Want to be bewitched? Next time you’re in Austria, Italy or Germany on business, take a side trip to the Dolomites, a majestic mountain range in northern Italy declared by French architect Le Corbusier to be “the most beautiful natural architecture worldwide.” Consisting of 18 pinnacles, spires and towers soaring about two miles into the sky, the Dolomites became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2009, drawing even more visitors and outdoor enthusiasts to its snowy slopes, verdant hiking paths and surrounding villages each year.

Mareccio Castle among vineyards in Bolzano © Louise Roach | Dreamstime.com

Eager to see those famous mountains for myself, I recently headed to their home in South Tyrol, a region belonging to Austria for five centuries before it was given to Italy in 1919 at the end of World War I. My base for exploring the area was its capital, Bolzano, a charming northern Italian city (that feels more like a town) nicknamed the Gateway to the Dolomites. In addition to cobbled streets, a medieval city square and Gothic and Romanesque churches, Bolzano has chic shops; excellent restaurants; and an expansive park for jogging, walking or simply hanging out on a blanket. The city also offers an eclectic mix of European cultures.

“The people from South Tyrol do not consider themselves Austrian, German or Italian,” said my guide, Hannes Tauber, who grew up in the area and works for Export Organization South Tyrol. “We are a culture unto ourselves that has taken various elements from each country.” Take the languages spoken, for example. Of the region’s 500,000-plus inhabitants, approximately 70 percent speak German, 25 percent speak Italian and 5 percent speak Ladin, a language developed in the first century by the Romans and Rhaetians, the ancient inhabitants of South Tyrol.

Since so much of South Tyrol’s culture revolves around the mountains — food and wine, sports and splendor — I spent my first morning at the Messner Mountain Museum, founded by extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who was born in South Tyrol. Among Messner’s many exploits, he was the first person to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. The museum, housed in Sigmundskron Castle, dating back to the late Middle Ages, showcases the history and art of mountaineering not only through pictures and sculptures but also through various memorabilia from Messner’s expeditions. Four satellite Messner Mountain Museums exist along a picturesque route throughout South Tyrol, each one sporting a different theme, such as the Messner Mountain Museum Dolomites, covering the history of the opening up of the Dolomites.

Continuing with the mountain theme, lunch was a hearty alpine repast at Bierkeller Latsch, a wooden lodge in the small town of Laces. At a chunky wooden table in the back of the restaurant, we savored glasses of chilled local Chardonnay, hearty bread with farm butter and cabbage salad with crispy Speck Alto Adige PGI; a meat similar to prosciutto, the pork is seasoned with malt and mountain herbs like laurel and marjoram before being cured and then lightly smoked. Then we dug into spit-roasted whole chickens, pork ribs and succulent pork shanks thickly edged with blistered, salty skin.

Twenty restaurants in South Tyrol have received a total of 23 Michelin stars, and for good reason. First, the ingredients are superb. Beyond Speck, the region produces excellent mountain cheeses, grainy breads, honey and produce, including apples. The area receives more than 300 days of sunshine a year in a landscape that ranges from snowy peaks to Mediterranean palm trees.

Another reason for all those Michelin stars is South Tyrol’s bounty of extremely talented chefs, including 35-year-old Franz Mulser, who has earned accolades for his flower-filled cuisine at Gostner Schwaige, his family’s small mountain lodge-turned-restaurant in the town of Castelrotto. To get to the restaurant, I headed to Alpe di Siusi, Europe’s largest alpine pasture housing numerous villages, farms and chalets in the heart of the Dolomites. After parking the car, we boarded a tram to zip up toward Castelrotto, whose surrounding slopes had turned the most luscious shade of early-June green. Hikers in lederhosen dotted the meadows set against a backdrop of snow-capped peaks. I half expected Heidi to burst forth at any moment — it was that idyllic.

After our horse-drawn carriage ride up the hill to Gostner Schwaige, Chef Mulser greeted us with glasses of Prosecco laced with homemade rose and elderflower syrups. Then he made us a cocktail nibble of muas, a rich, polenta-like dish composed of alpine butter, milk, eggs, buckwheat and white wheat flours and cooked until thick. Our appetizer was hay soup, literally made by steeping hay in water with local herbs and finished off with cream. (It was delicious!) Local veal loin with wild thyme juice came next, followed by a dessert as glorious to behold as to eat. Made in an iron skillet, the alpine cheese-filled omelet was dotted with raisins and topped with local raspberries and crimson petals from Chef Mulser’s rose farm.

A snack in South Tyrol isn’t complete without local wine and smoked Speck. © Kabvisio | Dreamstime.com

With every meal, I had a chance to sample the area’s wines, made from more than 20 grape varieties that thrive in the region. Common white varietals include Pinot Grigio, Gewurztraminer and Chardonnay, along with lesser-known wines like Sylvaner and Kerner. For reds, the two indigenous varietals are Schiava and Lagrein. Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are also popular. In South Tyrol, approximately 5,000 growers tend to just 13,000 acres of vineyards spread across a variety of different climate zones.

Beyond food and wine, the Dolomites offer year-round outdoor adventure. South Tyrol houses the Dolomiti Superski, the world’s largest ski network consisting of 12 different ski areas with a total of almost 750 miles of slopes, 450 ski lifts and the Sella Ronda, a 16-mile tour around the peaks of the Dolomites. In warm weather, walkers and hikers can choose among the 13,000 trails crisscrossing the region.

For a delectable way to rejuvenate after some intense exercise, visit the sleek Therme Meran/Terme Merano spa, where you can soak in any of the 25 indoor pools filled with therapeutic waters from the area’s underground springs. Enjoy hot and cold saunas along with several body treatments, two of which are unique to South Tyrol. The first is a wool bath, where, according to the spa, the body is immersed not in water but in local sheep’s wool to produce relaxing warmth, stimulate the microcirculation and bring relief to chronic pain. The second treatment is a hay bath, where guests lie on a bed of hay filled with fragrant mountain herbs that relax the body and relieve pain. Who knew you could make soup from hay and bathe in it, too?

Back in Bolzano, I visited the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, which is not to be missed. The museum has become famous for housing the body of “Ötzi – the Iceman,” a 5,300-year-old glacier mummy discovered in 1991 by a married couple hiking in the Ötztal Alps mountain range. The exhibit explores the story of the couple’s find, the circumstances of the Iceman’s death and the sort of life he may have led, including the clothes he wore and food he hunted. The museum sits in the heart of a quaint shopping area near many restaurants and cafés, including the local favorite, Loacker Moccaria. Loacker, a third-generation candy and cookie company, was founded in 1925 by Alfons Loacker, a South Tyrolean pastry chef and sports nut who wanted to make a product he could craft in advance, allowing him ample time to enjoy his sports. After much experimentation, he came up with a tiny, bite-sized wafer cookie filled with different creams including tangy lemon, fresh vanilla and roasted hazelnut. The café sells bags of the cookies, along with pastries and candies including Loacker’s scrumptious Rose of the Dolomites, a milk (or dark) chocolate confection shaped like an alpine rose and filled with hazelnut cream and crunchy bits of roasted hazelnut. Swoon.

South Tyrol boasts more than 400 castles, including Runklestein Castle, north of Bolzano. Originally constructed in 1237, the castle has been restored and extended over time. Its main claim to fame is its collection of frescoes, which the brochure boasts “is the largest collection of profane-themed frescoes in the world.” The scenes focus on various members of the Vintler family (one of the castle’s original owners), court life in the Middle Ages and South Tyrolean myths and legends.

For music lovers, Bolzano is home to the Haydn Orchestra, known for its Baroque, modern, vocal and religious works. Then there is the South Tyrol Jazz Festival, which runs June 27–July 6 and features myriad artists performing at different venues throughout the region.

For my last night in Bolzano, dinner in the Art Nouveau dining room at Park Hotel Holzner could not have been more magical. Founded in 1908, the hotel sits on the Renon, a mountain plateau in Bolzano reached by a cable car from the city center. We began the evening with cocktails on the Panorama Terrace with stunning views of the Dolomites, some covered with snow, others turning deep apricot as the sun set. Then came a parade of dishes epitomizing the bounty of South Tyrol: succulent white asparagus stalks with ham from a nearby farm, spinach-filled ravioli rounds topped with mountain butter and Tyrolean gray cheese, local veal over vegetable polenta, and crisp apple strudel served with a bitter liqueur from the Abbazia di Novacella. When the chef came out to take a bow, the dining room raised a glass to thank him and his staff for the extraordinary meal. Then I made an additional silent toast to this enchanting part of Italy most tourists have yet to discover.

Dolomites Info to Go

Bolzano can be reached by air, car or rail from most major European cities. South Tyrol’s only airport, ABD Airport Bozen Dolomiten/Bolzano Dolomiti, is located on the southern outskirts of Bolzano (or Bozen, in German). Beyond South Tyrol, the nearest international airports are Innsbruck Airport in the north and Verona Villafranca Airport in the south.

Read more about music in South Tyrol.