Val Isarco and Val Pusteria
The main attraction of the four-hour bus journey from Bolzano to Cortina d'Ampezzo is not the Isarco valley (Eisack) and Hermitage (Pus(t)ertal), through which you drive, but the possibility of climbing Alte Vie and other quieter trails in the area of Val di Funes (Villnóss), Odle bands, and mountain ranges north of Val Pusteria. Left largely natural, these areas are great for excursions. In the side valleys you can see spits jumping out of the water and hear woodcutters cutting the tree. A little higher appear marmots, and chamois by hitting stones on their trails signal their presence.
In and around Val Isarco
The main village of southern Val Isarco, CHIUSA (KLAUSEN), is connected by a railway line with Bolzano and Bressanone (Brixen), there are also buses, which go further to the Val di Funes located north of it. 10,5 a kilometer into the valley, at the foot of Le Odle lies surrounded by pasture areas of SANTA MADDALENA (ST. MAGDALENA). In this quiet village you can successfully stay overnight. The m.in is located here. grand hotel san francisco (• 0472/40002; Easter-XI), where bed and breakfast is paid 15 000 L per person, while in private houses you can spend the night a bit cheaper.
Then another bus takes a steep road to the village of ZANSERALM, lying in the middle of the height of the mountain, from where one hour of walking to Rifugio Genome remains (• 0472/40132; VI-IX; 2301 m.). Paths running properly horizontally overlook the larch forest growing on the valley and give the opportunity to admire the magnificent views.
A four-hour circular route called Sentiero delle Odle (Adolf Munkel Weg) traverses the grassy slopes under the ridge and leads from Zanseralm via SANKT RENON to BROGLES-ALM and back into the valley. Not far from Sankt Renon runs Alta Via 2.
Bressanone (Brixen)
On Alta Via 2 you can enter the hills above BRESSANONE (BRIXEN). Its bishops ruled the area as an independent state for a millennia., constantly competing with the princes of neighboring Tyrol. In the town ten minutes from the train and bus station, there is a complex of buildings, which since these times have been its center.
Modernized in the eighteenth century, the Duomo is the most impressive building on the square, it also has cloisters decorated with fourteenth-century frescoes. The adjacent small hall houses the cathedral treasury (codz. 10.00-12.00 and 13.00-17.00; 1000 L), in which m.in are exhibited. chasubles belonging to the Prince-Bishops of Bressanone. Their strong position in the region is confirmed by the gift given to the Bishop of Albuino by Emperor Henry II.. It was a Byzantine silk coat from the tenth century. On this coat there is a personal emblem of the bishop, Eagle. In the bishop's palace, located near the cathedral, is located today maintained in a rich, Museo Diocesiano style (codz. 10.00-17.00; 3000 L), in whose crypt there is a huge collection of Christmas nativity scenes.
Tourist office located opposite the bus station (Mon-Fri. 8.00-12.00 and 14.30-18.00, Sb. 9.00-12.00) has information about hiking trails around the city and beyond.
Hotels in the Old Town are m.in. Schwarzer Adler, Via Portici Minori 2 (Kleine Lauben; • 0472/22327), with rooms price from 40 000 L and above, and Gasthof Grauer Bar, Mercato Vecchio 27 (Altenmarktgasse; • 0472/22472), where prices are similar. Five kilometers to the north, In VARNA (VAHRN), at Brennerstrasse 13 (* 0472/23216) and Oberdorf 130 (• 0472/32169), there are two campsites. On working days, there are several buses a day, during weekends slightly less.
Eat well in Tyrolean restaurants with long traditions. These restaurants are located in the narrow streets around Piazza Duomo (House Platz), while on Via Vescovado 2 is mensa. Groceries can be bought in the shops under the old arcades or at the Monday market on Goethestrasse.
Val Pusteria (Pusertal)
Val Pusteria (Pus(t)ertal), wide valley of corn fields and meadows, bordered to the north by the Dolomites. Most of Alte Vie starts from different points along the main road running through the valley, which bus runs from Brunico. Alta Via 1 starts with Lago di Braies (Lake Prague Lake Pragser), Alta Via 3 from Villabassa (Niederdorf), Alta Via 4 of San Candido (Otherchen), a Alta Via 5 of Sesto (Sexten). Lesser-known trails, like. Alta Via Val di Fundres (Pfunderer Hóhenweg; details below) lie to the north of the valley.
Brunico
Residents of the surrounding villages come every day to the market town of Brunico (Bruneck), which is also a transport hub of this region. Buses run from here along the valley, as well as to many small, located higher in the mountains, Villages. Passenger trains also run through the Val Pusteria valley, all the way to the end of the line at DOBBIACO, through which buses also pass from Brunico to Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Located above the bus station in Brunico, the tourist office on Via Europa provides information on accommodation options in small villages around the city (12 000 L per person). Centrally located hotel Blitzburg, Via Europa 10 (• 0474/85723) has rooms for 50 000 L, and in Corona (Krone), Via Ragen di Sopra 8 (Oberagen; • 474/85267) for rooms pay 21 000 L per person. The painter and sculptor Michael Pacher and 4 kilometers southwest of the town center in the parish church of San Lorenzo (Sankt Lorenzen) is his Vine Madonna.
Alta Via di Fundres (Pfunderer Hóhenweg)
Alta Via di Fundres (Pfunderer Hóhenweg) runs in the mountains north of Brunico through Kleines Tor (2374 m.) in the Monte Sommo massif (Sambock). This trail is exited by a steep path No. 29 from the 24 kilometers from Brunico SELVA DEI MOLINI (MUHLWALD). Despite, that the trail leads through the lower parts of the Zillertal Alps, thanks to the views of the Gran Pilastro glaciers (Hochfeiler) on the Austrian border, the feeling of being in the high mountains crows here. In beautiful weather, it is an extremely picturesque area: walking here on snow and ice, and at the same time the harsh sun shines. It takes four to five days to walk this Alta Via, for the night you can stay in shelters or on bivacci.
From Kleines Tor the path descends to the Winnebach valley, and then climbs to Fritz Walde Hiitte. Steep path Hochsagescharte Col (2650 m.) runs down to Passenjoch (2410 m.), then after descending west to Gampes Hiitte (2223 m.) walks a spectacular traverse through a sharply inclined pasture, which ends in the Eisbrugger Valley. To located in VIPITENO (STERZING) the end of the route can be reached via BODEN and the Weitenber valley. On the last day of the hike can happen, that in the morning you pass through a pasture emerging from under the snow, and already in the evening you eat pizza in the town and listen to the noise of local youths raging on motorcycles. It is also possible to walk only half of Alta Via, starting from the hills above FUNDRES or the end of the Val di Valles (Valser Tal), where to stay in Brixner Hiitte (• 0472/57131; Kon. VI-con.IX).
Dobbiaco (Toblach) and surroundings
In the eastern part of Val Pusteria, civilization and crowds of motorized Germans reappear. At the crossroads to Val di Sesto (Sextental) and Val di Landro (Hohlenstein Tal) there is DOBBIACO, rather repulsive holiday resort and spa town . Val di Landro leads south from here next to Lago di Dobbiaco and enters the former pilgrimage route from Germany to Rome. A bus passing through the valley crosses a forest road past the Cristallo range and reaches Cortina d'Ampezzo.