Val Gardena: holidays in the valley with 1000 opportunities

Val Gardena: a perfect mix of adventure and wellness, modernity and old customs. Both in summer and in winter, an explosion of sport, flowers, animals, arts and culture, important events such as the ski world cup or the Sellaronda Bike Day and many free-time activities. This ladin valley is perpendicular to the Isarco valley. It is overlooked by the Rasciesa, Odle and Puez mountain groups - separating it from Val di Funes - Sassolungo, Sasso Piatto and Sella, and crossed by the passes Gardena and Sella. It hosts three villages: Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva Gardena.

Your sustainable holiday in Val Gardena

Val Gardena has been awarded the GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) certificate, an important recognition of its commitment to more sustainable tourism.

The objectives it wants to achieve by 2026 are:

• set up a mobility centre with the aim of developing projects for car-free and barrier-free connections
• reduce traffic on the pass roads (Gardena and Sella)
• increase cycling routes on the pass roads
• achieve an increase in arrivals by public transport; increase the number of electric charging stations
• increase renewable energy sources for businesses
• reduce the production of printed matter and the consumption of plastic.

Val Gardena wants to support South Tyrol with the 'Klimaland Südtirol' initiative and the 'KlimaPlan Energie - Südtirol 2050' to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Val Gardena in winter

Talking about Val Gardena you will think about ski: in fact, this is where the downhill run world championship took place in the Seventies, and a FIS - World Cup competition still take place every year in December... Many kilometers slopes, included in the Dolomiti Superski and connected by modern lift facilities, ski tours, like the famous Sella Ronda. Freestyle and snowparks; huts and refuges for the après-ski; infinite cross-country trails. Furthermore, in the last years the valley has another attraction: the Gardena Ronda Express, an underground cable railway connecting the ski area Col Kaiser-Seceda with the Sochers-Ciampanoi area. And then telemark, carving, ice climbing, hockey, skating, ski mountaineering, paragliding. As well as many events with international sportsmen such as the Sellaronda Skimarathon or the Skijoring.

Winter in Val Gardena is also romantic: horse-sled runs, sledge slopes, snowshoe walks.

With the indoor tennis courts, the swimming pool and the indoor climbing wall sport lovers can find everything they need to keep fit. The DSV Nordic Active Park in Vallunga is ideal for cross-country skiing in winter and Nordic walking in summer.

Body and soul also relax with saunas, Turkish steam baths, massages, hay baths, Whirlpools. And as you rest, your children are looked after by babysitter and nursery schools or have fun in the three playgrounds in the valley.

Val Gardena in summer

Summer is the season of energy and vitality. The valley hosts many refuges, mountain lakes, slopes and scented meadows, with many paths suitable for hikes at all levels. Discover the hidden and silent corners in the Nature Park Puez-Odle where chamois, edelweiss, marmots and eagles live.

The area is also ideal for mountaineers, due to the numerous vie ferrate on the Sella and Sassolungo groups, the hikes in the height, the climbs, the activities and courses organized by the alpine guides. Don't miss the Naturonda equipped walk.
This is not only a paradise for mountaineers: bike and mountain-bike lovers will find many paths, either easier, among the villages in the valley, or more demanding, on the dolomite passes. In June there is also an important bike event: the Sellaronda Bike Day.

Would you like to see the world from the height? Why not trying paragliding? In Val Gardena there are no limits for physical activity! Tennis, swimming, golf, horse riding, canyoning, athletics, table football, indoor climbing, rafting, skateboarding ... just find the right one for you!

Arts and culture

Val Gardena has been able to preserve its cultural peculiarities throughout the years. This is also because it has been isolated until 1856, when the road of Val Gardena and the railway were built.

These deep roots are still present in the Ladin language, in the typical multicolored dresses, which can be admired in August at the popular festival Val Gardena in costume, and in the legends.

The wood carving art of Val Gardena is famous all over the world. A very good occasion to admire it is at the Christmas Market of Santa Cristina, but there are also many expositions and exhibitions about it.

The whole valley offers many cultural and artistic attractions, making your holiday really complete! Churches and chapels, the Gardena and Wolkenstein, the ruins of the medieval Stetteneck castle, the biggest crib of the world and the spherical equatorial sundial on Mount Pana.

And what about shopping and local dishes? Simply excellent!