A jaunt on Renon mountain

Versione italiana   Version française

Mountain paths

What do you think when someone talks to you about Bolzano?

Dolomites, bilingualism, a town with an excellent organization and unmissable opportunities.

I thought the same until I have been there. Indeed, it is as written above, but I would never thought that, once out of my house, I would have had the possibility to spend a day plunged in the nature without going too far from the town. Well, yes, Bolzano lives in perfect harmony with the surrounding nature.

If this centre of South Tyrol misses something in the field of cultural tourism, surely it regains with the natural and the sport one: you cannot leave Bolzano without a good jaunt on mountains Heidi-style.The mountain you can reach the most easily is Renon mountain.

You just take a cable car and in few minutes reach  your destination.

Along the way, unless you have no head for heights, turn and look what you leave behind: you can see beneath the global vision of Bolzano, crossed by rivers Adige, Isarco and Talvera; now turn your gaze toward your destination and you will find the slope of the mountain completely covered with the green of firs and vineyards (do not forget that this is a land of excellent wines).

Get out of the cable car: we are in Soprabolzano (Oberbozen...do not forget that here everything has a name both in Italian and in German).

From here, tourists can choose how to organize their mountain walk: there is a little local train, which stops in all little villages, or they may opt for paths to go on foot on the top of the mountain, following the Freudpromenade, lakes or the well-known pyramids of earth.

My piece of advice is to go for these paths: no doubt, this is the best way to enjoy the landscapes you will see.

Bolzano beneath us

Speaking of views, from this point you can see a very beautiful and peculiar complex of mountains.

One of the most important mount among those that form it is the Schlern, pleasantly named by me "Mount Loacker", because it hosts Loacker factory.

Schlern

Like the emperors

A path I deeply recommend is the "Road of the Emperors". It is a path paved with stones  used by the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire to reach Rome and make them crowned by popes.

At the end of the path, you will find a unique natural marvel: the pyramids of earth. It is a phenomenon owed to water erosion of the extremely porous rock of these mountains.

Besides, do not get surprise if you will meet some llamas and alpacas: I know it is strange, but they breed them!

The pyramids of earth

What I love of these experiences in the wood is the Lord of the Rings-like atmosphere you can breath: none would be surprise to see an elf wandering here!

One of the station where the local train stops

After a half a day spent up and down on mountain, tired, you take again a cable car and go back to Bolzano.

Now, I had to walk across the town centre and the bridge over the Talvera to come back home.

What if I say that you can go down on the shores of the river and plunge your tired feet in the freezing water? Exactly! You can do it and none will judge you, because locals do it too.

I can assure you that you have the feeling of being in the middle of a town neither.

In which other town can you do something like that?

Which other town has a so strong relationship with the surrounding nature?