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Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol
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Photographs
Places worth going
All places →KarerseeDon't missLandmarksWorth going out of your way for, and worth staying until the light goes. The lake sits in the trees with the Latemar's spires standing up behind it, and it's so still that the whole forest and half the mountain come back at you off the surface. The water is an extraordinary green - they call it the rainbow lake, and the story goes a wizard shattered a rainbow into it. I stayed on for the sunset and got the spires lit orange, then a last silhouette with one tall spruce against the sky.Lake BraiesDon't missOutdoorsDeep green-blue water with a pale gravel shore running into it, cliffs and pines down the far side and the old wooden boathouse at the head of the lake. Genuinely as good as it looks, which I wasn't expecting given how photographed it is. The loop round the edge takes about an hour and gets you away from the crowd at the near end within about five minutes. It's also where the Alta Via 1 starts, if you ever fancy walking to Belluno.PeitlerkofelDon't missViewpointsYou can drive to this one. The pass road brings you out onto open meadow and Peitlerkofel is straight ahead - twin summits and a great pale wall of rock, with hay barns and spruce scattered across the green in front of it. I pulled over and just stood there for a while.
Passo delle Erbe is a lovely drive in its own right and there is parking at the top, so you get the whole view without having to walk for it. If you have longer there is a loop trail that goes right around the base of the mountain.
Late morning was good - the face was still catching the sun when I was there. Gorgeous.SecedaDon't missViewpointsOne of the best things I did. The cable car does the work from Ortisei and then you walk out onto the ridge at about 2,500m and the Odle just rears up out of the meadow in front of you, a great tilted blade of rock that doesn't look like it should be standing. Turn around and the whole range is opposite: the Sella flat-topped and enormous, the Sassolungo's towers off to the side, and Val Gardena and its villages a long way down between them. There's a viewing ring up there with the distances to cities all over the world on it, which is a nice touch.Sella TowersDon't missViewpointsWorth being out for the hour before dark. The rock goes to one long wall running the width of the sky, towers standing off the end of it, scree fanning out below and dark pines along the meadow, and the light comes off it pink for a few minutes before everything goes flat.UrtijëiDon't missTownsA great base in the Dolomites and a lovely place to spend an afternoon. The centre is pedestrianised, the town is stacked up the hillside in wood and white render, and the mountains are right there at the end of every street.
The cable cars run up to Seceda on one side and the Alpe di Siusi on the other, and those are the real reason to come.
Everything is signed in three languages and the town has a name in each - Urtijëi, St. Ulrich, Ortisei. Leave the car in one of the garages, the streets themselves are closed to traffic. Would go back!