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Merano as a base for hiking

Posted by (NY, NY) on

Hello Südtiroler voyagers,

Can Merano be a nice base for some family hiking, that might involve an overnight in a rifugio? Also the town seemed perhaps a good place to do a bit of relaxing -- I saw a full-service public spa with pool there. Is this recommendable? traveling mid summer.

Years back we've been to the wonderful Alpe di siusi, with Ortisei as base, and took the cable car up and hiked to a distant rifugio for an overnight stay. It was really spectacular. We wanted to return to the region with our 7 year old but can't decide if we should retrace our previous path or do something new. I favor something new. Thoughts?

Posted by
512 posts

well this much I knew, I was looking for specific recs or experiences...

Posted by
7749 posts

Well, I'll probably be about as much help as the last commenter, but I'll take a risk. We stayed in Merano for two nights. It is a lovely city. We also stayed in Castelrotto which we also enjoyed. If I wanted to hike in the Alpe di Siusi or other spots around Ortisei, I'd stay in Castelrotto or Ortesei. It is at least an hour drive between Merano and Ortesei/Castelrotto because there really isn't a direct route, you pretty much have to go back to Bolzano.

That all said, there is some hiking around Merano.

Also had to look up the definition of a rifugio, so I guess, I'm not a ton of help.

Posted by
512 posts

Thanks for trying, though! and you've been to Merano, and I haven't!

Ortisei was very very small, so other than being a springboard for hikes, it was, in summer, dead. We would not be going to both places. Would be coming from Munich or Innsbruck and then after some "nature", continuing to Brescia or someplace close to Milan.

Posted by
1837 posts

Merano is a bigger and more authentic city than Ortisei, which is overcrowded these days. Good pick!

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