22 and 23/06/2023
Trento
I had always liked the pictures of the Dolomites. This was reinforced by a day trip we took from Venice around 2016 (!). The shape of the peaks are fabulous and the colour is glorious.
We were planning to stay in Ortisei, but we could not get there the same day we flew, due to the flight times, and needing to catch two trains and a bus. So Trento came out as a good place to spend a night. After looking at the town, we decided we wanted to spend a day there and explore.
We flew from Manchester. Return train tickets, overnight in a hotel in Manchester, the flights, booked seats, and hold luggage on Ryanair were cheaper than just the flights on Jet2 from Leeds.
23/06/2023
When we looked up Trento this was the description.
“Trento is an affluent, picturesque city in the Adige Valley of Northern Italy, nestled in the Alps just south of the Dolomites. Famous for its rich history. It uniquely blends Italian Renaissance charm with Alpine and Austrian cultural influences
Consistently ranking as having one of the highest quality of life standards in Italy, Trento is incredibly clean, safe, and walkable. It retains a “hidden gem” feel, largely untouched by mass tourism.”
It lived up to the description.
We had a really nice hotel
overlooking the city park and the mountains beyond
There was a lovely general feel of the place, not a lot of traffic in the centre, plenty of eateries, little rubbish and well-kept buildings. Built on one bank of the river with hills at the other side. There were a few standouts, the angular modern science museum against the mountains.
The castle with its prominent position overlooking the town, with lovely grounds
Great views
and amazing frescos,
The cathedral and the town square were both worth visiting.
The cemetery was picturesque
On the outskirts of the town was a Orrido di Ponte Alto that was used in flood protection. Water was channelled through a gorge then dropped down a steep waterfall.
It had the unusual opporttunity to look down into the falls.
The weather was not great, but it was warm and there were great walks around the town and along the river.
24 to 30/06/2023
Ortisei (aka Saint Ulrich)
Then we caught a train to Waidbruck which connected to a bus to Ortisei (aka Saint Ulrich).
The bus ride is fabulous as it climbs steeply from the railway station and then the views of Val Gardena open up.
Ortisei is a charming Alpine village. A lot of wood buildings, and the others were well kept and usually painted. It was definitely a day town, with a lot of people visiting for the day. By 21:00 the streets were deserted. But it wasn’t early rising, there was no one around until 8:00.
Some interesting street art
Something is lost in translation
We were staying in a nice hotel opposite the bus stops. The staff were lovely, the room spacious and clean, and the breakfast was good.
And some great sunsets
After we dropped off our bags, it was time to go the peaks. We bought season tickets for the chair lifts and cable cars in Val Gardena. In the week we went up all the open lifts
Seilbahnen CableCar
The first cablecar we went on was close to the centre of town.
The walk was easy among vast swathes of wildflowers and an ever changing backdrop of peaks. There were great views. There were few buildings and the whole area was criss-crossed by chair lifts.
It wasn’t a particularly long walk – only around 5km but it was glorious.
It was a slow walk as the views were so amazing.