• Kate PritchettEurope 2026Traveler
    1In front of train station in Bolzano
    1In front of train station in Bolzano1Castel Trostburg overlooking Ponte Gardena/Waidbruck, where we waited for the bus2The view from our little hotel room balcony !!1House-made beetroot tagliolini with Roquefort cheese and cashews. Divine.Chestnut-potato gnocchi with "mountain cheese fonduta" and truffle. Dreamy.Vanilla gelato with hot raspberries. The German menu listing was "Heise Liebe!"1At dinner restaurant. Weird.Walking back through town1Rio Gardena/Grödner Bach, which flows behind our hotel

    To the mountains

    July 15 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    We took two trains and (after a lengthy wait for one with open seats) a bus to get to Ortisei/Urtijei, our home base for the next few days. This area is called Südtirol or Alto Adige, and hasn’t always been part of Italy. All of the signage is in both Italian and German. We were greeted with a relatively brief but intense rainstorm, which seems to be normal, given how green it is here!

    Our hotel room came with unlimited bus passes so we’ll be able to get around to look around and go hiking with ease. There are also a number of funiculars/cable cars/ski lifts that we can take for views and hiking access.

    We had a fantastic dinner on a terrace overlooking the town and then a nice walk “home” along the river (Rio Gardena/Grödner Bach). It is SO beautiful here.    Read more