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'The most beautiful natural architecture in the world' – Le Corbusier, 1907.
From its perch in Northern Italy, South Tyrol/Süd Tirol or Alto Adige as it is also known is a small but wonderful pocket of Northern Italy that shares more than just a border with Austria; this is an Alpinist lifestyle that flirts with Dolce Vita. A jewel of ancient cultures set in the mighty crown of the Alps nestled among the Dolomite mountains – a UNESCO World Heritage site. A chameleon of the Mediterranean and the Alps - expect snow-capped peaks to sun-kissed palm trees, traditional Tyrolean huts to strike-a-pose sustainable architecture, pasta to Knödel, dapper Italian styling to Lederhosen, Habsburger Villas to sleek modernist architecture, Grappa to Schnapps and the ski piste to botanical gardens.
More than forty regional dialects are spoken; South Tyrol has three official languages: German, Italian and around the Dolomites region of Alta Badia, the traditional Ladin is spoken - also home to the oldest Rhaeto-Romanic people in the Alps.
South Tyrol is all about a marriage of cultures, languages, traditions, progressive architecture and spectacular mountain nature – home to the Dolomites and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo/Drei Zinnen - a triptych declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. Le Corbusier arrived in 1907, and he famously declared the Dolomites 'the most beautiful natural architecture in the world'. A further 332 Jurassic peaks storm into the sky; the highest mountain is the Ortles/Ortler in Val Venosta/Vinschgau at 3,905 m., and the highest plateau in Europe, Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm. South Tyrol covers 7,400 km and has over 13,000 km of hiking trails; road cyclists adore the region for its legendary climbs. The provincial capital of Bolzano/Bozen is a vibrant university city and home to Ötzi the Iceman, the 5,300-year-old mummy discovered in 1991, protruding from the glacier near the Giogo di Tisa/Tisenjoch Pass. Blessed with more than 300 sunshine days a year and faded Habsburg grandeur, the second city Merano/Meran has been a tropical hotspot since the days of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She came for the mild Mediterranean mountain air and healing waters. Thirdly, Glorenza/Glurns in the south of Malles/Mals is one of the world's smallest cities – a wonderful melange of narrow medieval streets, churches, and its famous castle.
Get straight to the heart of the action with a new SkyAlps ski flight that lands directly from London, Antwerp, Billund, Copenhagen, Berlin, Dusseldorf, and Hamburg into Bolzano, the alpine capital of South Tyrol and perfectly placed for ski escapades in the UNESCO protected Dolomites.
A groovy icon from the seventies, Seehotel Ambach, presides over the shores of Lake Caldaro in Italy’s South Tyrol with its perfectly formed, curvaceous marshmallowy walls of laid-back glamour and a canvas of tangerine, vert and oxide red, which drape mid-century furniture pieces.
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Dating back to the 16th century and once the noble country pad of Marquises and Counts – the Roncolo 1888 is a boutique guesthouse-hotel set within 130-hectares of the Venturini Baldini viticultural estate.
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Remodelled over the centuries, 'Cinematic Italian' is the interior design mantra that consummately knits the restored historical elements to the nostalgia, style and flamboyance from the height of Italian film and design of the 1960s.
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East of Bolzano is the long heralded as Europe’s largest alpine plateau in the Dolomites of South Tyrol | Alto Adige, the pastures and ski region of Alpe di Siusi, or Seiser Alm in German.
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With mountain eye-candy stretching out in every direction, this nest egg of casual style is the perfect bolthole for urbanites who love the rural idyll framed by modernity and crowned by its fabulous rooftop infinity pool of sheer wow.
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Caramel timbers, robust chunky stone and larch shingled rooftops amplifies Alpine charisma buttered across the three ‘Malghe’houses of the Borgo Eibn which are draped in the views of the Sauris plateau and the Dolomites.
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With the feel of a hip in-the-know club for lido-lovers, Aqva Boutique Hotel’s modular alabaster white building is fronted by a turquoise pool surrounded by sleek decking. Like a pointing finger, a private pier juts out onto the lake - perfect for those celeb moments.
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The vigilius mountain resort was created by architect Matteo Thun, inspired by a fallen tree and the surrounding beauty of San Vigilio’s mountaintop landscapes. This wellness sanctuary rewrites the blueprint for an eco-design hotel, reached appropriately only by cable car.
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Crossing Corso Apartment is a luxury design pad in the heartlands of Rome set within a historic 18th-century palazzo townhouse, which poignantly resides behind the Piazza di Spagna.
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Sleep under medieval frescoes, sweep down labyrinthine corridors, lord it up on the lofty ramparts or stroll through the Mediterranean garden, admiring the ivy-clad castle backdrop.
A sleek modernist mansion sitting front row on the Lezzeno shoreline of Lake Como, backed by a mountainous canopy forest. An homage to Italian custom, style and native craftsmanship, Filario flirts with time-past decadence and chilled luxury.
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A small designer outpost that is both rustic and sophisticated in its design simplicity – conceived to mirror the surrounding vineyards and Arco Mountains of Trentino, this rural idyll is an architectural bolthole that gives nature a stylish makeover, irresistibly close to Lake Garda.
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