We had an unforgettable hiking holiday in Bolzano, Italy. It started with staying at the Gruberhof farm, a bed and breakfast. This location in the foothills provided some much-needed refuge from the heat that engulfed us in Venice, Italy, at 35°C. Bolzano offered 25°C, and the foothills offered a bit cooler temperatures. We experienced an amazing adventure and culture at the bed and breakfast, hiking to Mölten and discovering the Vilpiano Waterfall. Ötzi, the ultimate hiker, preserved at the Iceman Museum, is an amazing highlight not to miss!
We found out an interesting historical fact – Bolzano and the towns in the foothills within South Tyrol were originally part of Austria-Hungary, with citizens primarily of Germanic descent. These areas were annexed by Italy following the First World War as a reward for joining the Allied powers against Austria-Hungary. Bolzano’s primarily German-speaking citizens were told that they would now become Italians. The population speaks Italian and German and has intertwined cultures in their day-to-day lives. You’ll find German and Italian signs everywhere. It was very interesting!
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Staying at Gruberhof
Gruberhof Farm Stay was a gem to find! Erika and Ernst were exceptional German hosts. The bed and breakfast is a fifteen-minute drive north of Bolzano, located in San Genesio at the top of the foothills.
This farm stay offers many private rooms with a shared bathroom. We really lucked out with a large room featuring a private balcony overlooking the beautiful valley.
This was the greenery we saw looking out at the scenery and the Dolomite Mountains in the background.
Every morning, we received an excellent homemade German and Italian breakfast spread in the mountains. It featured an assortment of cheeses (including cream cheese), yogourt, pepperoni and ham charcuterie, fruit (nectarines and apricots), boiled eggs, bread with Nutella and jam. Including green tea and apricot juice. Breakfast costs eight euros each. Gruberhof Farm Stay has a large garden on site where fruits and vegetables are used in the preparation of their cuisine and offered throughout the day. Supper was offered for ten euros per person, at a wonderful price for excellent quality food.
Through our many conversations with our hosts and other travellers, we felt an ambiance of both German and Italian culture. They were extremely welcoming, and we felt comfortable leaving our backpacks in our locked rooms without our passports in a safe (unlike the rest of Italy).
Taking the bus North to Flaas-Valas
Erika and Ernst offered many tips and suggested experiences to do around their farm stay. We never would have experienced our unforgettable hiking holiday in Bolzano without Erika’s advice. She suggested we take the bus (which comes every two hours) further north up the foothills to explore the hiking trails around there.
Bus Direction
You’ll take one bus from Gruberhof, north to Flaas-Valas. When you return from the Vilpian-Mölten cable car, you’ll disembark (the driver can tell you where) to take another bus heading to Gruberhof; otherwise, you’ll end up in Bolzano. Check out the bus route here. There aren’t any bells to ring on this bus. Let your driver know where you’d like to stop, and you will be dropped off at that location.
Take a picture of the bus schedule before boarding the bus to look at throughout the day. We waited an hour and forty-five minutes for the bus on our way back, at the Vilpian-Mölten Cable Car. We made the best of our time together dancing at the bus stop and chatted about how our day went during our wait. It was a lovely time spent together. Thankfully, we were able to catch the last bus of the day. We had no schedule with us when we decided to partake in adventures throughout the day, and got extremely lucky that we didn’t have to walk back to Gruberhof!
Friendly Drivers
The bus drivers are extremely friendly and willing to help. They guided us where to disembark at a parking lot north of Genesio. It cost us 1.50 euros each to travel by bus. They exchanged our five-euro bill for some change. We didn’t require exact change.
The roads are extremely winding. When taking a bus or going in a car for a drive, keep your head up if you tend to suffer from motion sickness. Taking some Gravol pills might be a good option.
A map guiding us on our Hiking Holiday in Bolzano
We arrived at Flaas-Valas, unsure where we were going. This map showed many directions we could take. We pondered heading back down to hike towards San Genesio but decided against it, as there weren’t many restaurant options available along the way. Having very little food with us (with little time to get out the door) and not wanting to get hungry with no food options, we decided to head towards Mölten, which offered a variety of restaurants on our hiking adventure.
Our Foothills Hiking Holiday in Bolzano
We chose a direction and went with it, not having a clear destination; we thought we’d go with the flow. Kris and I started off walking down a path with red and grey rocks.
We found a wooden post indicating the time required to reach our destination. Mölten was route number four and approximately a thirty-minute walk away, following the path we were on. In this country, the duration of the hike is posted on the signs instead of kilometres, like we have in Canada.
We noticed many statues of Jesus along the way on our hike. They are religious in this region.
It didn’t take us very long to reach Mölten. The thirty minutes indicated on the sign was accurate, with tourists, like ourselves, exploring, not in a big hurry to get to the town. Instead, we were embracing the scenery full of farmers’ fields and animals and embracing views never seen before.
The Town of Mölten
The paths that we walked on were quite wide, allowing us to walk beside each other with extra space on both sides of the trail. Every once in a while, we came across large rocks, the size of a shoe, on the trail. You could tell that the trail was well-used between farmers’ fields, as we hiked near cows. Green trees separate the farmer’s fields. The scenery was gorgeous. In this picture, you can spot a Catholic church, recognizing the importance attached to their faith, even in a small town. One house has solar panels on top of it to help reduce electricity costs in the northern foothills.
Many towns have a similar appearance to Mölten, quaint with a German feel, linked to each other with a single road and hiking trails. The road that leads away from the town up north took us on a fun, unforgettable hiking holiday in Bolzano.
Country Style Basket Planters
Once we reached the small town of Mölten, we walked around exploring it. It had beautiful houses with flowers, just like the ones you’d see in Germany.
We got hungry with it being close to two in the afternoon. Few options were available as most restaurants close between lunch and supper. We found one that was willing to accommodate us and serve us lunch. Kris and I were the only ones around. We both had delicious German schnitzel (with a side of mushrooms for me, and egg noodles for Kris). That kept us full until the end of our adventure, when we eventually headed back to the farm stay. The total cost of our meal was 29.82 euros. The menu was in German and in Italian. Kris was happy to be able to practice his German in a northern Italian town. Here are a few words that we used throughout our hiking holiday.
German Words
W and V are pronounced opposite in German compared to English.
Willkommen is pronounced Villkommen (welcome)
dánke (thank you)
nícht (not)
das ist gut (that is good)
auf Wiedersehen (goodbye, until we see each other again)
Italian Words
bienvenuti (you’re welcome)
grati (thank you)
ciao (goodbye)
Vilpian-Mölten Cable car on our Hiking Holiday in Bolzano
We continued down the road towards the south, curious to see what we would find. It was a gorgeous hike walking along the top of the valley for fifty minutes, passing traditional homes along the route.
To our pleasant surprise, we found the Vilpian-Mölten Cable car during our unforgettable hiking holiday in Bolzano! We enjoyed taking pictures of the beautiful mountain scenery and the quaint town below, where we would be heading. The cable car, as we found out, runs sporadically. Gradually, people started showing up, and we thought there might be hope for it to open up, and it did! After an hour or so of waiting, it finally started running. It cost twelve euros each to ride the gondola.
We got our picture taken by a woman who hopped in with us, suggesting we check out a waterfall next to a church. It’s close by, after passing through the picturesque town. We were happy to have our Camelbak Crux 2L reservoir on us to drink as we hiked, to stay hydrated.
Vilpiano Waterfall
The walk wasn’t very far. It took us twenty minutes to walk one and a half kilometres. The waterfall is eighty-two meters high. There was very little water trickling down the rock face at the time we visited in August. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to enjoy ourselves for very long as it started to rain. Having not brought raincoats with us, on a whim, deciding to live in the moment and pack quickly to see what the day would hold, we hadn’t packed for poor weather. It added to the fun and experience! We ran in the pouring rain as fast as we could back to the cable car. We were in complete denial because running didn’t make any difference as we’d be drenched anyway.
The waterfall was a hidden treasure. We would have missed it had we not decided to go on our hiking adventure and run into the woman who suggested this spot. It was a long, exciting day that we didn’t expect and hadn’t planned, but it turned out to be an unforgettable hiking holiday in Bolzano.
Ötzi in Our Hiking Holiday in Bolzano
The following day, we headed into Bolzano by bus and explored the city on foot.
While in Bolzano, we visited Ötzi at the Iceman Museum. Ötzi, the ultimate hiker, was found by hikers at the top of a mountain back in 1991. He has been preserved at the Iceman Museum since then, and tourists can see him in a freezer through a small window. The body is sprayed with water to keep it moist and to create a light layer of ice to preserve him. This museum is highly recommended for a visit! For more information, check out Ötzi. It costs twenty-six euros for two people to enter the museum. It was a highlight in the city of Bolzano!
Exploring Bolzano
Kris and I enjoyed walking around the city of Bolzano. Lots of exercise prepared us for hiking to Nocelle later that trip.
We were happy to find pizza and gelato in this town, craving Italian food.
We took a gondola called Funivia San Genesio (north of Bolzano, following road SS508 through a park) to return to the top of the foothills. After a short trek from the top of the gondola, we headed South, which brought us to a dead end full of trees, cliffs and a resort with pools; while nice, this didn’t help us very much. Heading north, we realized we could take a bus back to Gruberhof to save our legs from walking the entire way back.
Final Thoughts
We had a fantastic hiking holiday in Bolzano. Normally, when travelling, I like to have general ideas of places to visit. Once in a while, it’s fun to take a chance and see where your adventure takes you. Having an unplanned day, we discovered so many different and wonderful experiences that we wouldn’t have done without giving ourselves a chance to explore! Be mindful of that. Every once in a while throughout your trip, give yourselves some free time to explore your surroundings. You never know what you’ll find!
Spend time exercising and getting in shape for Bolzano before your trip! There can be lots of walking involved, especially if you want to save money from taking public transportation. To get in shape to hike in and around Bolzano, check out Gorgeous Hiking to Laughing Falls.
Additional Links
- Mount Batur Sunrise Hiking Guide
- City to Wilderness Hiking: Where to Start?
- 7 Gorgeous Hikes Near Banff
- Jasper Hikes: Best Memories
- 4 Best Larch Hikes
Trip Ressources
- Book your flights with Expedia
- Book your hotel with Booking.com or Hotels.com
- Book your vacation rental with Vrbo
- Book your experiences through TripAdvisor or Manawa
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