Dolomites

Make sure you go to the VAl Gardena (Selva) and also visit Merano. The entire region is gorgeous, you'll feel like you are in Austria. Eat lots of sausages, they are the best. Good Strudel too.

Hi Jeffery, The Sud Tirol encompasses quite a bit of territory. Where exactly are you planning on staying? The Dolomite area, between say the Val Gardena (western) and Cortina d'Ampezzo (eastern) and as far south as Bolzano or the area from say Bolzano to Merano and west (through the Val Venosta/Vinschgau) to the Swiss border? For the Val Gardena area, etc., check out the nice old town of Brixen/Bressanone. While we're not "museum people", we enjoyed visitng the Diocean Museum in Brixen, plus we really liked the old town itself. http://www.brixen.org On a smaller scale, the town of Klausen/Chiusa, at the "entrance" to the Val Gardena, is also worth a look. http://www.suedtirol.info/en/Destinations--Things-To-Do/Valle-Isarco--Eisacktal/Chiusa--Klausen---Barbiano--Barbian---Velturno--Feldthurns---Villandro--Villanders.html http://www.klausen.it/en/klausen.html Paul

Hi again, To continue, If you're looking at the area west of Meran/Merano into the Vinschgau/Val Venosta, there are vineyards, alpine peaks (though not the limestone peaks assoc. with the Dolomites) and plenty of castles, including one of our favorites, Castle Churburg/Castel Coira. There's Castel Tirolo, Juval Castle (home of infamous mountaineer Reinhold Messner), Castle Kastelbell/Castelbello, the small old walled town of Glurns/Glorenza and on and on. http://www.suedtirol.info/en/Destinations--Things-To-Do/Val-Venosta--Vinschgau.html http://www.vinschgau.net/en/culture/castles-ruins.html http://www.schlosstirol.it Hope this helps get you started. Paul

Stop in the archeology museum in Bolzano and say hi to Oetzi, the 4500 yr old frozen corps found a few years ago high up in the Alps. Good exhibits on early Copper Age cultures in the area. I like the exhibit at the cable car at Passo Falzarego (between Cortina and Corvara) explaining the "Battle of the Tunnels" during WWI. The Austrians and Italians took turns driving tunnels under each other's positions and packing them with dynamite. Not too many casualties, since both sides used listening devices to detect when the mining stopped and the explosives were being primed. It kept everyone occupied and resulted in some high quality road-building material.
Bring a signed NHL hockey players jersey to The Goalies Pub in Selva and maybe they'll hang it on the wall. Goal keepers only! Defensemen or Forwards need not apply.

The region is absolutely incredible in beauty. It's easily accessed from Venice via Udine. I usually come from the Innsbruck area through the Brenner Pass via Cortina. The most beautiful place I've ever seen was north of Lienz, Austria on the south end of the Grossglockner High Alpine Highway Road (over to Zell-am-Zee.) It's an incredible drive through the second highest mountains in Europe.