REINHOLD MESSNER
The man invariably venerated as the greatest mountaineer of them all, Reinhold Messner, is an Italian (albeit a German-speaking one) from the Alto Adige town of Bressanone (Brixen).
Messner grew up surrounded by the sharp, seductive peaks of the Dolomites. Scaling his first Alpine summit at the age of five, by his early 20s he was recognised as a rising star in the tough world of mountaineering. Derisive of the siege tactics employed by traditional Himalayan expeditions in the 1960s, Messner advocated a simpler Alpine-style approach to climbing that emphasised fast ascents with minimal equipment. By the ‘70s he had set his sights on Everest, confidently announcing his ambition to climb the mountain ‘by fair means’, that is, without supplementary oxygen.
The prophecy was heroically fulfilled in 1978 when Messner and Austrian Peter Habeler became the first men to summit the world’s tallest peak without oxygen tanks, a feat that was considered physically impossible, if not suicidal, at the time. Unsatisfied with his team effort, Messner returned two years later and hacked his way up the mountain’s north face to the summit, alone – a superhuman achievement.
The iron-willed Messner logged another record in 1986 when, at 42, he became the first person to scale all eight-thousanders (the 14 mountains in the world over 8000m). Shunning a well-earned retirement, he also took part in the first unassisted crossing of Antarctica.
These days Messner treks at a gentler pace, mainly in his home Dolomites. A retired Euro MP for the Italian Green Party, he now also tends to his quintet of museums that explore mountain life across the world.
Alpe di Siusi &
Parco Naturale
Sciliar-Catinaccio
There are few more jarring or beautiful juxtapositions than the undulating green pastures of the Alpe di Siusi – Europe’s largest plateau – ending dramatically at the base of the towering Sciliar Mountains. To the southeast lies the jagged Catinaccio range, its German name ‘Rosengarten’ an apt description of the eerie pink hue given off by the mountains’ dolomite rock at sunset. The two areas are protected in the Parco Naturale Sciliar-Catinaccio. Signposted by their onion-domed churches, the villages that dot the gentle valleys – including Castelrotto (Kastelruth), Fiè allo Sciliar (Völs am Schlern) and Siusi – are lovingly maintained and unexpectedly sophisticated.
Activities
The region is part of the Dolomiti Superski network, with downhill skiing, ski-mountaineering, cross-country skiing and snowshoe trails all possible.
The gentle slopes of the Alpe di Siusi are perfect hiking terrain for families with kids; average stamina will get you to the
Rifugio Bolzano
(
0471 61 20 24; www.schlernhaus.it;
Jun-Oct)
, one of the Alps’ oldest mountain huts, which rests at 2457m, just under
Monte Pez
(2564m), the Sciliar’s summit. Take the
Panorama chairlift
(one way/return €3.50/5)
from Compaccio to the Alpenhotel, followed by paths S, No 5 and No 1 to the
rifugio;
from here it’s an easy walk to Monte Pez (three hours total). The more jagged peaks of the Catinaccio group and the Sassolungo are nearby. These mountains are
revered
among climbers worldwide, and harbour several
vie ferrate
and loads of good bike trails. They’re usually accessed from Vigo in Val di Fiemme.
Horses are a big part of local life and culture and there’s nothing more picturesque than a local chestnut Haflinger pony galloping across endless pastureland. Riding stables can be found throughout the area.
The Seiser Alm
cableway
(www.seiseralmbahn.it; one way/return €9/13.50;
8am-6pm mid-Dec–Mar & mid-May–Oct)
is a dizzying 15-minute, 4300m trip (800m ascent) from Siusi to Compaccio. The road linking the two is closed to normal traffic when the cableway is open.
Sleeping & Eating
Martina Breakfast Lodge HOTEL €
(
0471 70 6 361; www.martina-lodge.com; Via Panider 19, Castelrotto; d €110;
)
On the road just outside Castelrotto’s historic
centre
, this newly renovated hotel has bright, modern rooms. Opt for one with a balcony and view over Sciliar and Bullaccia. Welcome extras include kitchens in the larger apartments, complimentary laundry facilities and a sauna.
(
0471 72 50 20; www.hotelheubad.com; Via Sciliar 12, Fiè; s/d €99/180;
)
As if the views, pretty garden and lounge areas here weren’t relaxing enough, the spa is known for its typically Tyrolean hay baths, which have been on offer since 1903 and give the hotel its name. Delightful service is courtesy of the founder’s great- and great-great-grandchildren, while rooms are modern, light and spacious.
(
0471 71 21 00; www.schgaguler.com; Via Dolomiti 2; half-board per person €99-170;
)
Streamlined blond-wood rooms offer stunningly rustic vistas from the bathroom, the bedroom, the living room…Downstairs Vinbar Rubin is an urbane town hub.
Information
Castelrotto Tourist Office
(
0471 70 63 33; www.alpedisiusi.info; Piazza Kraus 1;
8am-noon & 2-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat)
Fiè allo Sciliar Tourist Office
(
0471 72 50 27; www.alpedisiusi.info; Via Bolzano 4;
8am-noon & 2-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat)
Siusi Tourist Office
(
0471 70 70 24; www.alpedisiusi.info; Via Sciliar 16;
8am-noon & 2-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat)
Getting There & Away
SAD (www.sad.it) Runs buses into the Alpe di Siusi from Bolzano, the Val Gardena and Bressanone.
Silbernagl
(
0471 70 74 00; www.silbernagl.it)
Runs regular buses to the area from Castelrotto and Siusi.
Val Badia & Alpe di Fanes
For centuries Ladin legends have resonated across this mystical landscape, which inspired JRR Tolkien. Not surprisingly, the Badia valley and the adjoining high plains of Fanes are often touted as one of the most evocative places in the Dolomites. Since 1980 they have been protected as part of the Parco Naturale di Fanes-Sennes-Braies. Villages in the valley – Colfosco , Pedraces , La Villa , San Cassiano (St Kassian) and Corvara – form the Alta Badia ski area. While undoubtedly upmarket, they remain relatively low key and brim with character.
Activities
The Alta Badia is located on the Sella Ronda, with the best access from Corvara, and forms part of the Dolomiti Superski network. Alta Badia passes for 1/3/7 days cost from €41/121/226. Of the Alta Badia’s 130km of slopes, the Gran Risa , 4.5km north of Corvara in La Villa, is undoubtedly the most legendary.
In summer a cable car ascends into the Parco Naturale di Fanes-Sennes-Braies from the Passo Falzarego (2105m). Alternatively, pick up trail No 12, near La Villa, or trail No 11, which joins Alta Via No 1 at the Capanna Alpina, a few kilometres off the main road between Passo Valparola and San Cassiano. Either trail takes you up to the Alpe di Fanes and the two rifugi, Lavarella and Fanes.
Horse riding, mountain biking and hang-gliding are other popular valley activities. Hotels often have loan bikes.
Tours
(
0471 83 68 98; www.altabadiaguides.com; Via Col Alt 94, Corvara;
5-7pm)
Freeride, ski circuits and ice-climbing courses and tours, as well as snowshoe walks in winter. In summer they organise climbs, including
vie ferrate
, trekking and excursions to the natural parks and WWI sites.
Sleeping & Eating
These resorts are known for their discreet, luxurious hotels. Budget options are scarce, though shoulder season prices do drop dramatically. Residence apartments and mountain huts can be a good deal if booked well in advance. Alta Badia ups the Alpine ante with a number of fine-dining (and often Michelin-starred) restaurants. This gastronomic hot spot also hosts the Chef’s Cup Food Festival (www.chefscup.it) in January and from July to September organic farmers markets take over village squares.
(www.garniurban.it; Via Pantansarè 35, Badia; d €85, apt €100) A simple, welcoming, family-run place, set in a blissfully peaceful spot right at the top of the village. The uncluttered, spacious rooms have spectacular views of Santa Croce and home-cooked dinners can be arranged. Note, the Urban of the name is the house saint, not a style or attitude!
(
0471 84 71 20; www.dolomit.it; Via Colz 9, La Villa; d €125;
)
Rooms here are very prettily decorated, as well as surprisingly spacious (baths! walk in wardrobes!). You might be right in the middle of town but the mountain views are still something to behold. The attached
La Tor
restaurant does Ladin dishes and pizza; its popularity with locals makes it a convivial spot year round.
(
0471 84 71 55; www.hotelrezia.com; Via Cianins 3, La Villa; half-board d €180)
This hotel is in a lovely bucolic position, just out of the village on the road to San Cassiano. It’s big and there’s a recently added ultra-modern wing, but the place retains a very individual, very local feel.
Lagacio Mountain
Residence
APARTHOTEL
€€€
(
0471 84 95 03; www.lagacio.com; Strada Micurá de Rü 48, San Cassiano; apt €290;
)
A stylish residence hotel with a casual vibe. Pared-back apartments are decorated with wood, wool and leather; all have heated floors, big baths and balconies. Kitchens come with WMF gear, Nespresso machines and filtered mountain water. There are good spa facilites as well as guest-only bar. The breakfast buffet has Tyrolean and Italian cakes, DIY vegetable juices and fry-ups.
(
0471 84 01 55; www.delizius.it; Micurà de Rü 51, San Cassiano;
8.30am-9pm)
Specialist cheese and speck counters, well-priced local wine and grappa, plus an excellent selection of prepared meals –
canederli
, gulasch, lasagne – perfect for self-catering dinners.
(
0471 84 73 30; www.scotoni.it; Alpe Lagazuoi 2; meals €25;
year-round)
At 1985m there are stunning views, and the traditional food and mountain hospitality make this a quintessential Badia experience. Book ahead to stay in one of their cosy, blond-wood bunkrooms.
Stüa de Michil GASTRONOMIC €€€
(Hotel La Perla ;
0471 83 10 00; www.hotel-laperla.it; Col Alt 105, Corvara; meals €100;
7-9.30pm Mon-Sat)
Stuffed with Alpine antiques and built entirely from wood, Stüa de Michil is intimate and ridiculously atmospheric. Beautifully presented dishes rework Ladin or Tyrolean traditions and use biodynamic ingredients. Rare wines are also a speciality.
(Hotel Rosa Alpina;
0471 84 95 00; www.rosalpina.it; Micurá de Rü 20, San Cassiano; meals €100;
7-10pm Wed-Mon)
Part of the luxurious Rosa Alpina Hotel & Spa, this two-Michelin-starred restaurant is cosy and quietly elegant. The mountain beef cooked in salt and hay is a menu stalwart, as is suckling pig, though dishes also take a creative, delicate turn.
(Hotel Ciasa Salares;
0471 84 94 45; Pré de Ví 31, San Cassiano; meals €70;
7.15-9.30pm Tue-Sun)
A wonderful setting just outside the village, and a wide ranging menu. The wine by the glass selection is broader than most fine dining places, and they do a dessert degustation if you simply can’t stand more deer or pork.
Information
Full ski-pass prices, lift information and the location of ski-pass sales points can be found online (www.altabadia.org) or at tourist offices.
Corvara Tourist Office
(
0471 83 61 76; Via Col Alt 36;
8am-noon, 3-6pm)
La Villa Tourist Office
(
0471 84 70 37; Via Colz 75;
9am-noon & 3-6pm)
San Cassiano Tourist Office
(
0471 84 94 22; Strada Micurá de Rü 24;
8.30am-noon & 3-7pm Mon-Sat, 10am-noon & 4-6pm Sun)
Getting There & Away
SAD
(
800 84 60 47; www.sad.it)
buses link the villages with Bolzano (2½ hours) and Brunico (1¼ hours) hourly or so. Summer services link Corvara with the Val Gardena, Passo di Sella and Passo di Pordoi, Canazei and the Passo Falzarego.
Val Pusteria (Pustertal)
Running from the junction of the Valle Isarco at Bressanone (Brixen) to San Candido (Innichen) in the far east, the narrow, verdant Val Pusteria is profoundly Tyrolean and almost entirely German-speaking.
Dobbiaco (Toblach) is the gateway to the ethereal Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti di Sesto , home of the much-photographed Tre Cime di Lavaredo (‘Three Peaks’ or, in German, Drei Zinnen). Down yet another deeply forested valley the jewel-like Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee) is just the spot for a peaceful lake-side stroll, and is home to a beautiful historic hotel, the Pragser Wildsee (www.lagodibraies.com; St. Veit 27, Prags; halfboard d €170) . Serious walkers tackle part of the Alta Via No 1 from here.
The Plan de Corones (Kronplaz) ski area (covered by Dolomiti Superski) is 4km to the south of bustling Brunico and can be reached by cable car. Ample green and blue runs are spectacularly set for beginners.
Bumping the Austrian and Veneto borders in the far northeast is a vast, wild territory, the Sesto Dolomiti . The Valle Campo di Dentro and Val Fiscalina are crisscrossed with spectacular walking and cross-country skiing trails; most around the Tre Cime are easy enough for inexperienced walkers and families. From the Val Fiscalina it’s a long but gentle walk along trail No 102 to Rifugio Locatelli (2405m), from where you can see the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in all its glory.
LADIN LANDS
According to one Val Gardena local in her 20s, to be Ladin is ‘just a way of feeling…I’ve grown up speaking the language; I don’t feel Italian, or South Tyrolean, I feel Ladin.’ She is but one of 20,000 first-language Ladin speakers, almost half are the Val Gardena, the others spread across valleys in the neighbouring Val Badia and Val di Fassa as well as Arabba and Ampezzo near Cortina in the Veneto.
Children in these valleys are taught in Ladin, alongside German and Italian, and the Ladin cultural and linguistic identity is enshrined in EU law. The culture is underpinned by vibrant poetry as well as legends peopled by the good-natured salvan (a Dolomiti cousin of the gnome) and a further pantheon of fairies, giants and heroes. Encounter these folk traditions at various valley museums:
Museo Ladin
(
0474 52 40 20; www.museumladin.it; Tor 65, St Martin de Tor; adult/reduced €8/6.50;
10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 2-6pm Sun summer, 3-7pm Thu-Sat winter)
Museo Ladin de Fascia
(
0462 76 01 82; www.istladin.net; Località S. Giovanni, Vigo di Fassa; adult/reduced €5/3;
10am-12.30 & 3-7pm summer, 3-7pm winter)
Museum de Gherdëina (Click here)
Bressanone (Brixen)
Alto Adige’s oldest city, dating to 901, might be the picture of small town calm, but has a grand ecclesiastical past and a lively, cultured side today. Stunning baroque architecture is set against a beguiling Alpine backdrop, a stately piazza leads into a tight medieval core, and pretty paths trace the fast-moving Isarco river.
Sights
(
0472 83 05 05; www.hofburg.it; Piazza Palazzo Vescovile 2; adult/reduced €7/6;
10am-5pm Tue-Sun, summer & Dec
–
early Jan )
This museum is far more interesting than most of its ilk, its magnificent palazzo home testament to the town’s once-important religious standing; it’s popular when the Christmas Market crowds arrive, due to its extensive ‘crib’
collection
– nativity figures and dioramas.
Sleeping
Hotel Elephant
HISTORIC HOTEL
€€
(
0472 83 27 50; www.hotelelephant.com; Via Rio Bianco 4; s/d €100/190;
)
This 15th-century inn marks the entrance to old Bressanone, and as the name suggests, once gave shelter to an Indian elephant, a gift on its way to Archduke Massimiliano of Austria. Inside are extremely comfortable rooms and serenely professional service, exquisite stained glass and museum-worthy paintings. An honour roll/guestbook features a staggering assortment of European royalty, signing off with the Duchess of Aosta.
(
0472 26 83 55; www.small-luxury.it; Via Mercato Vecchio 36; d €180;
)
Fabulously designed rooms are suite-sized, and come with Nespresso machines and wine-stocked fridges; some include a terrace with a hot tub.
Eating & Drinking
(Restaurant Finsterwirt;
0472 83 53 43; www.ostescuro.com; Vicolo del Duomo 3; meals €43;
11.45am-2.15pm & 6.45-9.15pm Tue-Sat, noon-3pm Sun)
This place would be worth a visit for the décor alone, but the food here is seriously good. The menu doesn’t shy from traditional dishes, but gets creative with generous use of local herbs and seasonal vegetables. Lunch menus are a steal at €15/20 but don’t pass up the nut-infused digestives.
Pupp Konditorei Cafe CAFE, PASTRIES & CAKES
(www.pupp.it; Via Mercato Vecchio 37;
7am-7pm Tue-Sat, 7am-noon Sun)
In the Pupp family for almost a hundred years, this is a Bressanone favourite. The cosy velvet booths are perpetually filled with locals scoffing great coffee and cake. The poppyseed or walnut
potize
(stuffed brioche) are famous.
( Via Portici Maggiore 14;
8am-midnight)
Smart hole-in-the-wall bar that caters equally well to workers sipping morning espresso, ladies who spritz mid-morning and students nursing a
hugo
(elderflower and sparkling wine).
(Vinus; www.vinothekvinus.it; Via Mercato Vecchio 6;
10am-10pm Mon-Fri, 10am-7pm Sat)
A classy, dark, low-ceilinged space with an extensive wine-by-the-glass list. There’s a ‘tavola
calda’ –
a limited hot menu – on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays (mains €20).
Brunico (Bruneck)
Brunico has a quintessentially Tyrolean historic centre and is worth a detour.
Right by the town gate, head to
Acherer Patisserie & Blumen
(
0474 41 00 30; www.acherer.com; Via Centrale;
8am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun)
, for apple strudel, cheesecakes and Sachertorte that may just be the region’s best. If you’d like your cake with coffee, they’ll happily plate it and you can waltz next door to
Wörtz Bäck
(Via Centrale 12;
8am-late Wed-Fri, to 7pm Mon, Tue & Sat)
, a friendly bar where locals gather for coffee, jugs of beer and wine, often all at once.
On the town’s outskirts, visit local wool manufacturer
Moessmer
(Via Vogelweide;
9am-12.30pm & 2.30-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-2.30pm Sat)
for cashmere and Tyrolean tweeds from its outlet shop.
Hotel Blitzburg
(
0474 55 57 23; www.blitzburg.it; Via Europa 10; half-board d €140;
)
, in the new town, is a rambling old place with big, bright rooms and a nice mountain orientation.
Information
Tourist office
(
0474 55 57 22; www.bruneck.com; Piazza Municipio 7;
9am-12.30pm & 3-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat)
Bressanone is on the main Bolzano – Innsbruck line (25 minutes, €8). Regional Val Pusteria trains connect to this line at Fortezza (Franzensfeste), and run down the valley as far as SanCandido. SAD buses also connect Brunico (45 minutes, hourly) and Cortina (one hour, four daily) to San Candido.
