Had such a fantastic time in Alto Adige. Most of the wineries aren’t very far from the town of Bolzano, so it’s easy to travel around and see lots of things.

see

The Dolomites – we drove to Val Gardena and took two gondolas up the mountains. Then you can hike around to lots of little cabin restaurants. We had Bombardino shots at one, and then ate at Sofie Hutte where they plied us with so much food and then sent of off with speck and homemade jam. Just amazing.

Abbazia di Novacella is a monastery that was founded in 1142. It also happens to be a vineyard with excellent wine, but you can spend a few hours there wandering around the grounds. There’s a museum, library, church, and an outdoor cafe to eat and drink their great Kerner.

The food market is Bolzano is awesome – tons of carts that sell millions of things, evey one of which you’ll want to put in your mouth!

Otzi the Iceman – if you have a few minutes in the town of Bolzano, check out Europe’s oldest known natural human mummy who apparently lived around 3300 BC (though was just discovered in the Alps in 1991) at the small museum.

eat

In the town of Bolzano, Birreria Forst had an incredible speck plate and great homemade beers.

Vogele is right by Forst and updates traditional Tyrolean fare, like this insanely good white wine soup in an edible bread bowl (paired with Castelfeder Pinot Bianco).

We mostly ate a ton of little rustic places up in the mountains though. Beware that they require a lot of winding driving to get to them, so when you’re coming home at night you won’t want to have had a lot of wine.

Patscheiderhof – just adorable and has a great view of the valley below. Awesome traditional food like these amazing dumplings (beet, spinach, and plain).

Oberpartegger has totally traditional fare, and scads of it. They make most of the stuff on premises, so definitely check out the basement where the guy makes the speck, bread, sausage, and grappa!

In Terlano, we ate at Patauner and had the best gnocchi with pumpkin, leeks, and smoked ricotta – YUM!

drink

At Tiefenbrunner, you can have some of their great Pinot Noir in the little outdoor garden.

Elena Walch makes that fantastic Lagrein I told you about, and you can drink it with some snacks on the grass. Youc an also see their custom-made barrels, dating backs decades, with scenes form the history of the winery.

Colterenzio, a co-operative  founded by 28 vintners in 1960. And, there’s a mirrored grapefriend logo on the building!

Cantina Terlano is in the adorable town of Terlano and has great aged wines.

Nals Margreid – best Schiava I had, plus great views from the roof.

sleep

We stayed at the Parkhotel Laurin which was lovely and had incredible speck and muesli at the breakfast buffet. I also heard the Stadt Hotel Citta was good by someone who stayed there, so that could be another option. Both are right in town and great bases for your explorations in the area.

Enjoy!