Due to some short term change in plans I found myself with a week to spend for private travels. Seeing flight prices at very short notice were unreasonable and having some bonus miles to spend with Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) I settled on the Dolomites. I got myself a train ticket from Hamburg to Bozen (Bolzano) in Südtirol (South Tirol). And off I went.

The Dolomites had been on my to visit list for a while. I enjoy mountains and some hiking. And the images of Drei Zinnen (Tre Cine) are iconic. Last but not least, Südtirol is one of those standard German vacations. It's not on the level of Mallorca, but certainly on par with the Lago di Garda. And I wanted to know what the fuzz is about.

I spent two nights in the area and explored two parts of the inscribed site: Schlern-Rosengarten National Park and Drei Zinnen National Park. According two Hubert these are also the best two locations of the site. But me visiting precisely those two was more of a coincidence. To me Drei Zinnen is the more iconic site while Schlern-Rosengarten offers better hiking options and gives a better overview of the diverse landscape.

In Schlern Rosengarten I crossed the mountain range from Seis to Weißlahnbad. While not as excruciating as my adventure in the Sardonic Alps with Philipp, this was still a strenuous hike. Especially coming down to Weißlahnbad was quite a challenge.

Looking back it was really a pleasure visiting. Italy has added yet another great region to my already long list of great regions of Italy.

Practicalities

The region of Südtirol where most of the national parks are found is historically German/Austrian and nowadays bilingual. Being German I use the German place names; I can't recall the Italian ones, but generally you will always see both.

Google maps is incomplete and not really helpful. I recommend using the app of the local transport authority for Südtirol. I also recommend getting the Südtirol hiking app to follow the trails.

Prices in Südtirol are the most expensive ones I have ever encountered in Italy, even topping Venice and Rome. My hunch is that it's just too damn close to Munich and us Germans are spoiling the prices.

Getting To - Schiern-Rosengarten

Bozen is probably the city in Südtirol you can reach the easiest. There are regular trains from both Verona and Munich/Innsbruck. In Bozen you can already see the glorious Dolomites including the inscribed area of Schlern Rosengarten. To get to Schlern Rosengarten National Park take a bus to Seis from where a cable car takes you onto the Seiser Alm. If you are so inclined you can start your hike there and cross to the other side.

The other option is to go to the Southern side where also the information center of the National Park is located. Take a bus to Weißlahnbard (not so frequent) or to St Zyprian (more frequent, but requires a bit of walking).

If you plan to travel on from Bozen there are luggage storage facilities at the train station. The opening hours are not perfect and it's quite pricey, but well.

Getting To - Drei Zinnen (Tre Cine)

Drei Zinnen is best accessible from Toblach. From Toblach there are direct shuttles up the mountain to the Auronzo hut. You can continue a hike around the mountain range to the Drei Zinnen hut where the view is excellent. The significantly more strenuous side is the clockwise side, so start counter clockwise and see how you manage the easier side before going all in.

Getting to Toblach from Munich is easy as you can transfer efficiently in Franzensfeste. Getting to Toblach from other parts of Italy meanwhile is quite time consuming. Even from Bozen it's 2h. From Cortina d'Ambrezzo it's 1h, but that doesn't help all that much as Cortina itself is remote and time consuming to reach. I think it took me 5h to get to Conegliano (T) on the footsteps of the Alps on a Sunday. Admittedly, this was also due to the massive traffic jam that formed as all Italians were heading back to their homes after a weekend spent in the Alps.

While You Are There

Bozen and Südtirol in general are really pleasant places. Landscape and food is great. I do understand why German tourists flock here; it's not just about the language.

From Bozen you can continue onwards to Verona and all Northern Italian sites. You also have the option to go to Meran and cross into Switzerland for the fabulous Müstair monastery.

In my case I travelled onwards to Conegliano for the Prosecco Hills (T) and from there I went on to Venice.