 91; www.dvchalet.it; Via Castelletto Inferiore 10, Madonna di Campiglio; d €300; ) This is the latest entry in the Madonna ultraluxe hotel stakes, with friendly staff and a quiet, wooded setting. The bar keeps the Milanese fashion set happy come aperitivo hour, and upstairs, guests are cocooned in beautiful, earthy rooms.

Information

Madonna Tourist Office ( 0465 44 75 01; www.campigliodolomiti.it; Via Pradalago 4; 9am-12.30pm & 3-7pm Mon-Sat, 10am-1pm Sun) Madonna’s tourist office teams up with the Parco Naturale Adamello-Brenta in high summer to run guided thematic walks.

Pinzolo Tourist Office ( 0465 50 10 07; www.campigliodolomiti.it; Piazzale Ciciamimo; 9am-1pm & 2-6pm Wed-Mon)

Tourist Medical Service ( 0465 44 08 81; Centro Rainalter, Madonna; 8am-8pm early Dec–Easter)

Getting There & Away

Madonna di Campiglio and Pinzolo are accessible by bus from Trento (€9, 1½ hours, five daily), Brescia (€13, 1½ hours) and Milan (€24, 3¾ hours, one daily). A private transfer service also operates year round; see the tourist office website for details.

Flyski ( 0461 39 11 11; www.flyskishuttle.com; one way/return €19/32) From mid-December to mid-April the Flyski shuttle runs weekly services to and from Madonna and Pinzolo from Verona, Bergamo, Treviso and Venice airports .

Val di Non, Val di Sole
& Val di Rabbi

Sandwiched between the Brenta group and Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio, these Italian-speaking farming valleys are an easy train ride from Trento.

Val di Non

The first thing you notice about Val di Non is the apple trees – their gnarly, trellised branches stretch for miles, and in spring their fragrant blossoms scent the air. Craggy castles dot the surrounding rises, including the stunning Castel Thun ( 0461 49 28 29; adult/reduced €6/4; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun) . The valley is centred on Cles , whose tourist office ( 0463 422 88 83; Corso Dante 30; 9am-12.30pm & 3-6pm Mon-Sat, 9am-noon Sun Jul & Aug) is just off the main road through town. In the town’s historic centre is Antica Trattoria ( 0463 42 16 31; www.anticatrattoriacles.it; via Roma 13, Cles; meals €38; noon-2.30pm & 7-10pm Sun-Fri) , a fabulously atmospheric place with a modern take on Trentino specialities.

Italy’s apple giant, Melinda, is a valley girl. A couple of villages on from Cles, near Mollaro, Melinda Mondo ( 0463 46 92 99; www.melinda.it; Via della Cooperazione 21; 8.30am-12.30pm & 3-7pm Mon-Sat Oct-Jul, 9am-noon Sun Jul) , conducts tours of the orchards and processing plants and has a cheery shop selling apples and all sorts of apple-related products. Look out for the big cheese next door, the home of Trentingrana , Trentino’s sweet, subtle ‘Parmesan-style’ Grana.

Val di Sole

Leaving Cles in the rear-view mirror, the apple orchards draw you west into the aptly named Val di Sole (Valley of the Sun) tracing the course of the foaming river Noce, with its charming main town of Malè . This valley is renowned for the full complement of outdoor pursuits, and is popular with young Trentini. The Noce offers great rafting and fishing.

In winter, the valley can provide good alternative accommodation to the Brenta resorts.

Activities

Centro Rafting Val di Sole RAFTING

( 0463 97 32 78; www.raftingcenter.it; Via Gole 105, Dimaro; Jun-Sep) Runs rafting trips (from €67), as well as kayaking, canyoning, Nordic walking and other adventures.

Cicli Andreis CYCLING

( 0463 90 28 22; www.andreissnc.com; Via Conci 19, Malè; 8.30am-noon & 3-7pm Mon-Sat) Offering a huge range of bikes for hire, and friendly, knowledgeable service, Cicli Andreis is handily located just off Malè’s main street. Daily/weekly mountain bike rental costs from €18/55.

Dolomiti di Brenta Bike BICYCLE TRAIL

(www.dolomitibrentabike.it) Sole guards a flattish 35km section of the Brenta Dolomite Bike Loop and there is a special bike train June to September, allowing cyclists to step on and alight when they wish.

Sleeping

Agritur il Tempo delle Mele FARMSTAY €

( 0463 90 13 89; www.agriturdellemele.it; Via Strada Provinciale 65 , Caldes ; s/d €70/94; ) Has bright, comfortable, modern rooms and easy access to the Folgarida-Marilleva and Pejo 3000 ski areas, from where you can ski on to Madonna di Campiglio.

Dolomiti Camping Village CAMPGROUND €

( 0463 97 43 32; www.campingdolomiti.com; Via Gole 105, Dimaro; camping 2 people, car & tent €44, apt €75; mid-May–mid-Oct & Dec-Easter; ) Riverside and adjacent to the rafting centre, the well-kept campsites and bungalows come with access to a wellness centre, indoor and outdoor pools, volleyball courts and trampolines.

Information

Malè Tourist Office ( 0463 90 12 80; www.valdisole.net; Piazza Regina Elena 19; 4-7pm Mon-Sat) Has good information on the entire valley and can advise you on ski facilities and walking trails in nearby Stelvio.

Val di Rabbi

Narrow, deep green Val di Rabbi is a refreshingly tranquil and picturesquely rustic Alpine valley that provides the best southern entry into Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio. Europeans come here for the supposedly curative Antica Fonte spring waters; the Terme di Rabbi ( 0463 98 30 00; www.termedirabbi.it; Località Fonti di Rabbi 162; 8.30am-noon & 4-8pm Mon-Sat, 5-7pm Sun Jul & Aug) offers a wide range of traditional treatments and is administered by the suitably grand Grand Hotel Rabbi ( 0463 98 30 50; www.grandhotelrabbi.it; Fonti di Rabbi 153; half-board d €90-140; May-Sep; ) . Next door is a small visitors’ centre ( 0463 98 51 90; 8.30am-1pm & 3-7pm Thu-Tue Jun-Sep, 9am-noon & 2-5pm Oct-May) and the starting point for a network of paths into Stelvio, some of which connect to Val Martello in Alto Adige. Regular buses head up the valley from outside Malè train station.

Getting There & Around

The Folgarida-Marilleva and Daolasa-Commezzadura cable cars ferry skiers and walkers up the mountainside from the train stations, and provide lockers.

Free ski buses loop around the area in winter; tourist offices have the schedules.

Ferrovia Trento-Malè ( 0463 90 11 50) Ferrovia Trento-Malè has frequent services to Cles (€2.90, 45 min+utes) and Malè (€5, 1½ hours, eight daily) and continue to Dimaro and Marilleva.

Trentino Transporti (www.ttesercizio.it) Buses connect Rabbi and Madonna di Campiglio with Malè.

Val di Fiemme

In a region where few valleys speak the same dialect, let alone agree on the same cheese recipe, the Val di Fiemme stands out. In the 12th century, independently minded local noblemen set up their own quasi-republic here, the Magnificent Community of Fiemme, and the ethos and spirit of the founders lives on.

From Cavalese, skiers can take a cable car up to the Cermis ski area (2229m), part of the extensive Dolomiti Superski region. There is a Fiemme-Obereggen pass (1/3/7-days €42/120/227), or Dolomiti Superski passes can be used. Cavalese’s tourist office acts as a contact point for local alpine guide groups who organise, among other things, mountaineering ascents on Pale di San Martino, Cima della Madonna and Sass Maor, a 120km-long high-altitude skiing excursion.

Sights

Palazzo Vescovile PALACE

(Piazza Battisti) The modern day Magnificent Community of Fiemme is headquartered in the wonderfully frescoed Palazzo Vescovile in Val di Fiemme’s main town of Cavalese. The building is well worth an admiring look.

Sleeping & Eating

Agritur la Regina dei Prati AGRITURISMO €

(www.lareginadeiprati.it; Via Margherita Dellafiore 17, Masi di Cavalese; s/d €50/85; ) Across the river in a village ‘suburb’ of Cavalese, this is a relaxed, family-run place with spacious contemporary rooms with nice extras like heated floors and balconies. The rustic setting is magnificent, and you can ski in during winter.

Park Hotel Azalea SPA HOTEL €€

( 0462 34 01 09; www.parkhotelazalea.it; Via delle Cesure 1; half-board d €90-180; ) This hotel combines impeccable eco-credentials, super stylish interiors and a warm, welcoming vibe. Rooms are individually decorated and make use of soothing, relaxing colours; some have mountain views, others look across the village’s pretty vegetable gardens. Children’s facilities eschew plastic and tat for wood and natural textiles, and there are little daily extras like a groaning afternoon tea spread (all organic of course).

El Molin GASTRONOMIC €€€

( 0462 34 00 74; www.elmolin.info; Piazza Battisti 11, Cavalese; meals €20-30, degustations €70-110; Wed-Mon noon-2.30pm & 7-11pm) A legend in the valley, this Michelin-starred old mill sits at the historic heart of Cavalese. Downstairs, next to the old waterwheels, you will find playful gastronomic dishes featuring local, seasonal ingredients. Streetside, the wine bar does baked-to-order eggs with Trentingrana or truffles, burgers, hearty mains and creative desserts.

Information

Val di Fiemme Tourist Office ( 0462 24 11 11; www.visitfiemme.it; Via Bronzetti 60; 9am-noon & 3.30-7pm Mon-Sat)

Val di Fassa

Val di Fassa is Trentino’s only Ladin- speaking valley, framed by the stirring peaks of the Gruppo del Sella to the north, the Catinaccio to the west and the Marmolada (3342m) to the southeast. The valley has two hubs: Canazei (pop 1866, elev 1465m), beautifully sited but verging on overdevelopment, and the pretty riverside village of Moena (pop 2690, elev 1114m), more down to earth and increasingly environmentally conscious. Fassa is the nexus of Italy’s cross-country skiing scene. Italian cross-country champ Christian Zorzi hails from Moena and the town also plays host to the sport’s most illustrious mass-participation race, the annual Marcialonga (www.marcialonga.it) .

Dolomiti Superski passes are valid; alternatively there are separate 1/3/7-day passes for either the Val di Fassa/Carezza or the Tre Valli (€42/125/230) covering the Moena area and San Pellegrino valley.

Sights & Activities

Variety is the spice of life for skiers here, with 120km of downhill and cross-country runs, as well as challenging Alpine tours and the Sella Ronda ski circuit. In summer, you can ski down the Marmolada glacier.

The Gruppo del Sella is approached from Passo Pordoi , where a cable car travels to almost 3000m. The best approach to the Catinaccio group is from Vigo di Fassa , 11km southwest of Canazei near Pozza di Fassa; a cable car climbs to an elevation of 2000m, dropping you off near the cheerful mountain hut Baita Checco.

For gentler summertime rambles, ask at the tourist office for the brochure Low-Level Walks in the Fassa Valley , which outlines 29 walks (1.5km to 8km long), including visits to historic Ladin landmarks.

Sleeping, Eating & Drinking

Garnì Ladin B&B €

( 0462 76 44 93; www.ladin.it; Strada de la Piazedela 9, Vigo di Fassa; s/d €70/100; ) Right in the middle of villagey Vigo di Fassa, midway between Moena and Canazei, the rooms here are full of sweetly kitsch Ladin-alia while having ultramodern bathrooms.

Villa Kofler DESIGN HOTEL €€

( 0462 75 04 44; www.villakofler.it; Via Dolomiti 63, Campitello di Fassa; d €160-220; ) An intimate hotel in a valley of giants, just outside of the Canazei bustle; choose from rooms that range across various current design trends and tastes. There’s a little gym, a library and, bliss, in-room infrared saunas.

El Paél TRENTINO €€

( 0462 60 14 33; www.elpael.com; Via Roma 58, Canazei; meals €25-35; noon-2.30pm & 6.30-10pm Tue-Sun) This osteria tipica trentina cooks up traditional Ladin specialities of the valley – nettle dumplings, asparagus with liquorice sauce, and venison with steamed pumpkin.

Malga Panna GASTRONOMIC €€€

( 0462 57 34 89; www.malgapanna.it; Via Costalunga 29, Moena; degustations from €65; 12.30-2pm & 7.30-10pm ) Fine-dining interpretations of mountain food stay true to their culinary roots and are served in an evocatively simple setting. Expect to encounter the flavours of Alpine herbs and flowers and lots of game.

Kusk La Locanda BAR

(Via dei Colli 7, Moena; 8am-2am Wed-Mon) Legendary throughout the Val di Fassa for après-ski, this four-way split between a pizzeria, American bar, trash disco and Italian restaurant still manages to maintain a Ladin cosiness.

Information

Canazei Tourist Office ( 0462 60 96 00; www.fassa.com; Piazza Marconi 5; 8.30am-noon, 2.30-6pm Mon-Sat, 10am-12.30pm Sun)

Moena Tourist Office ( 0462 60 97 70; www.fassa.com; Piazza del Navalge 4; 8.30am-noon, 2.30-6pm Mon-Sat, 10am-12.30pm Sun)

Getting There & Away

Free ski buses also serve the region in winter.

Trentino Trasporti ( 0461 82 10 00; www.ttesercizio.it) Runs buses to the Val di Fassa from Trento year-round (€6.10, 1½ to 2½ hours).

SAD (www.sad.it) Buses from Bolzano and the Val Gardena from June to mid-September.

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Alto Adige (Südtirol)

Bolzano (Bozen)

pop 104, 000 / elev 265m

The provincial capital of Alto Adige (Südtirol, or South Tyrol) is anything but provincial. Once a stop on the coach route between Italy and the flourishing Austro-Hungarian Empire, this small city is worldly and engaged, a long-time conduit between cultures. Its quality of life – one of the highest in Italy – is reflected in its openness, youthful energy and an all-pervading greenness. A stage-set-pretty backdrop of rotund green hills sets off rows of pastel-painted town houses. Bicycles ply riverside paths and wooden market stalls are laid out with Alpine cheese, speck (cured ham) and dark, seeded loaves. German may be the first language of 95% of the region, but Bolzano is an anomaly. Today its Italian-speaking majority – a legacy of Mussolini’s brutal Italianisation program of the 1920s and the more recent siren call of education and employment opportunities – looks both north and south for inspiration.

Sights

Museo Archeologico
dell’Alto Adige MUSEUM

OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP

( 0471 32 01 00; www.iceman.it; Via Museo 43; adult/reduced €9/7; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun) The star of the Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige is Ötzi, the Iceman, with almost the entire museum being given over to the Copper Age mummy. Kept in a temperature-controlled ‘igloo’ room, he can be viewed through a small window (peer closely enough and you can make out faintly visible tattoos on his legs). Ötzi’s clothing – a wonderful get-up of patchwork leggings, rush-matting cloak and fur cap – and other belongings are also displayed. Various exhibitions explore his discovery, the world he lived in and his untimely death.

Messner Mountain Museum MUSEUM

(MMM; 0471 63 31 45; www.messner-mountain-museum.it; Via Castel Firmiano 53; adult/reduced €9/7; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun Mar-Nov) The imposing Castel Firmiano, dating back to AD 945, is the centrepiece of mountaineer Reinhold Messner’s five museums. Based around humankind’s relationship with the mountains across all cultures, the architecture itself suggests the experience of shifting altitudes, and requires visitors to traverse hundreds of stairs and mesh walkways. The collection is idiosyncratic, but when it works, it’s heady stuff. The museum is on the BoBus route; in winter catch a taxi (suburban trains go to Ponte Adige/Sigmundskron but beware the long walk up a truck-laden road). Messner’s other museums are scattered across the region, including Ortles.

Museion ART GALLERY

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( 0471 22 34 13; www.museion.it; Via Dante 2; adult/reduced €6/4, Thu from 6pm free; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun, to 10pm Thu) The city’s contemporary art space is housed in this huge multifaceted glass cube, a surprising architectural assertion that beautifully vignettes the old-town rooftops and surrounding mountains from within. There’s an impressive permanent collection of international art work; temporary shows are a testament to the local art scene’s vibrancy, or often highlight an ongoing dialogue with artists and institutions from Austria and Germany. The river-facing cafe has a terrace perfect for a post-viewing spritz.

Castel Roncolo CASTLE

(Schloss Runkelstein; 0471 32 98 08; www.runkelstein.info; Via San Antonio 15; adult/child €8/5.50; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun) This stunningly located castle was built in 1237 but is renowned for its 14th-century frescoes. These are particularly rare, with themes that are drawn from secular literature, including the tale of Tristan and Isolde, as well as depictions of day-to-day courtly life. BoBus runs here or catch suburban bus 12 or 14.

Chiesa dei Domenicani CHURCH

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(Piazza Domenicani; 9.30am-6pm Mon-Sat) The cloisters and chapel here feature touching, vibrant 14th-century frescoes by the Giotto school.

Cathedral CATHEDRAL

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(Piazza Parrocchia; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat) This splendid Gothic cathedral is Bolzano’s most emblematic building, its imposing spires backed by the equally Gothic peaks of the not-so-distant Dolomites.

Activities

Bolzano’s trio of cable cars whisk you up out of the city, affording spectacular views over the city and valley floor, then of terraced vineyards, tiny farms, ancient mountain chapels and towering peaks beyond. The respective villages are delightful destinations in themselves or jumping off points for rambles or serious hikes.

Funivia del Renon CABLE CAR

(Via Renon; one way/return €6/10) The journey over the Renon (Ritten) plateau to Soprabolzano (Oberbozen) runs along the world’s longest single track, stretching for 4.56km, passing over eerie red earth pyramids.

Funivia del Colle CABLE CAR

(Via Campegno 4; one way/return €5/6.50) This is the world’s oldest cable car, dreamt up by a canny inn-keeper in 1908.

Funivia San Genesio CABLE CAR

(Via Sarentino; one way/return €3.50/6) An ultra-steep ascent takes you to the beautiful terraced village of San Genesio (Jenesien), where there are roof-of-the-world views and forest trails to follow.

Salewa Cube ROCK CLIMBING

( 0471 188 6867; www.salewa-cube.com; Via Waltraud-Gebert-Deeg, Bolzano Sud; daily entrance €12/10; 9am-11pm) Part of the outdoor clothing empire’s HQ, this is Italy’s largest indoor climbing centre. There are over 2000m of climbing surface and 180 different routes. In good weather the enormous entrance is open, so climbing has an outdoor feel. On the BoBus route, or take bus 10A/B from the centre.

Bike Rental Stall BICYCLE RENTAL

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( 0471 99 75 78; Via della Stazione 2; 7.30am-7.45pm Easter-Oct) Bicycles can be picked up at the open-air bike rental stall near the train station. Rental is free, but bikes must be returned overnight and you’ll need cash for a deposit and ID.

Tours

The tourist office organises seasonal guided walks and gentle treks (in Italian and German). For serious hiking information, contact one of the local walking associations.

Club Alpino Italiano WALKING TOUR

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( 0471 97 81 72; Piazza delle Erbe 46; 11am-1pm & 5-7pm Wed, 1-5pm Tue, Thu & Fri)

Alpine Information Office WALKING TOUR

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(Alpenverein Südtirol; 0471 81 41 55; www.alpenverein.it; Galleria Vintler 16)

Sleeping

Hotel Figl HOTEL €

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( 0471 97 84 12; www.figl.net; Piazza del Grano 9; s/d €100/120; ) Affable staff and a busy downstairs bar lend this place a home-away-from-home feel. Mod-Euro rooms are fabulously cosy and look out over a pretty square or town rooftops. Business travellers and long-stay guests can negotiate discounts.

Youth Hostel Bolzano HOSTEL €

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(Jugendherberge Bozen; 0471 30 08 65; bozen.jugendherberge.it; Via Renon 23; dm/s €22/28; ) The three- and four-bed dorms in this airy and friendly hostel are well designed and configured for privacy. Singles can squeeze in a foldout if needed. Rooms at the back have balconies, but sadly no longer any view.

Hotel Feichter HOTEL €

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( 0471 97 87 68; www.hotelfeichter.it; Via Grappoli 15; s/d €60/90) This central and totally Tyrolean hotel has simple, cosy rooms, many with balconies or little breakfast nooks.

Kolpinghaus Bolzano HOSTEL €

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( 0471 308400; www.kolpingbozen.it; Largo Kolping 3; s/tw €65/99; ) This big Catholic hostel has comfortable rooms; the singles are particularly spacious and have polished floorboards. There are storage and repair facilities for cyclists and they’ll provide lunch for an extra €10. Note that there are no doubles, only twins.

Hotel Greif DESIGN HOTEL €€

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( 0471 31 80 00; www.greif.it; Piazza Walther; s/d €117/176; ) Tumbling golden text courtesy of the troubled poet Ezra Pound greets you in the stairwell (this was, it seems, an ‘art hotel’ long before its modern makeover). Rooms here are generously proportioned, full of light and richly draped; all include a bath. Guests can use the lush gardens at parent Parkhotel Laurin , just down the lane, for cocktails or a swim.

Residence Fink APARTMENTS €€

OFFLINE MAP

( 335 7189411; www.residence-fink.it; Via della Mostra 9; apt €80-200; ) If you don’t need hotel facilities or service, these stylish, atmospheric apartments can’t be beaten for their living-like-a-local position and facilities . They range in size from studios to those with enough room for eight people.

Eating

Redolent of rural mountain life one minute, Habsburg splendour the next, Bolzano’s restaurants (often in the guise of a wood-panelled stube) are a profound reminder of just how far north you’ve come. Goat or rabbit is roasted, bone-warming broths hide canederli , venison finds its way into gulasch, and speck (the region’s IGP cured ham, cold-smoked and juniper- and pepper-scented) turns up in everything bar dessert. Window displays in the city’s many konditorei (pastry shops) brim with Sachertorte, cheese strudels, krapfen (doughnuts) and earthy buckwheat-and-berry cakes. Bakers ply dark, dense seed-studded breads, including schüttelbrot, a crispy spiced rye flat bread. Pick up produce from the daily street market on Piazza delle Erbe.

Gasthaus Fink SÜDTIROLEAN €

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( 0471 97 50 47; Via della Mostra 9; meals €24; lunch & dinner Thu-Mon, lunch only Wed) Fink’s dining room is a calm, contemporary take on stube style, with fresh flowers on the tables and young attentive staff. Fill up on local comfort food, cooked with care. A great lunch choice, with pastas under €10.

Vögele SÜDTIROLEAN €

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( 0471 97 39 38; Via Goethe 3; meals €19-24; 9am-1am) Dating back to 1277 and owned by the same family since 1840, this multi-level antique-stuffed restaurant is well loved for its schnitzels, steaks and suckling pig. The attached bar is pleasantly rowdy too.

Löwengrube MODERN SÜDTIROLEAN €€

( 0471 98 00 32; www.loewengrube.it; Piazza Dogana 3; meals €45; 10am-midnight Mon-Sat) A glorious 16th-century stube is the suprise design element in an otherwise supermodern fit out at Bolzano’s hottest ‘new’ restaurant. The menu ranges across local and Mediterranean dishes, and its combinations and presentation push boundaries, as well as borders; staff are knowledgeable and obliging. Don’t miss a peek at the cellar (dating back to 1280), it holds a vast collection that honours international name vineyards as well as local micro-producers (drink in with a modest corkage of €10).

Zur Kaiserkron MODERN SÜDTIROLEAN €€

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( 0471 98 02 14; www.kaiserkron.bz; Piazza della Mostra 2; meals €40; noon-2.30pm & 7-9.30pm Mon-Sat) Sweetly efficient staff greet you at the door of a calm and elegant dining room. Refined but unfussy takes on regional favourites fill the menu, and the excellent produce is allowed to shine. It’s tempting to just choose from their interesting starters and pastas but meaty mains are particuarly well executed. Hyperlocal labels star on the winelist.

Walthers’ MODERN ITALIAN €€

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( 0471 98 25 48; www.walthers.it; Piazza Walther 6; meals €27; 8am-1am Mon-Sat, to 7pm Sun) Take your spritz out onto the piazza terrace, then head inside to the low-lit back room to dine on bold-flavoured, appetite-appeasing dishes that roam from Sicily to Bolzano’s backyard. A lively crowd and the management’s penchant for Prince and Blondie can see a quick meal turn into a big night out.

Drinking & Nightlife

Bolzano after dark will come as a surprise after sophisticated but snoozy Trento. The pristine city centre may be hushed at 8pm, but it’s a different story ‘round midnight. Follow the locals heading for Piazza delle Erbe or the beer halls – including local Forst and the Bavarian Paulaner – along Via Argentieri and Via Goethe.

Enovit WINE BAR

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(Via Dott Streiter 30; 10am-1pm & 3.30-8.30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-1pm Sat) An older, well-dressed lot frequents this warm, woody corner bar and shop for expertly recommended, generously poured local wine by the glass. If there’s a crowd, and on Fridays there always is, it kicks on past closing.

Il Baccaro WINE BAR

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(Via Argentieri 17; 9am-8pm Mon-Fri, to 3pm Sat) Scurry down the cobbled passageway and poke your nose into this wonderful wine burrow, with a good blackboard selection of regional or Friulian wines and delightful hosts. Stuzzichini (snacks) are a euro or two and are made to order.

Hopfen & Co SÜDTIROLEAN, PUB

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( 0471 30 07 88; Piazza delle Erbe 17; 9.30am-1am Mon-Sat) The dark bar is the perfect stage set for sampling the cloudy, unfiltered beer that’s brewed on the premises. This venerable 800-year-old inn also serves up hearty portions of traditional dishes like sauerkraut and sausages cooked in ale (meals €18).

Fischbänke WINE BAR

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(Via Dott Streiter 26; noon-sunset Mon-Fri) Local wines and bruschetta (from €6) care of bon vivant Cobo at the old outdoor fish market; pull up a stool at one of the original marble-slab counters.

Batzen-bräu PUB

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( 471 05 09 50; www.batzen.it; Via Andreas-Hofer 30; 10am-midnight) A mash of traditional and contemporary architecture makes for many different moods as you elbow your way from one end to the next. A beer garden is welcome during flash Bolzano heatwaves and a basement theatre space turns into a nightclub on weekends.

Nadamas BAR

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(Piazza delle Erbe 43; 9am-1am Mon-Sat) Bolzano’s party reputation got started at this Piazza delle Erbe veteran. If you can make it through the animated front-bar crowd, there are tables and a tapas menu out back.

Information

Hospital ( 0471 90 81 11; Via Böhler) Out of the centre of Bolzano towards Merano.

Police Station ( 0471 94 76 80, 0471 94 76 11; Via Marconi 33)

Tourist Office ( 0471 30 70 00; www.bolzano-bozen.it; Piazza Walther 8; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-6pm Sat)

Getting There & Around

Air

Bolzano Airport (Aeroporto di Bolzano; 0471 25 52 55; www.abd-airport.it) Bolzano’s wee airport is served by twice-weekly flights from Rome and, seasonally, from Olbia.

Bus

SAD ( 0471 45 01 11; www.sad.it) Local SAD buses leave from the bus station for destinations throughout the province, including hourly routes to Val Gardena, Brunico and Merano. SAD buses also head for resorts outside the province, including Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Train

Train Station (Piazza Stazione) Bolzano’s train station is connected by hourly trains with Merano (€5, 40 minutes), Trento (€6.75, 30 minutes) and Verona (€8, 2½ hours), with less-frequent connections to Bressanone (€6, 25 minutes) and Brunico (€11.50, 1½ hours) in the Val Pusteria. Deutsche Bahn trains run to Innsbruck and Munich via Brennero.

Merano (Meran)

pop 38,200 / elev 325m

With its leafy boulevards, birdsong, oleander and cactus, Merano feels like you’ve stumbled into a valley Shangri-La. Long lauded for its sunny microclimate, this poignantly pretty town (and one-time Tyrolean capital) was a Habsburg-era spa, the hot destination of its day, favoured by the Austrian royals, Freud, Kafka and Pound. The Jugendstil (art nouveau) villas, recuperative walks and the grand riverside Kurhaus of this era fan out from its intact medieval core. The city’s therapeutic traditions have served it well in the new millennium, with spa hotels drawing a new generation of health-conscious visitors and a booming organics movement in the surrounding valleys.

German is widely used here, sausage and beer stalls dot the streets and an annual open-air play celebrates Napoleonic-era Tyrolean freedom fighter Andreas Hofer; despite the palm trees, you’re far closer to Vienna than Rome.

Sights

Castel Trauttmansdorff GARDEN

(www.trauttmansdorff.it; Via San Valentino 51a; garden & museum adult/reduced €10.80/7.90; 9am-6pm Apr-Nov, to 11pm Fri summer) You could give over an entire day to these beautiful botanical gardens a little outside Merano. Exotic cacti and palms, fruit trees and vines, beds of lilies, iris and tulips all cascade down the hillside surrounding a mid-19th-century castle where Sissi – Empress Elisabeth – spent the odd summer. Inside, Touriseum charts two centuries of travel in the region, exploring the changing nature of our yearning for the mountains. There’s a restaurant and a cafe by the lily pond.

Kunst Meran ART GALLERY

( 0473 21 26 43; www.kunstmeranoarte.org; Via Portici 16; adult/reduced €5/4; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun, 11am-7pm summer) Shows of high-profile international and regional artists are installed in this contemporary gallery, a thoughtful refiguring of a skinny medieval town house. Look out for monthly talks over aperitivo .

Castel Tirolo MUSEUM

(Schlosstirol; 0473 22 02 21; www.schlosstirol.it; admission €6; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun mid-Mar–Dec, to 6pm Aug) The ancestral seat of the counts of Tyrol is home to a dynamically curated museum of Tyrolean history, including, in the keep, the turbulent years of the 20th century. The castle can be reached by taking the chairlift from Merano to Tirolo (Dorf Tirol). Book ahead for tours in English.

Activities

Some 6km east of town, a cable car (Via Val di Nova) carries winter-sports enthusiasts up to Piffling in Merano 2000 (www.hafling-meran2000.eu) , with 30km of (mostly beginner) slopes. Bus 1B links Merano with the valley station. A chairlift (Via Galilei; one way/return €2.70/4; 9am-6pm Apr-Nov, to 7pm summer) runs to the village of Tirolo (Dorf Tirol). The tourist office has details of the many other cable cars and lifts that ring the town.

The promenade or passeggiata (evening stroll) has long been a Merano institution. Fin-de-siècle-era walks trace the river, traverse pretty parks and skirt Monte Benedetto (514m). A winter and summer pair follow opposing sides of the river, one shady, one sunny. The Gilfpromenade follows 24 poems carved on wooden benches (also handy for a breather). The Tappeiner meanders above the town for 4km. The tourist office offers guides in summer, or can give you a detailed map; all routes have helpful signage.

Terme Merano THERMAL BATHS

( 0473 25 20 00; www.thermemeran.it; Piazza Terme 1; bathing pass 2hr adult/child €12/8, all day €18/11; 9am-10pm) Bolzano-born Matteo Thun’s dream commission – a modern redevelopment of the town’s thermal baths – was reopened in 2005. It houses 13 indoor pools and various saunas within a massive glass cube; there’s another 12 outdoor pools open in summer. Swim through the sluice and be met by a vision of palm-studded gardens and snow-topped mountains beyond. The front desk can give first-timers a rundown on the potentially baffling change-room routine. See the website for details of the excellent wellness centre.

Sleeping

Youth Hostel Merano HOSTEL €

( 0473 20 14 75; meran.jugendherberge.it; Via Carducci 77; dm/s €22/24.50; ) A five- minute stroll from both the train station and the riverside promenade, this hostel is bright and modern, with a sunny terrace and other down-time extras. It has 59 beds, either singles or en suite dorms.

Miramonti BOUTIQUE HOTEL €€

( 0473 27 93 35; www.hotel-miramonti.com; Via Santa Caterina 14, Avelengo; d €170; ) This extraordinary small hotel, fifteen minutes drive from town, nestles on the side of a mountain at 1,230m. Rooms are vast, cosy and have awe-inspiring views – such a potent mix, it’s hard not to retreat entirely. But you’ll be coaxed downstairs by the spa facilities, a sun terrace with lambskins and blankets, or a spot of ‘forest therapy’ in the nearby woods. The glass-walled Panorama restaurant welcomes non-guests, and serves adventurous, beautifully presented dishes using local produce. The entire young team exemplify Südtirolean hospitality, relaxed but attentive to every detail.

Hotel Aurora HOTEL €€

( 0473 21 18 00; www.hotelaurora.bz; Passeggiata lungo Passirio 38; s/d €120/180; ) A traditional family hotel, just across the river from the Terme, is working some fresh ideas. ‘New’ rooms are Italian designed, bright and slick, but the parquetry-floored ‘60s originals do have their own charm (and river-facing balconies). The corridors are littered with mid-century pieces that would do a Williamsburg loft proud.

Ottmanngut BOUTIQUE HOTEL €€€

( 0473 44 96 56; www.ottmanngut.it; Via Verdi 18; s/d €115/230; ) This boutique hotel encapsulates Merano’s beguiling mix of stately sophistication, natural beauty and gently bohemian back story. The remodelled townhouse has nine rooms scattered over three floors, and is set among terraced vineyards a scant five-minute walk from the centre. The interiors are thoughtful and textured: respectful of the building’s storied past but refreshingly contemporary. Individually furnished, antique-strewn rooms evoke different moods, each highlighting the different landscape glimpsed from the window.

Imperial Art Hotel DESIGN HOTEL €€€

( 0473 23 71 72; www.imperialart.it; Corso della Libertà 110; d €200-350; ) Upstairs in what was once a belle époque coffee palace, this inconspicuous, supercomfortable hotel has 11 distinct artist-designed rooms – Tyrolean furniture morphs into neo-geo abstraction; velvet covers and dark-hued walls pay homage to the former Hotel Bristol; an armoire and walls emit an aluminium sheen.

Eating & Drinking

As befits a town dedicated to bodily pleasure, Merano has an excellent fine-dining scene, including the Michelin-starred Sissi and Castel Fragsburg . Via Portici brims with speck-dealing delis, konditorei line Corso della Libertà, and there are more late-night imbibing options, often squirreled down lanes, than you’d imagine.

Pur Südtirol ARTISAN, WINE BAR €

(www.pursuedtirol.com; Corso della Libertà 35; plates from €7; ) This stylish regional showcase has an amazing selection of farm produce: wine, cider, some 80 varieties of cheese, speck and sausage, pastries and breads, tisanes and body care. Everything is hyperlocal (take Anton Oberhöller’s chocolate, flavoured with apple, lemon balm or dark bread crisps). Specially commissioned wood, glass and textiles fill one corner of the shop. Stay for a coffee, glass of wine or the bretteljause – a plate of cured meat – at one of the communal tables.

Forsterbräu BREWERY €€

( 0473 23 65 35; Corso della Libertà 90; meals €25; 10.30am-midnight) This brewery restaurant has a huge beer garden and a number of beautifully designed and cosy dining rooms. Come for a pint or heaped plates of gulaschsuppe (gulasch soup), trout and roast boar.

Kallmünz GASTRONOMIC €€€

( 0473 21 29 17; www.kallmuenz.it; Piazza della Rena 12; meals €47, degustations €50-65; Tue-Sun) With rough rendered walls and a dark-beamed ceiling, the dining room here is theatrically simple, and the food too strikes a balance between flirtatious experimentation and letting great (mainly organic) local ingredients shine. Wine is from surrounding vineyards and is reasonably priced – follow the recommendations of the quad- and quin-lingual black-clad staff, they don’t disappoint.

Café Kunsthaus BAR, CAFE

(Via Portici 16; 9am-7pm Mon-Thu & Sun, 9am-1am Fri & Sat) You can while away the hours in this relaxed gallery cafe, then find yourself still here when the DJs begin and the beer and pizzas are doing the rounds. Note, evening access is from the back lane off Via Risparmio.

Information

Ospedale Civile Tappeiner ( 0473 26 33 33; Via Rossini 5) For medical emergencies.

Tourist Office ( 0473 23 52 23; www.meraninfo.it; Corso Libertà 35; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat, 10am-noon Sun)

Getting There & Around

SAD buses leave Merano bus station (Piazza Stazione) for villages in the Gruppo del Tessa, Silandro and the valleys leading into the Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio and Ortles range.

Bolzano (€5, almost hourly) is an easy 40-minute trip from Merano train station (Piazza Stazione), while the Venosta/Vinschgau line heads west to Malles, from where you can catch buses to Switzerland or Austria.

Hire a bike and helmet next door to the train station ; the bikemobil card (www.suedtirolbike.it; 1/3/7 days €24/30/34, children half price; Apr-Nov) includes both rental and unlimited regional train travel. Bike trails track the 65km route between Bolzano, Merano and Malles.

Val Venosta (Vinschgau)

This north-western valley is prettily pastoral, dotted with orchards, farms and small-scale, often creative, industries including marble quarries and workshops. It may feel remote, nestled as it is within the embrace of towering, snowy alps, but for much of its history it was a vibrant border zone, long on the road to somewhere.

Sights

Glorenza VILLAGE

(Glurns) A walled medieval town, Glorenza was once a kingpin in the region’s salt trade. Its pristine burgher houses, colonnaded shops, town gates, fortifications and ramparts were faithfully restored in the 1970s, and while it’s certainly picturesque, it retains a comforting normalcy, with the road to Switzerland passing through its very centre.

Marienberg MONASTERY

(www.marienberg.it; Malles; museum entrance adult/reduced €5/2.50; 10am-7pm Mon-Sat, closed Jan, Feb & Nov) The beautiful Benedictine monastery of Marienberg, perched up some 1340m above Malles , has a museum dedicated to its eight centuries of monastic life, though the view and architecture are worth the drive up alone.

Lago di Resia LAKE

Just before the Passo di Resia and Austrian border, is the deep blue Lago do Resia, a result of 1950s dam projects. This is a popular destination for sailing and kiteboarding in summer, and ice-fishing and snowkiting in winter, as well as a gateway to the Skiparadies Reschenpass area. The drowned Romanesque church tower in the lake here might be the region’s de rigueur roadside photo op, but is still oddly affecting.

Sleeping

Gasthof Grüner Baum BOUTIQUE HOTEL €€

( 0473 83 12 06; www.gasthofgruenerbaum.it; Piazza della Città 7, Glorenza ; d €116; ) Gracious Gasthof Grüner Baum combines arresting contemporary architecture, authentic charm and quiet luxury – free-standing baths, antiques and handcrafted furniture are standard issue in the rooms.

Getting There & Away

Val Venosta is serviced by the SüdtirolBahn Venosta line, from Merano; from Malles, Swiss Post buses run to Zernez across the border and SAD bus 273 runs to Nauders in Austria. Südtirol Express runs coaches to Zurich.

Part of the ancient Via Claudia Augusta forms an easy, and intriguing, 80km bicycle trail from Merano to Malles.

Parco Nazionale
dello Stelvio

It’s not quite Yellowstone, but 1346-sq-km Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio ( 0469 0 30 46; www.stelviopark.it) is northern Italy’s, and the Alps’, largest national park, spilling into the next-door region of Lombardy and bordering with Switzerland’s Parco Nazionale Svizzero.

It’s primarily the preserve of walkers who come for the extensive network of well-organised mountain huts and marked trails which, while often challenging, don’t require the mountaineering know-how necessary elsewhere in the Dolomites. Stelvio’s central massif is guarded over by Monte Cevedale (3769m) and Ortles (3905m), protecting glaciers, forests and numerous wildlife species, not to mention many mountain traditions and histories.

Ski facilities are rare, but Stelvio has a couple of well-serviced runs at Solda and the Passo dello Stelvio (2757m), both of which offer the novelty of year-round skiing. The latter is the second-highest pass in the Alps and is approached from the north from the hamlet of Trafoi (1543m) on one of Europe’s most spectacular roads, a series of tight switchbacks covering 15km, with some very steep gradients. The road is also famous among cyclists, who train all winter to prepare for its gut-wrenching ascent, and often features in the Giro d’Italia. The hair-raising high pass is only open from June to September, and always subject to closures dependent on early or late snowfall.

Bormio

Lying immediately south of Passo dello Stelvio, Bormio (1125m) is actually in Lombardy, but acts as an unofficial HQ for the park. It’s a popular ski resort, with proximity to some of Italy’s highest runs. From October through May, Bormio is best approached from Sondalo in Lombardy, or via Tubre into Switzerland to take the Munt la Schera tunnel to Livigno. Cima Bianca rises just above the town, while nearby the year-round Pista Stelvio drops 1800m over 8km. The town’s now very posh thermal springs have been famous since Roman times (Leonardo da Vinci liked a soak). Visit Bormio tourist office ( 0342 90 33 00; www.bormioonline.com; Via Roma 131b) for maps, weather forecasts and trekking advice.

Val di Solda

The village of Solda (Sulden; 1906m), reached by winding your way up the deep, dark valley of the same name, is surrounded by 14 peaks over 3000m high. This low-key ski resort becomes a busy base for walkers and climbers in summer. Challenging trails lead quickly to high altitudes, including trail No 28, which crosses the Passo di Madriccio (3123m) into the Val Martello.

Located – literally – inside a hill, the Messner Mountain Museum – Ortles ( 0473 61 32 66; www.messner-mountain-museum.it; adult/reduced €6/5; 2-6pm Wed-Mon, 1-7pm summer, closed May & Nov) articulates the theme of ‘eternal ice’. Messner’s Yak & Yeti ( 0473 61 35 77; Località Solda 55) restaurant, in a 17th-century farmhouse, is at the entrance.

Solda’s tourist office ( 0473 61 30 15; www.ortlergebiet.it; 9am-noon & 3-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat) has information on activities and the Ortles tourism website has a comprehensive accomodation booking service. SAD buses connect Solda with Merano (via Spondigna), summer weekdays only.

Val Gardena (Gröden/Gherdëina)

Despite its proximity to Bolzano, Val Gardena’s historical isolation amid the turrets of Gruppo del Sella and Sassolungo has ensured the survival of many pre-mass-tourism traditions. Ladin is a majority tongue and this linguistic heritage is carefully maintained. The pretty and bustling villages are full of reminders of this distinct culture too, with folksy vernacular architecture and a profusion of woodcarving shops.

In recent times, the valley has become an ‘everyman’ ski area, with the emphasis firmly on classic runs and fine powder. The valley’s main trilingual towns, Ortisei (St Ulrich; pop 5650, elev 1236m), Santa Cristina (pop 1900, elev 1428m) and Selva (Wolkenstein; pop 2580, elev 1563m) all have good facilities.

Sights

Museum de Gherdëina MUSEUM

( 0471 79 75 54; www.museumgherdeina.it; Via Rezia 83, Ortisei; adult/reduced €7/4.50; 10am-noon & 2-6pm Mon-Fri, closed Mon in winter) Ortisei’s Museum de Gherdëina has a particularly exquisite collection of wooden toys and sculptures.

Activities

In addition to its own good runs, the valley forms part of the Sella Ronda and the Dolomiti Superski area. Passes for Val Gardena–Alpe di Siusi cost €42/121/226 for 1/3/7 days.

Vallunga , near Selva, is one of the region’s best spots for cross-country skiing. There are stunning trails around Forcella Pordoi and Val Lasties in the Gruppo del Sella, and on the Sassolungo.

This is also a walkers’ paradise with endless possibilities, from the challenging Alte Vie of the Gruppo del Sella and the magnificent Parco Naturale Puez-Odle , to picturesque strolls including the Naturonda , a signposted nature-and-geology trail beginning at Passo di Sella (2244m).

In summer cable cars operate from all three towns. From Ortisei you can ascend to Seceda , which, at 2518m, offers an unforgettable view of the Gruppo di Odle, a cathedral-like series of mountain spires. From Seceda, trail No 2A passes through a typical Alpine environment – impossibly green, sloping pastures dotted with wooden malghe (shepherds’ huts).

Both the Sella and Sassolungo walking trails can be reached from Val Gardena resorts, or Canazei, by bus to Passo di Sella or Passo di Pordoi – steel yourself for some hairpin bends. From Passo di Pordoi (2239m), a cable car takes you to Sasso Pordoi (2950m).

Sleeping & Eating

If you’re looking to spend a week or more in the mountains, hotels offer weekly half-board deals that are more affordable than those in Alta Badia or Val di Fassa. Hotel restaurants here are often very good too.

Saslong Smart Hotel HOTEL €

( 0471 77 44 44; www.saslong.eu; Strada Palua; d €80; ) Rooms are small but slick (Antonio Citterio had a hand in the design) and comfortable; the ‘smart’ concept keeps rates low by making daily cleaning and breakfast optional. Short stays do incur a fee, usually around €15 per night.

Charme Hotel Uridl HOTEL €€

( 0471 79 32 15; www.uridl.it; Via Chemun 43; half-board s/d €100/190; ) Nestled behind the church in the original ‘high’ village, this is a friendly, character-filled hotel with bright, simple rooms, a heritage stube , and beautiful views back over the valley from its sunny garden.

Chalet Gerard HOTEL €€€

( 0471 79 52 74; www.chalet-gerard.com; Plan de Gralba; half-board s/d €150/260; ) Stunning modern chalet with panoramic views, 10 minutes drive from Selva proper. Lots of cosy lolling by the (architect-designed) fire spots, a steam room and the option to ski in, plus super cute rooms. The restaurant is both romantic – all pine, felt and candlelight – and highly regarded.

Information

Ortisei Tourist Office ( 0471 77 76 00; www.valgardena.it; Via Rezia 1; 8.30am-12.30pm & 2.30-6.30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-noon & 5-6.30pm Sun)

Santa Cristina Tourist Office ( 0471 77 78 00; www.valgardena.it; Via Chemun 9; 8.30am-12.30pm & 2.30-6.30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-noon Sun)

Scuola di Alpinismo Catores ( 0471 79 82 23; www.catores.com; Piazza Stettenect 1; 5.30-7pm) Offers botanical walks, climbing courses, glacier excursions and treks.

Selva Tourist Office ( 0471 77 79 00; www.valgardena.it; Via Mëisules 213; 8am-noon & 3-6.30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-noon & 5-6.30pm Sun)

Medical Centre ( Dolomiti Sportclinic, branches at Ortisei 0471 08 60 00, Ortisei 0471 79 77 85 and Selva 0471 79 42 66)

Getting There & Around

The Val Gardena is accessible from Bolzano and Bressonone by SAD buses year-round, and the neighbouring valleys in summer.

Regular buses connect the towns along the valley throughout the year, including a weekend night bus. In winter the Val Gardena Ski Express shuttles between villages and the lifts (7-day pass €7). Timetables are available at tourist offices.

In summer, the Sella Ronda can be navigated by bus, with services to Passo Gardena, Passo Campolongo, Passo Sella and Passo Pordoi. The Val Gardena card gets you unlimited regional transport and summer lifts (3/6 days €62/82).