Bolzano (Bozen in German/Deutsch) is the capital and largest city of the province of South Tyrol, in Northern Italy. Bolzano was ranked joint first for quality of life alongside Bologna among Italian cities (2020). With its close proximity to the Alps, it is an ideal location as a base to explore the Italian Dolomites (also called limestone Alps) that stretches from north of Bolzano to the border of Slovenia to the east.
Bolzano is located next highway A22 that connects Verona, Italy in the south to Innsbruck, Austria in the north. On the northwest direction lies the Austrian and Italian Alps with famous passes like the Bernina and Albula Pass. The famous tourist destination of lake Garda lies in the south and easily accessible via highway A22. However, the most popular tourist routes from Bolzano lies in the east exploring the Dolomites mountain range. This includes the scenic town of Kastelruth, the Seceda mountain, Gardena Pass, Sella Group, Lago di Braies and further eastern mountains like Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
The town of Kastelruth is located near the Val Gardena region of South Tyrol. Staying at a farm here is a great experience to enjoy the South Tyrol lifestyle and explore nearby mountains and valleys like Seceda and Alpi-de-Suise.
A scenic drive from Kastelruth to the town of Corvara takes us through one fo the most beautiful mountain passes in the Alps called Gardena Pass. The pass provides unobstructed view of famous mountains along the way include the Sella Group (part of the world championship ski circuit) and the Langkofel, one of the tallest peaks in the Dolomites rising above 10,400 ft. The popular tourist attraction, Lago di Braies (Pragsar Wildsee), is about an hour drive east. The lake provides some amazing photo opportunity.
Travelers wanting to venture further can continue the road trip further east past the Valparosa mountains into Tre Cime di Lavarado, which provides scenic trails surrounding the most famous trio of peaks in the Alps. Continuing further northeast will get us into Austria and the Tyrolian Alps. Check out our other blogs about the High Tauren mountain range and Grossglockner for more on that story.
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