JOIN the AFICIONADOS
To receive our world of travel and style delivered straight to your inbox.
'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.
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.
Fabulous holiday apartments with panoramic views and an interior palette that borrows from the surrounding beauty and captures the purity of nature with a modernist hand.
read more
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.
read more
History, design, calmed wellness and an interior of modern heritage make this hotel-apartment refuge close to Merano the perfect pitstop for some downtime and closeness to nature.
read more
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.
read more
A design refuge for those that like their head in the clouds but feet firmly placed in architectural modernism, set at 1850 metres, the hotel is lofty enough to be able to ski straight out of its door, as well as hiking in summer.
read more
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.
read more
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.
read more
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.
read more
With arguably one of the most magnificent infinity views across Lake Garda, the new, all-suite hotel and wellness retreat is a fabulous escape of design.
read more
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.
read more
To receive our world of travel and style delivered straight to your inbox.