The Dolomites

The Dolomites, that massive mountain range stretching across Italy’s northeast, is one of our favourite places. The landscape here is spectacular – towering mountains rising above long, narrow valleys. It’s magnificent.

We’ve twice spent Christmas in the Dolomites, when those peaks and valleys were covered in snow, and when the little towns with their festive lights and Christmas markets rivalled the mountains for beauty.

But on this trip, we wanted to experience the landscape in a different guise – autumn, when the sky was clear and the walking tracks awaited.

To arrive in the Dolomites, we left Bologna and boarded a train heading north. Two changes later, we landed here - the small village of Villabassa in South Tyrol, close to the Austrian border.

We hadn’t been to this valley - the Upper Pusteria - before, and had found Villabassa only after a bit of online research. What a find it turned out to be!

We stayed at ‘Historic Hotel Emma’, which looks almost exactly as it did nearly 200 years ago. (The hotel is still run by the family). The view from our room looked over the town’s one main street.

The breakfast room, where all the offerings are homemade with local Tyrolean ingredients (milk and cheese, jams and conserves, cakes and pastries).

Our first walk around the town had us thinking we might not venture further afield for the entire duration of our stay!

In these parts, German is the first language; Italian and dialect follow. English is rarely an option.

Every town has an Italian and a German name. Villabassa is otherwise known as Niederdorf.

Though the autumn weather here is mild, there are clear signs of the winter to come; already firewood is stacked into every available nook and cranny - even in the fence.

One of the main reasons we headed to this valley was to visit Lake Braies (or Lago di Braies, or Pragser Wildsee in German, or Lake Prags in the English translation of the German - it can get complicated up here!).

The beauty of this lake has made it internationally famous, and it certainly draws the crowds. They come by the bus load to see it.

Just as we did!

Most people tend to walk the 20-minute circuit of the lake but, if you’re up for it, there are other, longer walks nearby - one of which leads to this very pleasant mountain ‘refuge’.

In fact, refuges are common; some are much more remote and harder to reach than others, but they all provide welcome refreshment to weary walkers (and, in this case, bikers).

Villabassa is a great base for exploring the Pusteria Valley - each morning it was a case of open the map and decide where we wanted to go for the day.

This high plateau walk was only around 10km long and one of the easy options, but the views were spectacular.

 

 

There are two towns further east along the valley from Villabassa, but still in Italy; San Candido is the last stop before the Austrian border.

At the station here, the Italian crew leaves the train and the Austrian crew takes over.

One day we ventured over the border into Lienz.

It’s another very pretty town, though there’s not a lot to indicate you’re in a different country - the language is the same (German), the architecture is the same (Tyrolean), and the food is the same (delicious!). 🙂

The cable cars that service ski fields in winter, carry walkers up to the high tracks in warmer months. This is a great view along the valley - Villabassa is away to the left, and if you looked to the right you’d see Austria.

 

At the top, we headed off on one of the trails but before long, it was the action overhead that stopped us in our tracks.

Paragliders were launching off the hill behind us and swooping down over the valley below. Watching them took our breath away - we could only imagine what it must have felt like soaring above that magnificent landscape.

We’d originally intended to walk up to the hut on top of that mountain at the back but, in the end, we decided it was a much better option to settle in at this lovely refuge and watch the world go by.

 

One day we arrived home to find Villabassa’s annual ‘Potato Festival’ in full swing in the little piazza across the road from the Hotel Emma (the yellow building in the background there).

As you know, we love a festival and this one was no exception!

Of course, it was all about the potato - in bags to buy …

And in dishes to eat (on the right there is a fabulous beetroot and potato soup).

There was music. And dancing.

And music and dancing! This fun man asked me to ‘help’ him. ‘Just wear this like a backpack,’ he said. I did. And fun ensued.

Just to say here that the Potato Festival was a two-day event. We managed to get there on both days! 🙂

Apart from Lago di Braies, the other ‘big attraction’ in this part of the world is the Tre Cime di Lavaredo - the Three Peaks (aka the Drei Zinnen). The car park in the National Park was a dead giveaway as to the popularity of this walk.

In the end, the track wasn’t as busy as we’d expected it to be.

And the views were even more incredible than we’d anticipated.

 

And here’s the reward for effort - the famous Tre Cime (the people in the left foreground give a perspective).

We absolutely loved being in the Dolomites again; it’s a magnificent part of the world.

So that’s winter and autumn sorted… now, how about spring?