I’m looking into spending a few days in Merano and was wondering if there are any easy day trips worth looking into. By easy I mean not too far away, easy public transportation connection etc. , perhaps going further up into the mountains. We would be there at the very end of July.
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Washington DC
27187 posts
If you have an interest in museums of any type, you can find every museum in the South Tyrol/Alto Adige on this website, I think: https://www.suedtirolerland.it/en/highlights/museums-and-exhibitions/. Many hotels in that region give their guests a card covering buses and some trains in the area, and sometimes also museum entries. Ask when you check in to be sure you get anything you are due.
I'm spending a few nights in Bolzano in early September. This information is from my notes:
Bolzano is about 40 minutes from Merano by train. The biggest deal in Bolzano is the Archaeological Museum with its fabulous exhibition on Otzi, the Iceman. It's brilliantly done. Bolzano has a very pretty historic center and some other sights, but that museum is Priority 1.
Bressanone is smaller but also lovely, and it has some historically important churches and other religious buildings. Unfortunately, to get to Bressanone you must travel through Bolzano (choose departure carefully if you want to avoid changing trains) rather than cutting straight to the east. Travel time by train will be about 75 minutes each way.
A bit closer than Bressanone, but still requiring the trip through Bolzano, is Chiusa, with an atmospheric medieval core. I haven't been to the Civic Museum, but it sounds worthwhile. I think it's open Tue-Sat. Travel time to Chiusa will be about 70 minutes each way.
I've been to all three of the towns listed above and recommend them.
The following places are on my list of potential destinations for my upcoming trip. They're all in the area north or west of Merano. I haven't been to any of them:
Tirolo: Many castles in area N of Merano. Castel Tirolo has fascinating museum of Tyrolean history. Tue-Sun. www.schlosstirol.it. You can walk there from the center of Tirolo. Take the Schlossweg from center of town. Walk 5 min past St Johann Baptist to terrace overlooking river (castle view). Continue, taking higher road at splits. 10 min. later reach underpass at Castel Tirolo, among best preserved in central Europe. Not furnished; used for art and performances. Chapel is best room. Walk 10 min. farther to Schloss Brunnenberg, now an agricultural museum. I don't know about transportation from Merano to Tirolo.
Glorenza/Glurns: Walled medieval town (one of Italy’s best) with pristine burgher houses, towers, colonnades and gates (faithfully restored in 1970s). Access: About 1 hr. from Merano by train to Glorenza-Sluderno station, located in Sluderno, 2.6 km from Glorenza. I think that's a private rail line, not Trenitalia. Trenitalia shows late-evening trips by bus that take 80 minutes.
Malles Venosta (Mal sim Vinschgau): High-country town with several Gothic churches. Altitude over 3400 feet, so should be a bit cooler than the valley towns. Wednesday market and 9th-century Church of San Benedetto. Not far from Glorenza-Sluderno; I'm not sure whether there's public transportation to cover th short distance.
Burgusio (Burgeis): 5 km N of Malles: Abbazia di Monte Maria (Marienberg) on mountainside above town. Outstanding series of 12C frescoes in abbey (enlarged 18C-19C). Mon-Sat.
Although it doesn't look terribly far on the map, I think Vipiteno/Sterzing is beyond day-trip range at about 1-3/4 hours by train each way. I bet it's a beautiful trip, though.
Posted by
OP
Greater Sacramento
571 posts
Acraven, thanks for ideas. Potentially we could stretch our criteria in terms of a day trip, especially if it’s a beautiful trip just getting there.
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16 posts
Hi there,
We will be in Merano for 2 days at the end of May. Still finalizing what we will be doing but looking more to be in nature and do some walks, and great food as we will be wrapping up 2 1/2 weeks of lots of sightseeing from Rome, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Florence, Emilia Romagna region and Venice. However, here are some GREAT posts that I will be going back to select ideas from for Merano area that I researched a while ago:
https://www.earthtrekkers.com/how-to-plan-a-trip-to-the-dolomites/
https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/travel-tips/alto-adige-south-tyrol-italy
https://www.venuereport.com/blog/a-locals-guide-to-traveling-around-south-tyrol/
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/merano-or-bolzano
https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/above-bolzano-divine-beauty-renon-plateau
Looks sooo beautful. Can't wait! :)
Hope these are helpful!! :)
Posted by
Washington DC
27187 posts
I was wildly off-base in my earlier response, so I'm going to edit it as soon as I post this.
Basically, I thought there was rail service from Merano north to Vipiteno (maybe there used to be--or maybe it's summer only). I turns out, Trenitalia is routing me from Merano south to Bolzano then back north through Chiusa and Bressanone. The good thing is that some of those departures are direct, requiring no change of trains in Bolzano. The bad news is that they don't take you up the western (disused?? non-existent??) rail line I thought ran through Saltusio and San Martino in Passiria.
Sorry about my confusion.