Alpe di Siusi

June 11, 2025

We have been here for all of one day and we’re starting to understand the lay of the land. Or so I thought (more in that in tomorrow’s journal). We explored the Seceda area yesterday, which lies north of Selva di Val Gardena. This time we were on foot, at high altitude (1680 - 2350m), exploring Europes’s largest alpine meadow, Alpe di Siusi. It is not one continuous meadow, but rather a dramatically undulating landscape surrounded by impressive mountain peaks that soar to 3100m. Draping across the hillsides are enormous swaths of alpine meadows, complete with cows and their clanging cowbells, and interrupted here and there by coniferous forests. The meadows are literally all in bloom right now. The entire place is a designated Unesco World Heritage Site and, altogether, it covers an area of 52 square km’s.

First though, breakfast. This buffet had it all, well, except prosecco! We could even have juiced our own veggies if we wanted. It is such a contrast to Spain, where we were last year. There, dry toast with olive oil and crushed tomatoes is popular for breakfast. These multi-course breakfasts keep us well fuelled for a good part of the day.

The cakes, croissants and fruit section.

The juices, cold cuts, cheese and yogurt section. Bread and cereal and dried fruit section is to the right.

After breakfast, we pulled on our walking shoes and checked in with Bernadette at reception to find out which bus we should take to get to/from the Seiser Alm gondola in Ortesei. With that information tucked away, we set off for the bus.

Throughout Selva, there are banners and posters for the Hero Marathon this weekend. We had never heard of it but, this morning, vendors were busy setting up their booths all along the street below ours in preparation for the big event. And, BIG, it is. I thought it would be a running event, but it is actually an off-road mountain bike event that will attract 4000 entrants. There are two routes, one is 86k long over 4500m of elevation gain and the second is 60k over 3200m of elevation gain. This is serious mountain biking, folks. The event includes plenty of fit amateurs, but for many it’s a serious competitive event and is part of the HERO UCI Cross-Country Marathon series. These are held all over the world, but not in Canada for some unknown reason.

We wove our way through the crews setting up their booths, and down to the main street. The bus soon came and we were in our way down the valley to Ortesei. The Seiser Alm gondola that whisks passengers to Aloe di Siusi starts in the south bank of Ortesei, across the rushing Gardena river from the bus stop. A quick jaunt through the touristy main walking street and we were at the gondola.

The gondolas are modern, quiet and fast. Once at the top, we followed the advice Bernadette gave us and headed for a second gondola, over yonder hill and dale, on the other side of the meadow. The views, the natural beauty and the magnitude of the landscape nearly brought us to our knees, figuratively speaking.

Flowering meadows as far as you can see.

The view to Sasso Lungo, the big giant at 3100m.

Flowers along the Way

For all you flower-lovers out there, I would dearly love to show you the variety of beauties I spotted today. Alas, the internet is not cooperating and is chewing up my time, so I will pick just one.

Persicaria, or bistort. An easier name to remember might be snakeroot.

Image not found :( — Pathway to/from the Florian gondola.

Ok, just one more because it is so unique. Pinguicula vulagaris, or Common Butterwort (I think). This one is carnivorous.

We took a chairlift up to a high plateau for lunch.

More incredible views, from second lift. In the distance is the top of the first gondola lift.

Views south and east from the WOW Refugio.

We counted our blessings all day long. It’s such a privilege to be here and experience nature in this way. The walks were just shy of 2h each way and we loved every step of it. I had expected crowds of tourists but they just didn’t materialize. There was never a sense of too many people, thankfully.

We made our way back to the top of the Seiser Alm gondola and walked right on. In about 20 minutes we were back down in Ortesei and on our way to the bus stop. I did a quick stroll around town and discovered the toy museum. I understand it’s an excellent museum.

There’s a special exhibit at the moment, featuring the icthyosaur, whose skeleton they discovered in the cliffs of Seceda, that we passed by in the gondola yesterday. That sure puts perspective into these mountains and where they came from!

It took a bit to sorting out which bus to take back to Selva, but eventually we made it home, just in time to get cleaned up and head back to the same pizzeria for dinner. Another delicious meal, severed by wonderful servers, capped off a day for the record books.

Favourite pizza toppings, fresh tomato, mozzarella and parmesan.

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Anne AnastasiouWhat a beautiful place to walk. Sounds fun to ride the gondola too. Amazing!
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1 day ago

Scott AndersonWe don't do real passes any more, but we've got to find our way to get up to Ortesei again this fall - maybe leave the bikes below and take the bus up from Brunico. We stayed there for five nights in the winter on an x-country ski trip years ago and took that tram up to the plateau every day. Surely the best x-country skiing experience of our lives, but I've always wanted to come back and see it in the summer too.
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1 day ago

Scott AndersonI'm really glad this came up, because it wouldn't have occurred to me otherwise. There are a few of the bus lines that take bicycles if there's space, including the line from Bressanone to Ortesei. And, there's a cable car from Ortesei to Seiser Alm that takes bikes too, and runs through the end of October. If we're lucky with weather it would be brilliant to bundle up nd bike the plateau while Rachael took a hike..
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1 day ago

Anne MathersTo Scott AndersonYes, there are lots of busses. It looked to me the public busses had spaces for bikes, but you would have to check that out. Longer distance busses certainly do take folding bikes in with the luggage. Ortesei is the centre of tourism in the valley, so it’s the busiest of the three. As for the season, October is a real roll of the dice. Anything from sunshine to two feet of snow can be expected. That applies to mid-September as well.
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13 hours ago

Anne MathersTo Scott AndersonMost gondolas take bikes nowadays. So take your pick, but a word of advice, know what sort of riding you’ll be doing. My recommendation for cycling in the meadows would be the gondola from Seiser am Schlern, near Kastelruhe. There is a fantastic road back to the village at the end of the day, an added bonus. From the Ortesei lift, the trails are more suited to hiking.
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13 hours ago

Anne MathersTo Anne AnastasiouIt’s breathtakingly, beautiful. Beyond words, really.
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13 hours ago

Scott AndersonTo Anne MathersWho knows what conditions will be like in late October, of course. We're going to just book as we go when the time comes and see what the weather brings. It's just nice to know that this is a possibility, one I hadn't thought of.
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12 hours ago