Who would have thought you could jump on a cute twin-propeller plane at Gatwick and in less than two hours touch down in a serene valley full of apple orchards, Milka chocolate-style alpine vistas and a micro sauna scene that’s the envy of Europe. Welcome (or wilkommen) to South Tyrol.
This is Italy’s northernmost province, an autonomous region that has been at times part of the Habsburg Empire, Holy Roman Empire and Austria and was formally annexed by Italy in 1920.
Despite having studied French and Italian at degree level, I was as confused as any holidaymaker going through passport control – some officials spoke Italian, some German and others the local Ladin dialect. Nevertheless, it was all sparklingly clean and warmly welcoming.
Located entirely in the Alps as our swaying inbound flight reminded us, this affluent pocket of just 75 miles by 50 is home to half a million people (including in the village of Innichen, where Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner was born). More than three-quarters of the province sits above 1,000m and much of it is part of the beautifully jagged Dolomites and Ötztal Alps. Up high, the summer heat mellows.
The Preidlhof Hotel sits above the village of Naturns (Photo: Dolce Vita Hotels)
