At the end of September I spent five days in one of the most beautiful places in the world: South Tyrol or Alto Adige. Of course I am biased, as I spent holidays there when I was little and people tend to idealize such childhood places as they always awaken good old memories. However, in this case, I am still right. 🙂
A Short Brush-Up on the Recent History
The people of South Tyrol have a tough past: Originally part of Austria / the k.u.k. Monarchy (thus the name South Tyrol as they are next to Tyrol), the region was given to Italy after the First World War. Italy had required to get South Tyrol as a precondition to fight alongside the west allies. Italy then started the “Italianism” of the region to extinguish everything from Austria and the k.u.k. Monarchy; German was prohibited to use in school and all public buildings, first and last names of the local people were translated into Italian by the authorities. In addition, they relocated people from South Italy to this region to make the German speaking population a minority within South Tyrol. During Second World War, the German army invaded Northern Italy and also occupied South Tyrol. With the invasion of the US army in spring 1945, the Italian anti-fascist resistance movement took over the provisional administration. The allies agreed that the region would remain under Italian administration, but required a significant level of self-government for the German speaking population; an agreement between Austria and Italy was reached in 1946. As the Trentino native prime minister, Alcide de Gasperi wanted autonomy for his fellow citizens as well, the new region Trentino-Alto Adige was created. German and Italian were both official languages and German school education was also possible again. Still, Italians were the majority in the region and more Italian-speaking immigrants arrived, which led to strong dissatisfaction among South Tyroleans and a terrorist organization, Befreiungsausschuss Südtirol emerged and committed several terrorist attacks. They stayed active until the late 1960’s. The Südtirolfrage was solved in 1971 when a new agreement between Austria and Italy was reached. The new treaty provided more self-determination for South Tyrol and proved to be satisfactory for the local population.
Accommodation
Now back to the here and now. I stayed at the Marlena Hotel in Marling, a family-run, 4 star superior hotel. It has a large spa area, an indoor and outdoor pool, as well as two tennis courts. Rooms are spacious and bright, each room is individually decorated, which gives it a nice personal touch. Marling lies above Meran and thus, you can enjoy a wonderful view over the city of Meran from the hotel.
I had booked a room with half-board and enjoyed it thoroughly. “Half-board” in this hotel included a breakfast buffet with local produce (no smoked salmon for a change) and eggs any style could be ordered in addition, a 5-course dinner, a light lunch at noon (a pasta dish or a salad was offered) and cake was offered in the afternoon. So actually, you could have spent your days eating, if desired. The staff at the reception could not have been more helpful or friendly and welcoming. No matter if I needed guidance for a hiking tour or wanted to book a massage, all my requests were catered to. Cuisine was also good, although I must admit that the fillet stroganoff slightly differed from what I was used to, but otherwise I couldn’t complain.
The young waiter and the maître d’ needed to get used to the concept of a young, single woman in their hotel though; I had to ask the waiter for the wine list and instead of making recommendations, the maître d’ told me the following day, when ordering a glass of the Chianti that “this is a much better choice than the Vernatsch you had yesterday”. First and foremost, a guest is never being told that his/her choice is not good, secondly, he could have told me the day before, and thirdly, with this comment he indicated that they have a wine on their menu that is not good. Otherwise, service was impeccable. Value for money at this hotel is really good. However, if you are looking for a less expensive option, you will find tons of bed and breakfasts (Frühstückspensionen) in the area and with the service attitude of the South Tyroleans, I am sure that most of them are good.
Sights / Activities
Oh boy, where do I start? When it comes to sightseeing, you have to visit Meran, a beautiful spa town with an old town core and arcades that invite to stroll around and do some windows shopping. Be warned: you will find great clothes there, but they are not on the cheap side.
Another must-visit is Bozen/Bolzano which has an equal beautiful old town core and a lovely daily fruit market and various other markets. And yes, you’ll get great ice cream there too (for EUR 1 per scoop).
Other sights are various castles and of course the South Tyrolean wine street (Südtiroler Weinstrasse / Strada del Vino), which goes from Eppan to Bozen. Determine a dedicated driver before you start this trip!
If you want to be more active, the region offers various routes for hikers, bikers, walkers, and rollerbladers alike. Easy routes are for example the Marlinger or Meraner Waalweg, the Marlinger Höhenweg is a bit more challenging.
You will find more hiking routes when taking the ropeway Merano2000, which is a skiing area during winter months. In addition, South Tyrol has various golf courses. In short, there is something for everyone.
Cuisine
As I had breakfast and dinner at the hotel, I can’t recommend any restaurants. However, I took breaks during hiking and had great lunches at the Gasthaus Senn am Egg in – or better said above – Marling
Frittatensoup with Redcurrant Schorle (homemade juice) for EUR 8.
and at the Waidmannalm:
Specknödelsoup and Zitronenmelisse Schorle (homemade) for EUR 8.
Generally speaking, it is difficult to find a restaurant with bad food in South Tyrol. The mix of Austrian and Italian cuisine results in a wonderful culinary offering.
Conclusion
If you have been looking for a vacation location that has it all, you’ve come to the right place. With the exception of a beach/ocean, South Tyrol lacks nothing: breathtaking landscape, very friendly and service-orientated locals, activities for hikers, walkers, bikers, golfers, shopaholics, and wine connoisseurs. The only downside is how you get there: From Switzerland, you have to cross two pass routes which leads to a travel time of more than 4 hours for a distance of 270-300km.
Travel Tips
- Travel by car.
- Check out the duty-free allowances of your country beforehand; you’ll want to take home some of the wine, schnaps (Williams) and the speck.
- Best season is fall (September, October, early November) and spring (April, May). Avoid holidays (Easter, Pentecoast, German National Holiday).
- Eat local food. Always. You won’t be disappointed. The South Tyroleans followed a regional and seasonal cuisine long before it became a food trend.
