At Madonna di Campiglio you can sip cocktails by the lakeside, take part in barefoot walking tours, enjoy high-altitude concerts, cycle from the Dolomites to Lake Garda… Situated on the Italian side of the Alps, the resort promises a summer season full of surprises and events – inspirational experiences immersed in nature.
Mountain pastures, lakes, resin-scented forests, all surrounded by rocky giants – Italy as you’ve never seen it before. In summer Madonna di Campiglio in the north of the country, combines the thrill of majestic, spectacular views – the Dolomites are a UNESCO World Heritage Site – with the atmosphere of a stylish resort (recognised as an Area of Excellence by the Altagamma Foundation of Italian high-end cultural and creative enterprises). Here the summer season is underway and will continue well into the autumn, thus multiplying opportunities to leave everyday routine behind and enjoy a complete feeling of wellbeing.
Food experiences
In Madonna di Campiglio cable cars turn into dining rooms, food steps out of the kitchen into the meadows, and the Dolomites become part of a culinary experience in all sorts of ways. One of the most original events is “From Meadow to Meal” (20 August, 3 September), where you can learn all the secrets of the “Lady of the Herbs”, Noris Cunaccia, a repository of the most fascinating ancient knowledge. After a morning’s foraging for wild herbs, you are treated to a lunch of traditional dishes flavoured and scented with the fruits of your tour. “High-altitude Beaches” (6 and 13 September) is a sensory exploration dedicated to mountain water, to the alpine rivers and lakes on whose shores and banks cocktails are served accompanied by basket brimming with goodies in an ideal meeting between the art of mixology and local produce.
Autumn Special An event in which visitors raise their glasses in a mountaintop toast bathed in the bright shades of red the rocks assume at the setting of the sun. It’s what the locals call, enrosadira, or Alpenglow. As day gives way to night, so “High-altitude Sunsets” begins. For the occasion, the facilities will stay open until 8.20pm to allow participants to party in the mountain refuges. First held in June, the format is repeated in the autumn, at the Stoppani refuge on 13 September and the Spinale refuge on 20 September.
Wellness & nature
Madonna di Campiglio makes use of the elements – sun, water, snow, pure mountain air – to offer a distinctive form of deep regeneration: hence physical activity, gratification of the senses, and listening to and contemplating the beauty of nature. All summer long until 29 September, every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, Dolomites Natural Wellness offers an immersion in nature with a programme of seven sensory experiences dedicated to yoga, meditation, tree hugging, barefooting – over grass, tree bark and pebbles – and Kneipp therapy (reinvigorating walks in mountain springs), all designed to stimulate life force and reduce stress. The pursuit of wellbeing can also be a romantic adventure for two: in “Relaxation & Dinner in the Village”, for example, a pleasant afternoon of saunas, Turkish baths and hydromassage at the Val Rendena thermal baths and spa is rounded off with a dinner by candlelight in a historical residence, Palazzo Lodron Bertelli. By reservation only until 1 October.
Autumn Special “The Sounds of the Dolomites” is a festival staged at Madonna di Campiglio in the early autumn in which world famous musicians perform in the most picturesque spots in the Dolomite valleys: it kicks off on 8 September with a morning excursion up to Prà Castron di Flavona to soak up all the magic of dawn to the music of the Camerata Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. At midday on 10 September, in the mountain meadow of Vallesinella Alta, the Faraualla female vocal quartet present their new album Culla e tempesta (Cradle and Tempest) with a mixture of traditional music and brilliant reinterpretations of classics. Again at midday, on 17 September, the Brenta Bassa meadow hosts Raphael Gualazzi in a performance combining jazz, soul, R’n’B and pop. Last but not least, the Camp Centener, a splendid belvedere overlooking the Val Rendena is the venue for a show, “Mozart y Mambo”, in which, accompanied by The Sarahbanda salsa band, the Berliner Philharmoniker’s French horn virtuoso Sarah Willis, mixes Caribbean rhythms with classical tradition.
Green adventures
One step more, one more thrust on the pedal to the finishing line – the Dolomites enhance the sense of wellbeing that only sport can bring, oxygenising the body and the mind, and charging them with energy. Take cycling: in the saddle of an e-bike or a gravel bike you can now pedal your way along a new trail, 110km long and accessible to anyone with a minimum of basic training. DO-GA, Dolomites-Garda, is its name and it joins Madonna di Campiglio with Riva del Garda on the shores of Lake Garda. Accompanied by mountain bike guides, you’ll ride past rugged mountain landscapes, over hills and through scenery redolent of the Mediterranean. And when you come to the “finishing line”, you can take the boat to Limone to chill over a relaxing drink (the departure and arrival points are both accessible by car).
Trekking fans will also be able to try out an original new route, “La Via delle Normali”, a ride in six stages that connects 10 peaks following the tracks of the mountaineering pioneers of the past. It takes six or seven days and is 45 kilometres long, 15 of which are entirely uphill with an overall climb of 5,500 metres. Along the way you enter the very heart of the Brenta Dolmites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sleeping in mountain refuges and the Castiglioni bivouac. You can take on the steep climbs on your own or accompanied by an Alpine guide on the toughest stages, modulating the experience to your own ability level.
The “Let’s Green. No Time to Waste” project, on the other hand, requires no specific training. It consists of a series of hikes dedicated to good practices for saving the planet. In the company of the experts of the Adamello Brenta Nature Park and the non-profit organisation Plastic Free, you learn to recognise the characteristics of this protected natural environment and find out what actions we can take to reduce and recycle refuse. The hikes are scheduled for 20 and 27 August.
Autumn Special In September, the summer now over, the forests around Madonna di Campiglio take on warmer, brighter colours. This is the perfect season to explore low- and medium-altitude itineraries such as the ethnographic track of Rio Caino, near Cimego, or the trail at Tione di Trento along the mountain streams whose water is used for diverse practical uses. In addition, a fascinating “collection” of thematic “water trails” consists of 12 walks to beauty spots such as the waterfalls of the Vallesinella and the Val Genova, and minor jewels such as the Cravatta waterfall in the Val di Breguzzo and the Regina waterfall on the lake in the Val di Daone.
All this water is also a big draw for anglers and fishing is allowed on many stretches of rivers and 35 lakes until the end of October. It is possible to hire tackle, obtain daily permits and make use of a variety of available facilities in situ.
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