The five must-see sites around Val Gardena in the Dolomites

La Val Gardena

Val Gardena is internationally renowned for its downhill skiing competitions!

In fact, the Val Gardena ski areas are extensive, with varying degrees of difficulty, and roll out their slopes in splendid landscapes whose vastness reinforces the verticality of the mountains, the Dolomites. But that's not the only reason it's famous.

This Sudtirol valley, easily accessible from the towns of the Adige plain, including Bolzano, the provincial capital, is part of the group of valleys that cross the DolomitesThe rocky, vertical and colorful relief of this mountain range is so famous the world over that it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009.

Compared with other valleys in the region, it's relatively short, at around 30 km, but it's home to many remarkable sites.

Of these, AlpAddict has chosen five in and around the valley that you absolutely must not miss during your stay in Val Gardena.

Ortisei

Ortisei is the main center of Val Gardena. Urtijei in Ladin.

Ladin culture is very much alive in this valley, as it is in neighboring Badia, Fassa, Livinallongo and the Ampezzano valleys in Veneto. Ladin is a Rhaeto-Romance language that has managed to resist both German from the north and Italian from the south, due to the landlocked nature of the area.

To learn all about Ladin culture, you'll have to cross the Passo Sella and go to the nearby Val di Fassa, where a museum of Ladin culture provides a better understanding of this very local specificity.

Where there's a protected language, authenticity and tradition, there's also craftsmanship. The valley's craftsmen are woodcarvers. Today, there's an art school in Ortisei where you can learn the techniques of this craft.

The museum, housed in the Cesa Ladina (House of the Ladins), features collections of wood carvings.

The village center reflects the rich history of this region: stores occupy the ground floors of the large houses with their colorful facades that line the main street, where you can enjoy a stroll in the late afternoon sunshine.

The bulbous bell tower, typical of the valley's churches, crowns a church with a baroque interior that's well worth a visit. The church is dedicated to Saint Ulrich, hence the name Ortisei in German: Sankt Ulrich.

The village is surrounded by the most beautiful peaks in the Dolomites: Sassolungo and Odle , whose rocky peaks overlook dense coniferous forests.

Further up the valley, in the village of Santa Cristina, you can visit the Wolkenstein castle, where one of the members, Oswald, was a poet whose memory is still celebrated today with a medieval ride.

Last but not least, Selva di Valgardena has grown up around skiing, and its altitude guarantees satisfactory snow cover throughout the season.

If you want to leave Val Gardena at its highest point, you have two choices. Two mythical passes. Known to cycling enthusiasts, but also to skiers who embark on a day trip around the Sella massif, through all the surrounding ski areas: this one-way route is called the Sella Ronda. It passes through Passo Gardena and Passo Sella.

Passo Gardena

The Passo Gardena, at an altitude of 2121 metres, is the link between the Ladin valleys of Val Badia and Val Gardena, between Corvara and Selva.

The flat area around the pass allows you to take a break and admire the scenery.

Nearby, the Sella Towers seem the impenetrable ramparts of a legendary castle high above the clouds.

Further on, the scenery towards Sasso Lungo and the Odle mountains is greener thanks to the distance, but makes for wonderful shots for photo enthusiasts.

From the pass, numerous paths lead upwards, each one a meditative invitation to the beauty of nature.

In winter, the Passo Gardena allows you to ski both the Selva and Val Badia ski areas, as far as Colfosco and Corvara.

Passo Sella

The Passo Sella, at 2213 metres, separates Val Gardena from Val di Fassa, on the road from Selva to Canazei.

From the pass, the view of the Sasso Lungo is impressive. And it's hard to imagine a single-seater gondola (yes, you read that right!) taking you up into the middle of these inhospitable mountains! Once you were up there, you'd be happy to know that there are some extraordinary via ferrata routes that allow you to cling to these high walls and enjoy some extraordinary scenery!

In summer, traffic to the pass is regulated and limited to a certain number of vehicles per day. Please ask before planning your day out. However, you can still reach the pass via the lifts and hiking trails that wind through the flower-filled alpine pastures of the upper Val Gardena.

Alpe di Siusi

When you arrive in the village of Compatsch, the heart of Alpe de Siusi, you'd never imagine that this alpine pasture is the largest plateau in Europe. The relief is very gentle indeed. The slope is gentle from the lowest point at 1,600 metres to the highest point at around 2,200 metres. However, you can climb much higher if you take on the Dolomitic fortresses that line the plateau: Sciliar, Sasso Lungo e Sasso Piatto between 2600 and 3181 meters...

Alpe di Siusi is neither a village - Siusi, a few hundred meters below, is one - nor a precise place: it's a series of hamlets, houses and barns scattered over distances of several kilometers. The view is unobstructed, and the sun shines more than 300 days a year. Snow cover is exceptional in winter.

There's a tourist center, a ski resort. It's called Compatsch. You reach it by road or gondola from Siusi, a small village on a balcony overlooking the Isarco valley, the valley of the Brenner freeway. You can then travel by bus, on foot, on skis (cross-country, of course, but also downhill) or even on horseback.

In summer, it's the kingdom of two-wheelers and hiking. Green as far as the eye can see.

The symbol of the Alpe di Siusi is its landscape: the silhouette of these two distinctive mountains: the Sasso Lungo, a vertical pyramid, and the Sasso Piatto, whose long south-facing slope resembles the roof of a house.

Here, wellness centers, traditional guesthouses and high-altitude restaurants invite you to pamper yourself, relax and enjoy the mountain air.

La Val di Funes

Each region has its own characteristic photo.

Combloux and its bell tower in front of Mont Blanc. Bonneval sur Arc with its alleyway running between stone houses whose roofs are covered with a thick layer of snow, Zermatt with the Matterhorn protruding from the village roofs, Chamonix, with this statue in the center of the village whose hand points to the summit of Mont Blanc...

Sudtirol has the church of San Giovanni in Ranui !

Aesthetically perfect, this little chapel with its bulbous bell tower, lost in a perfect green meadow, is topped by a range of sharp, rocky mountains that resemble a Gothic cathedral. You've certainly seen it. In summer, in autumn, with the red foliage, in winter when the white chapel is lost in the snow.

People come to the Val de Funes to hike around this church to the Odle massif, the most aesthetically pleasing of the Dolomites!

The Val di Funes, or Villnösstal in German, welcomes you to one of its small hamlets in the absence of a large village. It's a bit like a mountain community. Everyone has stayed where they belong. As a result, you'll find many churches and chapels richly decorated. They often feature representations of Saint Christopher, protector of travelers...

For mountaineering enthusiasts, it was here that Reinhold Messner found his first playground, when still a child, on the Alpe Casnago: he loved climbing in the Odle.

During a stay in Val Gardena, the mountains that surround the valley and the villages that occupy its floor are already magical and delight all visitors. However, the Alpe di Siusi and Val di Funes, just a few kilometers away and easily accessible, complete the visit to this sector of the Sudtirol Dolomites.

Unique mountain landscapes, dense forests, typical villages with ornate facades, churches with bulbous bell towers, refined gastronomy accompanied by the region's fine wines, and this blend of three languages - Italian, German and Ladin - will ensure you have the change of scenery you're looking for.

You may also be interested in these articles: