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Trentino-Alto Adige

Population: 924.281
Surface (Kmq): 13607
Density (Ab/Kmq.): 68
Main city: Trento (TN)
Other towns: Bolzano (BZ)

The name Trentino-Alto Adige conceals a hybrid region - two regions forcibly and sometimes unhappily welded together. This is where Italy meets Germany, where the Mediterranean south meets Germanic northern Europe, and you'll see evidence in the food, the architecture, the manners, and in the bilingual road signs. The main towns of Trentino-Alto Adige are Trento and Bolzano (or Bozen to give it its German name) the capital of Alto Adige. Trento (Roman Tridentum) lies at the neck of the Adige Valley and in the shadow of the mighty Monte Bondone, while Bolzano is a lovely market town up in the Dolomites. To the north of Bolzano, the Alpe di Siusi grasslands form the largest Alpine plateau in Europe, stretching over 60km². There is excellent skiing of course, with the resorts of Val Gardena (Grodnertal) and Cortina d’Ampezzo, venue for the 1956 Winter Olympiad. And the hiking season fills the rest of the year from midsummer to the autumn. 


The Dolomites
The stunning, jagged capped mountain range offers superb skiing, excellent hiking and breathtaking sightseeing. Also very popular with climbers of course, though you may choose to sit in the lodge and simply drink in the view (and some of the excellent local wine).

Trento
The Italian half of the pair of towns that govern Trentino-Alto Adige, Trento (left) is an historic city, famously the venue of the Council of Trent, where the Catholic Counter Reformation was launched.

Bolzano
Or Bozen to give it its German soubriquet. You could be in Germany in fact, with Alpine architecture and restaurants serving strudel, speck and goulash. A very pretty town, its museum has the Ice Man, a perfectly preserved Copper Age male on display.