Sud Tyrol Road Trip

We got our first taste of Sud Tyrol a year ago, on what has become something of an annual road trip from our home in Copenhagen to Italy. We’d detoured through the area almost haphazardly, without knowing much about its striking natural beauty—a blend of Alpine and Mediterranean features—or charming historic properties, and we fell madly in love. So much so that we decided to take a longer route on our drive to Italy this summer, turning the break into a true exploration of the area.

We left Copenhagen and spent one night in Germany before continuing on to Austria. We made one impromptu stop, since we could sense our 5-year-old needed a break (and really, we did too!). As we were near Berwang, we checked into the lovely family-run Singer hotel, which we found on the fly. We spent the afternoon swimming in the outdoor heated pool and inhaling the fresh early-summer mountain breeze, warmed ourselves by the fire, ate an early dinner of Austrian knödel,  and turned in for a wonderful night’s sleep in the softest duvets. We took off straight after our morning coffee and a short walk through the grassy fields.

The route south from here is picturesque and dramatic, putting one in a meditative state of mind as the soaring mountains force you to feel your smallness. Time flies as the miles whip by and the landscape changes constantly—from turquoise lakes as placid as optical illusions to forests of tall pine trees to mountains ranging from gray to terracotta red. Living in a rather flat country, I find I am particularly susceptible to the thin mountain air and twisting mountain roads. I am also a firm believer that the destination will be well worth the effort—otherwise, why would anyone have bothered to build roads through these tricky elevated coordinates?

Crossing the border through a tunnel, we finally reached the province of Sud Tyrol in the Italian Trentino-Alto Adige region. Below is a recap of our 17-day trip—a love letter to this area that we plan to return to again next year.