Castles in two languages: Merano and surrounds
 

June 2018 saw me heading solo to Merano in the South Tyrol for a fortnight. The region was part of the Austrian Empire for centuries, forming the southern part of the Tyrol which one thinks of as quintessentially Austrian, but was acquired by Italy in the post WWI carve-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is now formally bilingual, with all the places having bother German and Italian names. (I was somewhat taken aback to find that these dual names are not at all ancient; rather they were completely made up by an Italian nationalist from the Trentino region to the south, which was also transferred to Italy after WWI, but with better reason as it had a higher Italian speaking population. The South Tyrol itself (renamed the Alto Adige by the Italians) was almost completely German speaking before that (with the exception of a few valleys where the language was, and is, Ladin, a language closely related to Swiss Romansch, which mixes elements of Latin, German and the original Rhaetian language of the pre-Roman tribes of the area). The Italian negotiators engaged in what one can only call sharp practice by presenting maps showing their recently invented Italian names of all the towns and villages, making the region look much more Italian than it actually was. Italians from further south were imported in large numbers, and German was banned in public places and schools for a generation. Everyone I spoke to claimed that this was now all history, with prosperity and the EU and determined bilingualism making everyone happy with the status quo.

Merano (formerly Meran) was in the middle ages the capital of the Tyrol before that moved to Innsbruck, and the castle of Tirol which gives its name to the region is in the hills overlooking the city. It enterprisingly developed itself as a spa town in the 18th century despite lacking actual spa waters, and was a favourite location of the Empress Elisabeth (Sissi). It is now a great base for exploring the western part of the South Tyrol. There is a super value local transport card, 28 Euros for a week, allowing free use of all busses and trains in the area, plus some cable cars. The Museumobilcard (only avilable from the tourist information office) is even better, at 34 euros, as this additionally gave free entry to all the public museums of the region (though not privately owned ones) on top of the free transport.

I stayed at the Meranerhof hotel, picked mainly for its central location adjoining the riverside promenade. It turned out to be an excellent pick, with great food and service, free wifi and a very nice large bedroom with a large single bed. There was also a very nice indoor pool. I was overcome by a terrible panic on arriving, when I found that the plug sockets were three pins rather than two making my converters useless. Luckily, when enquiring at the hotel reception where I might buy a converter to the three pins the afternoon I arrived, they kindly lent me one for the duration of my stay.

I had arrived by taxi from Verona airport (a lovely scenic drive) on a Saturday afternoon, on the weekend when the town was taken over by the Asfaltart street art festival. This was a bit less busy than I had anticipated, but involved arts and craft type stalls on the riverside promenade, plus street music performances.

We had a delightful week in the Val Gardena 2 years ago and I considered a longer visit to the surrounding areas, very interested in your report.

I didn't venture into the Val Gardena this time, maybe another trip.

The first full day was really a gentle introduction to the town, and I didn't actually do much beyond getting my Mobilcard sorted out, visiting the tourist info place and having the odd snack, plus a swim in the hotel pool. I had intended to visit the Archeoparc in Schnalstal/Val Senales, in a slightly more accessible area than the place the famous Otzi the Iceman was uncovered, which is an experimental/reconstruction museum on life in Otzi's time. I had really wanted to fit this in the trip, and was dismayed when planning my final itinerary to realise that it would be closed for almost the entire duration of my stay except this first Sunday, when bus times were halved. That meant I absolutely needed to get the 12.16 train from Merano at the latest to connect with the 12.52 bus, and by the time I had got my morning sorted I didn't manage to get to the station in time. It reopened the Monday after I left, following their regular summer closure for maintenance ;( So that was a bit frustrating. It was quite hot and I couldn't face going for a walk on the high Tappeinerweg overlooking the town, which would have been my second choice for the afternoon. A late lunch at a café with a river view was enlivened by the delightful sight of a heron having his lunch on the opposite bank. The river in the centre of Merano (the Passer/Passirio) is gorgeous, wide and shallow, rushing over boulders. Terraces constructed in the late 19th century to prevent flooding are now delightful places to wander, lined with restaurants, and the modern Terme spa building is on the opposite side, across a side road from my hotel.

That evening was the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is an important festival in Tyrol. As well as the religious significance, it is celebrated today to commemorate the Tyroleans' fight against the French and Bavarian invaders during the Napoleonic wars. I was on a half board deal at the hotel, and Sunday is their 'gala' meal, when there is no choice, and the delicious dessert was a heart shaped confection of yogurt and a sort of jellied fruit topping, to fit the theme. Afterwards, alerted by the hotel staff, we went outside to see the fires in the hills. These are bonfires set up at various spots in the mountains, arranged so that from below the pinpricks of light from each fire lines up with others and together they take the shape of hearts, crosses and crowns. Visibility was not great as after the hit day it had clouded over and started to rain lightly, but it was still a wonderful experience to see them.

Thanks for taking us with you to this region, nonconformist. Despite numerous visits to Italy and Austria I've never ventured into this area where I could practice both my german and italian so it would be a great pick for me.

Thanks also for the history lesson - I had no idea about the recent "italification" of place names.

Why did you pick Merano, may I ask? it does sound as if it made a good centre for you but I wonder what drew you to that particular spot?

Looking forward to further instalments.

It just looked pretty and in an area with lots of historical interest, which would be easy to get around on my own by public transport. It had been on my list for a while, but I hadn't managed to persaude my parents to go there (although I'm convinced they would have loved it). The rail links were a big draw - in one direction Merano is the terminus of the train from Bolzano, Brixen and Brenner, and in the other there is the line to Mals, along the Val Venosta/Vinschgau, which was actually only constructed in the 2000s (although I think it may have revived an older line which existed up to the 1960s. In appearance it really looks Austrian rather than Italian, but Italian food has mixed with the Austrian.

Like a lot of places in Europe, museums and historic sites tend to close on a Monday, so for my first Monday I planned on a more scenic day. This involved taking the half-hourly train to Bolzano/Bozen. I was very impressed by the train - incredibly clean, like everything else in South Tyrol (seriously, it's the cleanest place I've ever been), and it offers free wifi on board. You need to validate the Mobilcard before getting on, by putting it in a little machine at the station - easy to do. The machine stamps a number for the stop on the back of the card, so if an inspector comes along, they can check that. Initial impressions of Bolzano were good - it seemed like a very attractive city, and I would return here later on. It was also slightly more diverse than Merano, which was almost exclusively white - here there was a Sikh gentleman as the station toilet attendant. Incidentally, the loo at Bolzano station was the only one I encountered where you can to pay (two euros!) - everywhere else they were free, and every single one in the entire region was super-clean. I also noted that in a little park between the train station and the bus station, there were several families of what looked like recent migrants from Africa - why there, rather than anywhere else in the city, was not clear.

Anyway, at the bus station I got a bus to Klobenstein/Collalbo, a small, pretty village on the Ritten/Renon plateau, a noted beauty spot in the Dolomites. After a coffee stop I had a walk along a marked path in the woods, which was very pleasantly cool on a hot day. Birds sang, including a cuckoo, and I was rather charmed to see n enterprising little family had made one of the little wayside shrines someone had set up into a nest. This walk included a viewpoint of the famous 'earth pyramids' of the region. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by them, having expected something a bit more monumental. They seemed rather, well, spindly, and the view was a bit distant. But it was a nice outing on a day when there were limited options.

After lunch I went on the cute little railway on the plateau, which took me to Oberbozen/Sopra Bolzano. It was a short but pretty ride, past old barns, meadows, cows, meadows and even a little lake. At the terminus, it connected with the cable car down into the centre of Bolzano. I'm not great with heights, so this was a bit daunting, but the views were fantastic - including some much better views of the earth pyramids. Then it was back to the station and home.

I thought Bolzano looked very promising for a few days too. Your comments reminded me of the kindness of a stranger on our absolutely packed bus from Ortisei to Bolzano where we had to stand for the trip, packed like sardines, it was pretty stifling and my son nearly fainted. A Tunisian man helped, as we sat on the ground while my son recovered, and he told us he worked at the dairy plant in Bolzano.
We noticed what a busy transport hub that train station was, and the area so pretty, we figured it was a potential stop for future trip. Next year we hope to do a bus trip from our base in Scuol that would take us through Mals.

Hi Nonconformist,

Wow, this is a new place for me, and it looks gorgeous!! Thank you so much for writing about it and piquing my interest! It's also not very far from where I live, so really is a great gift. Thanks so much!

s

Congratulations, Nonconformist!
Unlike most posters in this forum, you speak about culture, History and languages.

Just a few additional information for the very few people interested in such things:
The highest situated canon used by austro-hungarian forces during WW1 can be visited at Passo Cevedale (3300m), close to Rifugio Casati.
You find a lot of WW1 stuff in the museum of the fortress of Trento. Another information center, mainly about the period 1918-1945, is situated in the cellar of the former Mussolini monument at Bolzano/Bozen
Under the fascist regime, all Geman speaking citizens had to change their names into Italian one's, not only in Tyrol, but also in Aosta Valley (French speaking) and Pomat Valley (Swiss German speaking). Even the names on gravestones were changed! So, for example, a Hans Zurbriggen became a Giovanni dal Ponte. Of course, it was stictly forbidden to speak German, even at home!
During WW2, a lot of South Tyrolians were relocated in Bohemia and Moravia where they got farming land from local people expropriated by the German occupants. They all turned back in 1945.
By italianizing village names, Italian autorities could have used the ancient Ladin names. But often, they didn't. So, the city of Bruneck (Bornetch in Ladin) got Brunico (and not Borneggio). The same with Glurns, the smallest walled city of the Alps. Instead of using the Ladin name Gluorn, they created the horrible name "Glorenza".

The highest situated hotel in the Alps is in South Tyrol too: Hotel Grawand at 3212 metres above sea level (100 m higher than Gornergrat hotel).

Ladin is widely spoken in Val Gherdeina/Groedental/Val Gardena, Val Funes/Vilnoesstal and Alta Badia; a bit less around Cortina d'Ampezzo. East of this area begins the domain of the Furlan language (Friulano) which is spoken up to the Slovenian border.
The local timetable of South Tyrol is edited in 4 languages: German, Italian, Ladin and English: https://www.sii.bz.it/lad/siipdfOldtimetables

<<Congratulations, Nonconformist!
Unlike most posters in this forum, you speak about culture, History and languages.>>

Your are absolutely right to thank nonconformist for a superb TR, but frankly, Neckervd, you put me right off reading the rest of what you had to say by your completely unnecessary side swipe at the many people here who take the trouble to write trip reports. if you don't want to read them, fine. There is surely room here on Fodors for every style of writing.

Anhing:
I don't want to offend anybody. But it's just a statistical fact that most posters in this forum are not interested in European " culture, History and languages".
If I wouldn't accept that, I wouldn't answer questions in this forum.

Back to the report.

The next day, which was Tuesday, I returned to Bolzano (Bozen in German). As I mentioned yesterday, it is a very attractive Alpine city which looks very Austrian. This is the town with the highest percentage of Italian speakers today, because during the 1920s and 30s a lot of Italians from all over Italy were imported to work in a large number of new factories which were set up partly to encourage Italianisation.

I started with the cathedral, which is quite small and relatively austere inside for a Catholic cathedral. Then I visited the Museo Mercantile, as this was only open in the mornings. It's not one of the best known places to visit in the area, but I really enjoyed it. It is a beautiful 18th century building building which was the site of the mercantile guild of Bozen and its court, small but interesting, and very well maintained and decorated.

Next it was on to the archaeology museum which is based around poor Otzi the Iceman. This was one of the busiest places I visited, and it did feel a bit crowded. It must be awful at the height of the season. It felt a bit morbid queuing up to observe poor Otzi's weirdly shiny corpse, but the presentation of all his goods and the explanatory captions and research which has been done on Otzi and his world is impressive. Also, unlike a lot of the museums I visited, which had captions only in German and Italian (understandably, and luckily I can read Italian reasonably well and German a bit, so I could make out most of what they said), here there was documentation in English. A lot of money has been invested in this museum, and it shows.

I then visited the main civic museum, which is also expensively presented, but I was a bit less impressed by the contents.

Returning after lunch to the main Walther square, where the cathedral is situated, I took the free shuttle minibus to Schloss Runkelstein/Castel Roncolo. Having arrived there, I was slightly daunted by the very steep cobblestoned path leading up to the castle itself, especially as it was starting to rain, but gritted my teeth and made it up. It was worth the climb, as this is a truly gorgeous castle. Like a lot of castles in the area, it had fallen into ruins before being thoroughly restored in the late 19th century, but is now very well maintained and presented for visitors. The highlight here are some superb medieval frescoes, including a cycle based on an Arthurian story. The views are great too, as you'd expect from a castle built high on a rock overlooking the river it was built to protect.

If you tell the staff at the ticket office when you're leaving, they will call the shuttle bus to meet you. It had been raining all the time I was there, so although the path was not actually slippery at all, I felt nervous coming back down it, and I was touched and grateful hat the driver kindly came and helped me down the last part of the way.

Although all these visits were relly interesting, none of them took all that long, so as my Mobilcard meant I could travel as much as I wanted, I decided to take the train on to Klausen/Chiusa, which I had read was very charming. Luckily it had stopped raining now, and I enjoyed strolling down the very long, pretty village street. I visited the little village museum, in the old convent building, but there wasn't much to see there. I then got the train back to Merano.

I suspect that your travel style is a little like mine, Nonconformist - I like visiting museums but I tend not to spend that long in them, especially if I'm on my own. Those who insist on looking at every exhibit or reading every information board are likely to find that I have been sat in the cafe and finished my drink long before they've finished looking round the museum. So places with several small museums are perfect for me.

This sounds like my kind of day.

I look at the things I'm interested in, but I read fairly fast so don't always need long. One thing I noticed was that the museums and castles tend not to have cafes, or only the most basic sort.

The next day it rained almost all day, but I had a fabulous day regardless. Today was focussed on the museums of Merano itself. None of them opened very early, so after a quick look at the old Kurhaus, a beautifully decorated building once used as the spa centre, I started by wandering around the old town, on the opposite bank of the river from my hotel. A particular feature, also seen on Bolzano, is arcaded shopping streets which I imagine were to protect shoppers from snow and rain in the winter, and excessive sun in the summer. The shops themselves were mainly clothes shops, but the ambience was quite charming. There was a small market setting up in one street, and I was rather charmed to see one stallholder who had her two little dogs sitting on the stall as she pulled it into position. SAt the end of the arcades (Lubergasse or Portici) St Nicholas's church is the old parish church of Merano,, and was quite attractive.

The first museum to open was the Women's Museum. This was a bit disappointing because although it had some interesting items, it didn't seem to have decided what it wanted to be. Occupying a former Poor Clares convent, the collections were a mixture of fashion items and feminist history, not very cohesively brought together or giving a specific insight into the history of women in Merano specifically, which would have been interesting. Actually the most interesting item (sensitive male readers look away now?) was a small display on history examples of sanitary protection which was eye-opening. Downstairs there was a temporary exhibition of art, historic and modern, inspired by the story of St Wilgefortis, none of it of a very high quality. She was supposedly a saint who preserved her virginity when a pagan father forced her into an unwanted marriage by growing a beard. Some of the more modern art and information panels expanded on this to explore transgender issues. (They failed to mention that the saint is now widely understood to have been based on a misunderstanding of a painting of Jesus.) Generally, this museum felt well meaning but amateurish.

In complete contrast, I then went to the Castello Principesco (can't remember the German name, which was a bit tricky). For once, this was a castle on ground floor level; really more of a stately home than a fortress, it was the Merano home of the Counts of Tyrol and their Habsburg successors. It was a really enchanting little place. There is a British connection, as one of the residents, for whom it was substantially altered in the 15th century, was the Scottish princess Eleanor who married the Austrian archduke who governed Tyrol. Her coat of arms is carved into the wooden panelling in what was her bedroom.

The last museum I visited in Merano was the Palais Memming, the local civic museum and art gallery which occupies one of the grand mansions of the town, plus a modern extension. I really liked this. It was presented more simply than its equivalent in Bolzano, but had much more interesting exhibits illustrating local history. I particularly liked the series of old paintings of Merano showing its development over time.

Then it was time for lunch in a local café. I then walked to the station and got the train to Naturns/Naturno. This was the first time I had taken the Val Venosta/Vinschgau line. Unlike the Bolzano-Brenner line this did not have wifi, and only one train an hour rather than two, but otherwise it was comparable with immaculately clean modern carriages. At Naturns I transferred to the bus for a scenic bus ride up the Schnalstal/Val Senales; the stop was very clearly signposted from the station platform and the times pretty well connecting with the train. This is the bus I would have taken to go to the Archeoparc, but today I just looked at it as a chance to see some pretty scenery from undercover. It was about an hour from Naturns to the terminus, and it was well worth doing. The narrow valley is incredibly gorgeous, and the bus climbs steeply into the mountains, frequently switching back and forth. There were various potential stops at villages, and lovely views of the mountains, wild flower meadows, waterfalls, sheep and cows with bells, and even, not far from the top, a rather pretty little lake or reservoir. I was amused to see an adventure site cashing in on Otzi by calling itself the Otzi Rope Park. Otzi himself died beyond the point the road goes up to, in one of the glaciers higher up, but I did see snow close up and the air was cold and fresh. (It had stopped raining by now.) The little village at the end of the ride really only had a couple of restaurants, so I decided not to stick around but rescanned my pass and stayed on the bus for the return journey. Obviously most people use the bus as a starting point for walks., and we picked up a lot of tired looking people with walking equipment on the way back.

You are certainly making Merano sound very attractive for an extended stay. it seems as if there are plenty of alternatives for excursions depending on weather and interests. Regarding arcades, according to the History museum in Bologna, [which has over 300kms of arcades] most Italian towns and cities had arcades in the medieval times, but most of them lost them; nice to know that Merano and Bolzano both kept theirs.

Thanks for this write-up!

A German woman I know, when I told her I was going to Southern Tyrol, was quite perplexed that I hadn't included Merano. "Not Merano??? Why not???" Your report verifies her enthusiasm about the place.

I spent a night and a day in Bolzano last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

On our first trip to Europe together, in 1991, we spent the first night in Merano (after driving from Munich) and stayed at the Meranerhof! When we were back in the Val Gardena about 10 years ago, we made a side trip to Merano just for old times' sake. Thanks for the report!

Wonderful to read your experiences of places I had read about when deciding on a north Italy itinerary 2 years ago, while we didn't include them, they stayed on my radar and your report will be kept for future reference.
We did stop inTrento on our way to Ortisei, stunning town - if anyone else reading this is looking for more ideas.
Good to see the bus connections into valleys worked for walkers, that is always a consideration for us.

I visited Trento from Lake Garda a few years ago - another great city with an interesting history.

After those two days with rain, the rest of the time was hot. Very hot. I was so grateful my hotel room had effective air conditioning. Out and about it could get very hot indeed, after about 9.30 am, and hotter and hotter until late afternoon.

Thursday I took the bus to Dorf Tirol (literally Tirol village) /Tirolo, and Schloss Tirol/Castel Tirolo, a short (15 min) journey into the hills immediately overlooking Merano. There is also a chairlift up from Merano. The cable car above Bolzano earlier in the week was quite scary enough for me. I have no truck with chairlifts. The bus was a much more civilised option. One word on busses: all the local busses stopped at the train station, then generally at a range of stops in town, but it was not always clear which stops for which line, additionally complicated by a temporary disruption by trimming trees on some roads, so usually I walked to the station to get my bus. The walk there was quite pleasant, initially along the river.

From the village of Tirol there is a c.30 minute walk to get to the castle. This a fairly easy walk along a paved path - really, technically, a road, but with little to no traffic. It offers spectacular views over the valley, with lots of birds singing including another cuckoo. Some is uphill, but not too hard. The only slightly nervewrecking part is that it goes through a barely lit tunnel, but safety concerns are allayed by a set of traffic lights, set to offer times for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Schloss Tirol is a very impressive and rather old castle, dating back to at least the 11th century, with excavations, which you can see in an underground area, showing a presence there since Roman times. As you will have guessed, it gave its name to the entire Tirol region, as the castle owners became Counts of Tirol in the middle ages. The last countess, who had no surviving children and a dubious marital history*, bequeathed Tirol to the Habsburgs, which is how it became part of Austria in the first place, in the 1360s. The castle has been converted into a museum of the history of Tirol, and is nicely presented with some interesting exhibits. The written captions were mostly only in German and Italian, but there were English audio recordings available. There was a very minimal café, but I had brought a sandwich with me which I enjoyed in the pleasant grassy central area. From outside the castle there were wonderful views.

*Both Schloss Tirol and the Castello Principesco in Merano claim to be the location of Countess Margaret's second, initially bigamous, marriage. (Her first marriage was subsequently annulled.)

Rather than going all the way back to the village, I went back part way to where the path forked to Schloss Brunnenberg/Castel Fontana, perched on the side of the cliff. This was a much steeper pathway, going down quite a long way, although still quite easy walking on a roadway. The castle is very romantic looking, and is another one which was restored from ruins in the late 19th century, to become a family home again. It was in fact the home of the illegitimate daughter of the American poet and Fascist sympathiser Ezra Pound, and he also lived there for some years You can see inside a handful or rooms, mainly as a museum to Pound, probably of limited interest to the general visitor, but there is an English-language BBC TV documentary on Pound to watch. Also there is a 'museum of agricultural history' in the farm buildings attached. To be honest, this was more like an enthusiast's personal collection of tools and artefacts than a real musuem. They were quite well arranged by type of use, but there was minimal signage (not even in Italian or German) and not much in the way of interpretation. Allegedly there were animals there too but these turned out to consist of only two goats, two turkeys and three geese.

I made my way back to Dorf Tirol for ice cream and a cold drink before making my way back to Merano and a long refreshing dip in the pool.

Friday I took the Vinschgau/Val Venosta train all the way to the terminus at Mals, which took 1 hour 20 minutes. It is a very scenic journey, mostly immediately beside the river. There, I got the hourly Swiss postbus to Clostra San Jon (in Romansch), St John's Convent in the Swiss village of Muestair, a UNESCO World Heritage site. My South Tirol Mobilcard covered this 25 minute journey too, although it doesn't for the whole of the bus route, which goes ultimately to Zernez. I was told the card allows one journey each way on this route, but as you don't need to scan the card on the Swiss bus, just show it to the driver, this can't be enforced. I had taken my passport with me, but there were no checks in either direction, and the border was barely noticeable. It was another pretty ride, with the scenery becoming noticeably wilder (in the sense of less cultivated) as we got into Switzerland. The stop was easy to identify, but arriving the same time as a tour bus, I decided to wait and have a cooling sorbet in the nearby hotel/restaurant Chavalatsch before going in.

The convent was personally founded by Charlemagne and has some exceptionally old frescoes (although the very oldest have been removed to a museum in Zurich), hence its World Heritage designation. It is still an active convent, albeit with only none nuns, all elderly apart from two or three recently brought in from the Philippines. They make soap etc to sell in the gift shop. The older parts of the convent building have been converted into a very good museum about what life was like for former generations of nuns. I really enjoyed this place - extremely interesting. Many of the nuns in times past came from the nearby South Tirol and farther afield. (There is a daughter convent called Marienberg on the Tirol side of the border which I didn't visit.)

I had lunch at the place I had had my sorbet at earlier, sitting outside next to a wildflower meadow, which was very pleasant. I was expecting sticker shock from being in Switzerland, but actually felt the prices here were reasonable.

On my return journey I didn't go all the way to Mals, but stopped off in the adorably tiny walled town of Glurns/Glorenza. This is a really delightful little place, but is a bit touristy - one of the busiest places I visited after the Otzi museum. It also betrayed the South Tirol's reputation for tidiness by having a piece of litter in the street - the only place I saw any ;) It was a lovely place just to stroll around. I also visited the little town museum, open afternoons only,situated in one of the gate towers. This was nothing special - my favourite bit was seeing the little birds nesting in the eaves rather than the actual exhibits.

I picked up one of the local busses at that end of the town (the Swiss bus dropped off at the far end), and went back to Mals for my train journey home.

Lovely! Am going to Müstair next year, my husband’s cousin is a monk in a monastery here in Australia, recruitment quite a challenge here too.
Including Glurns on that post bus trip, too, a walled town is a must for an Aussie!

Also have been looking up your other destinations, so have got yet another bucket list going, LOL.

I think it is across Europe, Adelaidean. My brother's partner's brother in law used to be a Benedictine monk. (Obviously, he left.)

Saturday was a two-castle day! Firstly I took the Vinschgau/Val Venosta train to Schluderns/Sluderno, which is almost as far as Mals. From the station is was a walk to Churburg/Castel Coira, billed as taking 20 minutes, but it took me more like 35. The first part was just walking through the small town, but the second part involved a steep woodland path. This was nice and cool, but quite rough walking, and because it was very steep pretty tiring. There is a car park just before the last part of the climb for those with car transport. Access to this castle is only by guided tour, and as I was the only English person there I had to tag along with an Italian group, who I think were on a day trip from somewhere in the Trentino. I can read Italian reasonably, and converse just about, but my aural Italian is not up to much, and it really wasn't good enough for this. The tour guide spoke very fast, and I could barely make out the odd word ;( The guide did give me a little brochure in English with the basics, but he was clearly saying a lot more, entertainingly judging by the frequent laughter. Nor were there any captions, which I could have read if available in Italian or German. So that made the experience as a whole a bit disappointing. They do say they offer tours in English as well, but obviously only when enough people to make it worth their while.

The castle itself was fabulous and is highly recommended. Still occupied by the last of a series of wealthy owners, it is gorgeously decorated and furnished like a stately home, with wonderful Renaissance frescoes. There is also a very large collection of Renaissance arms and armour used by the lord's private troop. It was a bit disturbing to see all the suits of armour and crossbows all lined up. Disappointingly, they didn't allow photographs - now that no one has flash any more (which is potentially damaging) that is a shame. There was a gift shop, but this seemed to be unstaffed and there was no opportunity to buy the guide book, which I would otherwise have done. There were toilets but no other facilites. The castle name comes from the Swiss city of Chur, known as Coira in Italian, as it was originally built for a medieval bishop of Chur.

I made my way downhill, and got to the museum of the Val Venosta. This was rather a disappointment, as although it has been expensively put together and presented, there was a paucity of original exhibits. The only interesting item was an Iron Age sword which had been discovered in archaeological excavations somewhere. It only took about half an hour to go round, so t was lucky I got there before their lunchtime closure. After lunch at a local café, somewhat troubled by flies and heat, but with the usual scrupulously clean loos, I wandered around the town a bit on my way back to the station. Schluderns was a very quiet country town, with very little going on, but it had an unspoiled charm. You can tell it's a very rura are - I saw a poster for three-day Tractor-fest. I bought an ice cream at the station while planning the rest of the day.

I decided to get the small citybus to Burgeis/Burgisio, which goes through Glurns/Glorenza again. It then climbed into the hills, and was quite a pretty journey. The plan was to get off at the stop closest to Marienberg monastery, which was another 20 minutes walk from there, but I unfortunately managed to miss the stop (signing wasn't all that clear, bt it was really my own fault). I didn't fancy doing it all again an hour later so I shelved the plan and got off at Mals to get the 2.20 train to Kastelbell/Castelbello. This stop is not a village name, but actually in the hamlet of Marein/Maragno, with the station named for the castle of the same name. You have to walk over the train tracks at a level crossing, then there is a short but steep road to the castle.

Kastelbell looks fantastic from outside, the vision of a medieval castle. Inside, however, it is a bit disappointing. There were two or three original rooms, which were moderately interesting, but the remainder has been rebuilt after a very bad fire and entirely lacks the original character, and is used as a gallery for contemporary art which is not my thing. The chapel had some attractive frescoes, and in the basement there was a very interesting temporary exhibition on the Via Claudia, the Roman road which led from Verona through this valley to ultimately, the Danube.

On my return to Merano, my heron friend was fishing directly outside my hotel.

Sunday I stayed in Merano to visit Castle Trautmannsdorf and its garden, the most advertised of all the local attractions. This is on the outskirts of the town. You can walk there along what is known as Sissi's Path, following a route taken by the Empress on her visits there. This is supposed to be lovely, and I considered it, but knowing the garden itself was big, I didn't want to tire myself out before getting there, so I wimped out and took the bus.

I was slightly surprised to find that the garden is not a historic garden at all, but one which was developed only in the 1990s, opening only in 2001. However it is a beautifully designed and maintained and very varied garden which is worth a visit. Perched on a steep hillside the prettiest part is below the castle. There are several signed themed routes to take round the garden and lots of different paths. The flowers on the sunny slopes are gorgeous, leading down to a lily pond with a pretty good cafe. It was another very hot day, so one blessing was the Trolean Landscapes section, which was dark, wooded and cool; here there were a few sheep (a rare Hungarian breed, for some reason); and (in a separate area) some rabbits, guinea pigs and fancy chickens. One (technically two) of the rabbits was then expecting the patter of tiny paws.

After lunch in the café I went up to the castle. This was the residence of Empress Sissi on her visits to Merano, and there are some exhibits relating to her, but mainly the castle has been converted into a museum about tourism in South Tirol in general and Merano in particular. The rather cringeworthy name of the Touriseum belies a truly excellent museum full of interest and with lots of information. It was much more interesting than I had anticipated. I particularly liked a couple of dolls houses of grand hotels. There was also a certain amount on the conflict between German and Italian speakers, which obviously impacted on tourist interest before the settlement of the 1990s. Coming out, I realised there was a whole other section to the gardens I had missed, themed around woods of the world, beside and above the castle. I didn't like this area as much as the lower sections, but it was quite pleasant.

Captions in both the museum and the garden were mostly in English as well as German and Italian.

A very enjoyable day.

Sounds like my kind of holiday :)

I am in awe of the amount of detail you have managed to remember, nonconformist, and the way you weave your descriptions into the narrative.

Really very enjoyable to read and you ought to get a cut from the local tourist board.

Thanks - I'm glad you're enjoying reading.

Anyway, Monday was a disaster all around.

Most places of interest to me were closed on Mondays, but I had found a lovely looking castle which was open, plus a musuem not far away. So I got the bus to Tscherms/Cermes. This is a small place, but big enough for a tourist information office. I checked there for the route to the castle, and soon afterwards started seeing the signs for Schloos Lebenberg/Castello Monteleone. It was a long hike uphill - not unexpected, but wearying on what was the hottest day so far. The way was along a road, but one with almost no traffic, passing between fields and orchards. There were lots of twists and turns switching back to account for the uphill gradient. There were some pretty views over the valley below, but it was very very hot.

After approximately 45 minutes walking, the road ran out. The path continued, according to the signs, up a three metre sheer wall. The 'path' beyond looked very overgrown and uncared for. I had an injured arm at the time (it was operated on just after my return) so I was limited in mobility and frankly scared to risk clambering up it, especially as I had a bag to carry as well. I did make an attempt, but couldn't manage it on my own. This is one of the drawbacks to solo travel. If I had got up there I was very doubtful I could have got down again on the way home. And as it was a rather unfrequented area I couldn't rely on finding someone to lend a hand. So I decided this was really not going to work out, and sadly made my way back. (I will add that absolutely nothing on the castle website, or on the leaflet I picked up in the tourist information place gave any indication that it might be tricky to get to at all, or any alternative route, although I suppose there must be a back entrance for the inhabitants - I can't find it on any maps though).

The heat was intensifying by this point, and I realised some horrible, malicious insects were around and had decided I would make a tasty lunch. They duly tucked in as I returned to the main road in the valley.

The bus route I had taken earlier continued on to the town of Lana, which sprawls across the valley floor. I got on the next bus and at the Lana bus station stopped for a much needed cold drink before getting the small hourly citybus to Schnatterspeckstrasse, the stop closest to the fruitgrowing museum in Lana, also open on Mondays. (This bus may have been a bad idea, as the scanning machine on the bus printed a strange message on my card to the effect that it was not valid,Maybe this bus wasn't covered by the scheme?)

There was a pretty church there, which apparently has a rather special medieval altarpiece, but it was closed until 3 o'clock. I thought I would try to get the guided tour then after my visit to the fruit museum, whch was quite small and I didn't expect to take too long.

It was just about lunchtime, so I decided to have something to eat at the small café nearby before finding the museum. This was very pleasant, and the staff directed me where to find the museum.

It was closed. Unbelievably frustratingly, there was a notice pinned on the front gate saying, in German, that they were closed that afternoon from 1 pm for an 'internen Fortbildung' (I think this means something like a staff meeting?). So if only I hadn't bothered with a lunch break I would have got there in time to see something ;(

I didn't feel like waiting for two hours for the altar, so after another 45 minutes got the bus on to the Lana Burgstall/Postal train station, on the Merano-Bolzano route. It was at this point that I realised something was wrong with my Mobilcard. Putting it in the scanner, and every time I used it after that, the machine made a strange sound and flashed red. All the bus drivers said it was OK, but I was concerned. I was pretty miserable by this point, and had decided I would just get the next train in whichever direction was going before regrouping. This turned out to be the train to Bolzano. I took advantage of the wifi to google somewhere to go, and decided on Kaltern/Caldaro. I could have got a bus from Bolzano, but looking at timetables, there seemed to be a quicker connection from Sigmundskron/Ponte Adige.

At Sigmundskron station, the right bus stop was a bit hard to find. I eventually worked out it was down the road a bit, by which time, it may be no surprise to learn, I had missed the connection. So I waitied on the corner of the main road for another half hour.

Having finally reached Kaltern/Caldaro it was getting quite late to actually do anything. Having only done my research on the train, I had gained the impression that the town was actually on the lake, but it turned out to be some way away, and I didn't think I had time for another journey on. So I just wandered around the town, which was very charming; had a cold drink; and asked a pharmacy to sell me something for my painful insect bites. They sold me a cream (which I couldn't get open until the evening as I needed to cut the foil), and some insect repellent which had an immediate cooling effect and was very welcome.

As I was feeling tired, I thought rather than walk uphill to catch the return bus to Sigmundskron, I would get a bus in the town centre which was supposedly going to the station. Some way into the journey, it emerged that it did not in fact go to a station (maybe it was a bus station instead?) and the bus driver advised me to get off and wait for the bus to Bolzano. This was at a stop which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, but eventually the Bolzano bus did come, and I got that and then the train home to Merano. All this time, of course, was worried that an inspector might pounce and say my card wasn't valid, but luckily they didn't.

One final point; when going through Sigmundskron again on my way back I noticed that an anti-Italian activist had graffitied out the Italian name on the station platform. So maybe all the talk about how everyone is happy being bilingual was not quite universally true?

What a dreadful day! I think I'd have been inclined to stick my head under the covers the next day and not come out!

Hope the next day is better.

Yes, things picked up after that, happily. I was still treating the nasty insect bites for most of the rest of the week, though ;)

The next day I took the bus to Schenna/Scena, another town in the hills overlooking Merano where there is a castle - not too far above the town. Access is a bit restricted, as they offer guided tours a few times a day, and when I arrived at the first tour time they wouldn't do it because there weren't enough takers. So I had to hang around for an hour, hoping more tourists would arrive, and luckily they did and it was quite a good sized group in the end. It was well worth the wait.

The tour is given in German, with an audio headset giving translations in other languages. However, the technology wasn't playing up, and it seemed for some reason they could only operate one language at a time. Our guide was rather obviously annoyed by the Italian speakers on the tour who ha apparently complained that as we were in Italy the full tour should be operated in Italian, so in a slightly passive aggressive move he made them use the headsets and gave me a one-to-one English spiel after he had done the German one. So it was a much better overall experience than at Churburg the previous week, and almost as nice a castle (minus the fab frescoes).

It was a really lovely castle which was beautifully furnished like a stately home. In the 19th century it was one of the homes of the Austrian Archduke Johann and his morganatic wife, a postmaster's daughter from Styria in Austria. Their son was given the title Count of Meran (Merano), and his descendants still own the castle, although the present count lives in their other estate in Styria. Our tour guide was the husband of the count's sister, and they live at the castle today. The tour was very well done, and the castle has lots of interesting items on display, including some artefacts relating to the Tirolean freedom fighter Andreas Hofer, who the Archduke had dealings with. The Archduke and his wife are buried in a separate grand mausoleum nearby.

After lunch in the village, I got the bus on to the end of the line. It was a pretty route, and the start point for a lot of walking routes. After that I went home early and had a nice swim (as much as I could given my injury issues). I didn't really get to make the most of the hotel pool, which was really lovely with refreshing cool water. It was in the basement, but opened out onto the (very small) garden with folding French windows which was very pleasant.

Happy to wake up to another update!
Coffee and a trip report :)

Enjoying ‘discovering’ these little towns and so many castles with you. Love taking bus rides and imagining living in these small places.
We have just returned from our trip, a bit starved of mountains, too, LOL

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d9d5c6503.jpeg

:o

That looks hot!

Wednesday was a good day, but I may have tried to cram too much in.

I took the train beyond Bolzano, to the charming little town of Sterzing/Vipiteno. The station here was a bit out of town, and t wasn't all that clear which direction to head in, so I got the little citybus. This was not a good idea, as I wasn't sure where to get off and it didn't go into the old town at all, and I ended up going on a magical mystery tour of the suburbs and hospital before eventually finding a stop near the 'new town' (which is actually 18th century IIRC, and leads into the real 'old town'. Bot areas were lovely. The tourist information office provided a map, and I realised I didn't really have time to explore the town properly if I was also going to do the main plan for the day. The local museum is some way out of town. So I just wandered around a bit, and had a snack in a pleasant café, enlivened by a meeting with a very sweet, friendly resident cat on my way to the loo. But I definitely shortchanged Sterzing, and should have had a whole day there.

Armed with my map, I managed to walk back to the station, hampered only by the fact that the most direct route was closed because they were doing repair works to a bridge. However, the diversion was reasonably well signed, and I managed not to miss the train. The focus of the day was Brixen/Bressanone, a beautiful cathedral city north of Bolzano. This too was an out-of-town station, and I made my way to the historic town centre on foot. Brixen is another attractive town.

I popped into the cathedral, where I noted there were small floor memorials to three former bishops. The two more recent ones had flowers left on them; the other very noticeably didn't Now, I knew from my reading that this bishop was a rather controversial character, having been in office in the 1930s and 40s. In 1939 Mussolini and Hitler came to an agreement that the German speaking South Tiroleans should be allowed to migrate to Germany, and a very high proportion of the population (over 80 per cent) decided to take up this 'Option', although the start of WWII meant very few actually went, and most of those who did go, and were not killed fighting in the war, returned after the war. There was a lot of very bad feeling between those who wanted to stay (mostly the landowners who felt more attached to their family farms) and those who wanted to go. The clergy (who as a group opposed Hitler) were on the side of the remainers. The bishop however, was not much of a leader, and after the vote stated that he to would be emigrating as a shepherd must follow his flock. The very interesting history book I read on the subject (Rolf Steiniger, South Tyrol, A Minority Conflict of the Twentieth Century) had the snide comment that perhaps he should have tried leading his flock rather than following them. The cathedral chapter at the time actually appealed to the Pope for Bishop Geisler to be withdrawn. It might just be that the other two bishops who were much more recent were remembered by more people - but it did look very much intended.as a snub.

The big attraction in Brixen is the Bishop's Palace, which houses the diocesan museum. There are several elements. On the ground floor is a very charming collection of 18th and 19th century models of religious scenes, made from an extremely wide variety of media. On the upper floors is a very nice collection of mainly religious art ranging from the 12th century to the 21st. Some of the rooms are lavishly decorated as they would have been when occupied by the Bishop and, when visiting, the Emperor. This was a fantastic museum. The only disappointment was with the temporary exhibition, which was the work of a contemporary artist who works in pottery, making religious figures which were pretty poorly finished in my opinion.

Just looked up Sterzing, what a nice town .....and it has a castle and a nearby gorge...so that’s going on my list, LOL.

Thursday I took the bus to St Leonhard/San Leonardo in the Passertal/Val Passirio. This is the river which flows through Merano town centre and joins the Etsch/Adige. Just before the village, and very clearly marked from the road, is the Passeier museum. I gather it used to be in the Sandhof, a historic inn where the Tirolean freedom fighter Andreas Hofer was born and lived for most of his life, but now it is in a purpose built building to the side. The main museum is a really excellent museum on the life and legacy of Hofer, and ways in which his legend has been appropriated by various groups in more recent times, and the period of the French/Bavarian invasion of Tirol. You start with a charming animated film giving the narrative, which can be heard in English. There are a number of original items from the period, and some very well researched information boards, also in English as well as German and Italian. On the top floor is a thought-provoking little section on the nature of heroism in general.

Then outside there is a small open air museum where a number of farm buildings have been re-erected on the site from other parts of the valley. One of the buildings has an audio visual unit with films of local rural life, and another contains a general local history museum including an interesting section on the distinctive local dialect. The objects displayed here were a bit less well thought through than the main museum.

Beyond the museum site are two small chapels. One was built by Hofer's grandfather in the 17th century on his return from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; the other was built as a memorial to Hofer, who was killed by a French firing squad in Italy.

I had lunch at the Sandhof, then took the bus on to St Leonhard itself. I had considered getting a connecting bus there to Moos, where there was a small mining museum, but it was quite hot and I decided just to go back to the hotel.

Friday was my last full day, and I took the bus along the Ultental, another of the long and very narrow valleys near Merano, climbing into the mountains. It was another scenic journey, very tightly clinging to the side of the hill. One of the benefits of the Mobilcard is that you can in effect treat any reasonably frequent route as a hop on-hop off, and I decied to get off in the village of St Walburg, where a brand new archaeological museum had opened that spring. It was so new, in fact, that there were no signs leading to it, and as it was situated on one of the higher roads parallel with the bus road, that was a problem. The little tourist Information office pointed me in the right direction to start with, but when the steep path reached the road above, there was nothing to indicate which way to go. I tried a short way in each direction, but it was a road with no pavement, and I felt a bit nervous. So I descended back down to the village and bus stop. Halfway down I heard the church bells (the church having been a landmark I was looking for) and I could have gone back up again but I felt a bit feeble and didn't bother.)

So I had a drink, and got the next bus further on. I went to the end of the line at St Gertraud, which turned out to be a very small village. This is famous for three ancient larch trees which are apparently 2000 years old. There is also a small visitor centre there, but I didn't feel particularly inspired, so decided to get the connecting minibus to Weissbrunnsee/Lago Fontana Bianca, a small dammed lake higher in the hills. There was a break in the timetable of three hours, so either I would have to turn around immediately, or stay there for a while, and I left the decision until I got there. If the journey so far had involved somewhat precipitous views with the hillside plunging a long way down, the ongoing road was even more so. It was a very winding road, switching backwards as we climbed further up into the hills, although we were going away from the river.valley. It was quite a short journey, only about 15 minutes, but it did feel like going into a different region, with very fresh, cool air compared to the heat of Merano an hour away.

Reaching the lake, I saw there was a restaurant, and the lake itself was exquisitely pretty, so I decided to spend the three hours there. Lots of people set out on hikes from here, and there is also a cable car, but I stayed in the immediate vicinity. I walked down to the lake itself - the ground is quite rough in places, but it was fairly easy, and so very pretty, with clumps of snow in the distance. There were picnic tables in the woods beside the lake, and some wooden loungers for sunbathers. You can't walk all the way around the lake, though. A small herd of goats was hanging around, including a nanny goat and her two kids. I even saw a few horses running free a little way away. The restaurant had amazing views of the lake from the terrace, and a pair of resident dogs. It was very relaxing.

I had intended to break the return journey in St Nikolaus, one of the larger villages in the valley, to visit the local museum there, but felt too tired, so went all the way back to Merano to do my packing.

Thoroughly enjoyed your report and you have enlightened me on this lovely region.

Gosh is the fortnight over so soon? I was just getting going!

Seriously I have really enjoyed reading about your trip and exploring this region through your eyes.

Thanks for all the effort you put into writing it.

Not quite done yet! My flight home was an evening one, so even allowing for the journey back to Verona I had a last morning and lunchtime in Merano. I didn't want to stray too far, so explored the riverside promenades. I much preferred the Winter Promenade, which had gorgeous views of the river and what I discovered was the best gelateria in Merano. There is also a building called the Wandelhalle, which was built for convalescent spa visitors, and has some pretty late 19th century wall paintings of various landscape scenes from across Tirol. The Summer Promenade is cool and shady, but because of that mostly lacked views of the river at all and felt quite closed in; it made for a pleasant short walk but noting special. The Winter side was lovely. I also wandered around the old town again; it was busier today than on the weekday I had been to the museums. There was also a beggar soliciting at the bridge - the first time I had seen anything like this on this trip.

Overall, it really was a great holiday. I think a lot of visitors are basically walkers, but there was so much more of interest. I happily filled my two weeks with sightseeing, and there were more options available. It is also a good choice for a solo trip - I felt safe everywhere - and very easy without a car as the public transport was excellent. It would be difficult with mobility issues, as you often had to climb to get to places of interest, and there was not much aimed at children. But I would recommend it as a destination for anyone who likes beautiful scenery and history.

I really loved it over there. Cant wait to revisit.