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Italy’s elemental mountain world of scenic contrast and natural cool, South Tyrol’s Valle Aurina, or the Ahrntal Valley as it is also known, is a land where hobbits lie - where the green glow of dense emerald forests and fragrant alpine pastures mingle with ice-fresh Reinbach waterfalls, the creak of glaciers and the majesty of the Zillertal Alps. Watch out, New Zealand, there’s a new kid on the block, and their air fare ain’t as much.
Filled with striking panoramas of historic Italian magnificence, Valle Aurina is an untouched world where nature sets the tone. Medieval castle strongholds like Castel Taufers nestle below gently snow-capped peaks and cacophonies of little wooden mountain huts welcome hikers with a taste of the landscape. World-famous ski spots Speikboden and Klausberg offer a different taste of the slopes, while Kronplatz and Zaha Hadid’s architectural masterpiece, the Messner Mountain Museum, are only a stone’s throw away. A valley of tenacity, where copper mining gave way to delicate lace making, Valle Aurina is a testament to simple South Tyrolean living, where life flows with the seasons, dictated by local folk festivals and shepherds bringing their cattle down from the hills.
A smooth design den pearled in white with an interior design that is eminently simple: a clean alpine aestheticism that borrows from Italian design, the Danish principles of hygge and a touch of sweet sophistication in the Japonesque detailing.
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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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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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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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Rising up like delicate meringue-whipped peaks, mirroring the Dolomites panorama that surrounds it, the architecture and design of Hotel Milla Montis create an impact.
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Small, delicate and exquisite, this creative residence is fully stocked with vintage family pieces and curatorial heritage and includes a fabulous Orangerie thriving between the greenest of Mediterranean gardens and the whitest snow-capped peaks.
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Birch and smoked oak hug the thick walls and capture the house’s DNA from the days as a farmhouse barn. Once a resplendent Renaissance home to the Bishop and favoured lodgings for the merchant traders heading along the Romanesque Via Claudia Augusta.
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Wrapped by the Dolomites, this modern eco-resort pairs mountain lifestyle with simple elegance and luxury wellness vibes. An authentically pastoral location accented with the local Ladin culture that feels at once both holistic and fun.
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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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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.
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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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.
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