Christmas Eve in the snow – quite rare these times even in southern Germany. So in 2006 we decided to spend some days in Alto Adige, northern Italy – and were very lucky. Beautiful conditions to go for long hikes in the mountains of Sextener Dolomiten near Dobiacco (Toblach). Here are some impressions of it …
For accomodation I can recommend Hotel Adler at Niederdorf. A beautifully styled traditional hotel. Charming rooms, amiable staff, excellent food & wine and good facilities make it a nice place to relax. From here you reach the skiing areas of Alta Pusteria (Hochpustertal) and Kronplatz, the famous Tre Cime (Drei Zinnen), Prags Valley with its beautiful lake and many other nice places easily.
Helpful general information about Alto Adige you find here …
Maps & Guides for the Region
To get good maps in Italy is quite a problem. According to my personal experience and talks to local people and guides, if you need a scale of 1:25.000, you can go for the Tobacco maps. At a scale of 1:50.000, I’d recommend Kompass maps, as at that scale the Tobacco ones I had were desperately outdated (from the 1970ties).
There are lots of guidebooks out there. Many nicely pictured. My personal favourites are the ones from Rother (the tiny red ones) and Bruckmann.
These following activities we liked very much - but …
many of them depend on snow conditions. Don’t underestimate the risk of avalanges, so be very careful and ask at your hotel or at a local tourist information office:
- Hike from Sesto (Sexten) via Hahnspielhütte (operated in winter) to Mt Elmo (Helm)
- Hike from Misurina / Lago Antorno to the Rifugio Auronzo (southern side of Tre Cime) via Malga di Rin Bianco (operated in winter, own cheese production) – and especially lending a sledge and going all the way downhill from the Refugio to the lake
- Hike through the Fischleintal up to Rifugio Tre Cime (Drei-Zinnen-Hütte) – the northern approach to Tre Cime, very impressive
- Hike from Taisten (Mudlerhof) to Taistener Vorderalm (both operated in winter, challenging sledge downhill) and to one of the summits around
- Snowshoeing from Valle di Braies (Pragser Tal) to Prato Piazza (Plätzwiese) – and further up
- Hike from Santa Madalena (Gsies Valley) up to Uwald Hütte
- Cross country skiing at Lago Dobbiaco
- Walk around the Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee)
Most impressive that winter was the phenomenon of huge white frost crystals (Raureif), which build at high atmospheric humidity and temperatures below -8 ° C. Didn’t see that before. The crystals had the size of a hand palm. You’ll find some pictures of these crystals and of the hikes & places in the collection above. For details, don’t hesitate to contact me.
There are lots of guidebooks out there. Many nicely pictured. My personal favourites are the ones from Rother (the tiny red ones) and Bruckmann.
Have you been there ? If so, please email me your highlights and impressions. Otherwise: It’s really worth a trip in winter as well as in summer …