Val Venosta/Val Senales: Waalwege, mountain bike and ski

Val Venosta/Val Senales is the most western part of the Bolzano province. It reaches from Passo Resia to the city of Merano and is surrounded by the Ortles group and the Ötztal Alps, with the peculiar Monte Sole, whose vegetation is unique in all the Alps. It includes 13 municipalities: Castelbello, Laces, Naturno, Prato allo Stelvio, Sluderno, Solda and Trafoi are some of the most well-known.

Part of this enchanting and sweet-scented valley is the Alta Val Venosta tourist resort, a unique territory where Italy, Austria and Switzerland meet offering in winter fairy tale landscapes and kilometers of snowy slopes, and in summer, thanks to the Resia lake and the homonymous Pass, fabulous walking tours in the nature of the Stelvio National Park.

This is the valley boasting the most beautiful weather among the Eastern Alps and it is particularly beautiful when apple and apricot trees are blossoming. The spring air is conductive to spend time in the open air: you can do the first hikes or bike tours to train for summer, fish or ride. For example, you can walk along the old irrigation channels (Waalwege), the Nordic walking paths in Laces or in Val Martello.

The summer period is the favourite season for those loving nature and open air. The most fit can go in the height and try the paths on the Tessa group, on the Ötztal Alps and on the Ortles massif, in the Stelvio National Park or in the Tessa Group Nature park, which can also be reached using the lift facilities and chairlifts, such as those taking you to Malga Tarres over Laces.
Anyway, the best way to discover Val Venosta/Val Senales is going by bike: there are as much as 150 km bike tracks and 680 mountain-bike paths. A perfect connecting system - the small Val Venosta train - allows you to load your bike and reach comfortably the starting point of your trip.
If you don't want to renounce to ski and snowboard , you can try the glacier slope on Passo Stelvio.

Autumn is the season of scents, coloured leaves, apple harvesting and crackling roast chestnuts. The valleys are filled with typical traditions and festivals, such as the transhumance.

Here winter begins at the end of November: the snow falling till April whitens the whole valley and the surrounding mountains. Then you can run downhill on the ski areas Watles, Trafoi, Solda and Malga Tarres. Ski tours allowing you to reach Austria and Switzerland, climbs, snowshoe walks, ice skating, cross-country skiing, curling and sledge descents among romantic landscapes and imposing peaks.

Discover the events and the historical, cultural and gastronomic attractions of this Tyrolean land, too: Castle Juval, Castelbello and Coira, the fortified town of Glorenza, one of the most beautiful hamlets in Italy, the small churches, the museums, the roman Road Claudia Augusta, the strawberries in Val Martello, the asparagus, the shepherd's huts and refuges...