South Tyrol, Alto Adige: Bolzano, wine and food

South Tyrol is Italy's northernmost province, covering around 7,400 km² with around 540,000 inhabitants. Together with Trentino it forms Trentino-Alto Adige.

In 1919, after the First World War, this part of Tyrol passed from Austria to Italy. Three languages are spoken today:

• German: the majority's native language, around 58%;

• Italian: around 23%;
• Ladin: around 4%, in the Dolomites' mountain valleys.

Signs, town names and menus use two or three languages: Bolzano is also Bozen, Merano is Meran.

South Tyrol's capital is where Italian dolce vita meets Tyrolean solidity:

• Gothic centre and cathedral;

• Via dei Portici, a street of covered arcades and shops;
• Piazza delle Erbe market: speck, cheese, apples and Schüttelbrot bread;
• Piazza Walther, the main square;
• Archaeological Museum, home to Ötzi the Iceman, the mummy of a man who lived more than 5,000 years ago, found in 1991 in a glacier near the Austrian border;
• vineyards on the slopes directly above town.

A spa town an hour from Bolzano, with riverside promenades, thermal baths and the gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle. Austrian empress Sissi once holidayed here.

The Südtiroler Weinstraße, Strada del Vino, runs south from Bolzano through wine villages:

• Eppan, Appiano, and Kaltern, Caldaro: castles, manor houses and Lake Caldaro, described as the warmest swimming lake in the Alps;

• Tramin, Termeno: the village traditionally associated with Gewurztraminer's name;
• Kurtatsch, Cortaccia, Margreid, Magrè, and Salurn, Salorno, farther south.

This is a small wine region, a few thousand hectares, but around 90% of its wine has a protected designation. White grapes occupy almost half the vineyards.

Read more in “Alsace Gewurztraminer and Riesling”.

• Speck Alto Adige IGP: dry-cured ham with juniper, bay leaf and garlic;

• canederli, Knödel: bread dumplings with speck, spinach or cheese;
• Schüttelbrot: crisp Tyrolean bread;
• Gröstl: fried potatoes with meat;
• strudel made with local apples;
• cheeses from mountain huts.

South Tyrol is one of Europe's main apple-growing areas; orchards fill the valleys.

After the grape harvest, people go Törggelen, visiting farms and taverns to taste new wine, roasted chestnuts, speck and homemade dishes. The tradition dates back to farmers gathering to taste the new vintage.

The province's east contains the Dolomites: Val Gardena and Ortisei, the Alpe di Siusi plateau, Tre Cime and Lake Braies. Read more in “The Dolomites”.

• By air: Verona, Innsbruck or Bolzano. Verona to Bolzano takes around two hours by car or train.

• By train: the Brenner line from Verona and Innsbruck.
• Around the province: car or driver; buses serve the valleys.

• Spring: apple blossom and warm valleys.

• Summer: mountains, lakes and walking.
• Autumn: grape and apple harvests, Törggelen and golden forests.
• December: Christmas markets in Bolzano and Merano.

Kaltern, Caldaro, is one of South Tyrol's main wine villages, with a wine museum and dozens of cellars. Below lies Lake Caldaro among vineyards, with summer swimming and walking and cycling trails through the vines. It also gives its name to the local light red Kalterersee, made from Vernatsch.

Merano, Meran, attracted Austrian aristocrats in the 19th century. There are thermal baths, walks along the Passer River and Trauttmansdorff Castle gardens, with plants from around the world. In autumn, Merano hosts one of Italy's leading wine festivals.

Children enjoy Bolzano's Ötzi museum, cable cars, plateau farms with animals, summer swimming lakes and orchards serving fresh juice. Winter brings children's ski schools and Christmas markets.

• Vacuum-packed speck;

• Schüttelbrot, crisp bread that keeps well;
• wines: Lagrein, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Bianco;
• apples and apple juice from local farms;
• woodcarvings from Val Gardena.

In 1991, walkers found a body in a glacier in the Ötztal Alps on the Italian-Austrian border. Initially thought to be a dead climber, it proved more than 5,000 years old: a Copper Age man preserved in ice with clothes, weapons and tools. Scientists named him Ötzi after the discovery site. Today the mummy is kept in a special refrigerated chamber in Bolzano's South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, alongside his copper axe, bow, quiver and arrows, footwear and grass cloak. It was one of the 20th century's great scientific sensations, and a museum worth visiting Bolzano for.

The two provinces form Trentino-Alto Adige but differ. In South Tyrol, most people speak German, food is Tyrolean and wines include Lagrein, Vernatsch and Gewurztraminer. In Trentino, people speak Italian and wines include Teroldego, Nosiola and Trento DOC sparkling wine. Read more in “The Dolomites”.

Above Bolzano is Ritten, Renon, reached by cable car. At the top are Alpine meadows, villages, an old narrow-gauge tram and Dolomite views. There are also earth pyramids, tall clay columns capped with stones, created by erosion. A good half-day trip from Bolzano.

Val Gardena is around forty-five minutes away, with Ladin culture, Ortisei woodcarving and access to Alpe di Siusi. Read more in “The Dolomites”.

• Canederli, Knödel: bread dumplings with speck in broth, spinach and cheese with melted butter, or beetroot. Served as a first course.

• Schlutzkrapfen: half-moon ravioli with spinach and fresh cheese.
• Gröstl: pan-fried potatoes with beef and onions, often topped with a fried egg.
• Goulash with polenta: an Austrian legacy.
• Cabbage salad with caraway and speck.
• Kaiserschmarrn: torn sweet pancake with raisins and lingonberry jam.
• Strudel: local apples, cinnamon and pine nuts.

Pair with Vernatsch, a light red, or Lagrein for meat, and Pinot Bianco or Gewurztraminer with starters.

• Cantina, Kellerei: a winery or cooperative with a tasting room and shop. Many South Tyrolean cooperatives are as renowned for quality as private estates.

• Buschenschank: a seasonal farm tavern serving the owners' wine, speck, cheese and homemade food. During autumn Törggelen, they fill up.

• Terlan, Terlano: known for whites, especially ageworthy Pinot Bianco.

• Sankt Magdalena, Santa Maddalena: a hill above Bolzano planted with Vernatsch.
• Gries: a Bolzano district associated with Lagrein.
• Eppan and Kaltern: castles, manor houses and a lake.
• Tramin: the origin of Gewurztraminer's name.

Winter brings Dolomite ski resorts, Christmas markets in Bolzano, Merano, Brixen and Sterzing with mulled wine, gingerbread and wooden toys, and cosy osterias serving canederli. Vineyards sleep, but wineries work, allowing relaxed tastings without summer crowds.

Driving through the valleys in spring reveals endless flowering orchards. The Adige and Val Venosta, Vinschgau, valleys are among Europe's main apple areas, growing dozens of classic and new varieties; South Tyrolean apples have a protected geographical indication. The harvest is in September–October, when farms sell apples and fresh juice directly. Apples underpin local desserts: strudel, Kaiserschmarrn with apple purée and apple fritters.

The first major Dolomite views are less than an hour from Bolzano. The best-known roads are:

• to Val Gardena, through Ponte Gardena towards Ortisei and Selva;

• over Sella Pass, between the Sella and Sassolungo massifs;
• to Lake Carezza, Karersee, an emerald mountain lake near Latemar, forty minutes away;
• to Val di Funes, with the church of San Giovanni in a meadow against the Geisler peaks.

1. Expecting classic Italy. People speak German, eat canederli and drink Lagrein.
2. Only visiting mountains. The wine road is a reason to come in its own right.
3. Not trying Vernatsch. The light local red is the best wine with speck.
4. Planning only from a map. Mountain roads are slow.

The tour starts in Bolzano: Gothic centre, market, lunch with canederli and Gewurztraminer, and Lagrein tasting at a family winery. → Dolomites food and wine tour · Dolomites region · The Dolomites