I'm in Love with the Dolomites
A quick list of why the Dolomites might the best place in the world.
For the past several weeks, I have been living and working in the Sud Tyrol region of the Dolomites. Here’s a list of observations that I have made during my time here that have helped me fall in love with this area:
Manicured and Beautiful
This is especially true in the Val Gardena portion of Sud Tyrol. People really take the time and effort to ensure their homes, gardens, and land are taken care of and maintained. And trust me, it shows. Pictures that I have won’t do this place justice, but every time I go for a walk or run here, I feel like I am doing so in a postcard.
Public Transportation
Public bus transportation is both abundant and efficient. They’ve got an easy-to-use app to see where to go. Timetables are well marked and they stop in nearly any location you would need to go to. They also have gondolas and chairlifts, and all of the major mountains make ascending the mountains very easy for families. It’s a wonderful thing for families to skip the crazy hard ascents and just enjoy the top of the mountains with their kids.
Clean
The streets are clean and tidy. When there is trash, it’s usually from cigarette buds, which is unsurprising because that is still a common practice in Italy. People take it to be a normal and accepted thing just to throw a cigarette on the ground. Nasty ass habit but what can you do, can’t have everything be perfect, that would be too boring.
Mixture of Cultures
To me, it’s the perfect mix. There’s this overlay of German/Austrian culture but with undertones of Italian that permeate throughout the entirety of the area. It’s what makes the place special. You get the efficiency of the Germanic culture with the food and fashion-forward culture of Italians. They have many museums, both indoor and outdoor, to celebrate the vast history of the region. Oh, by the way, that the people here are stunning. Seriously, its a mix of people that makes them ridiculously beautiful. It’s kind of unfair.
Fitness
People are overwhelmingly fit here. And for good reason. There are so many activities here, and most of the towns are connected by maintained trails, so walking is an option just about anywhere you want to go. It’s gotta be said. It’s nice to be in a place where people take care of themselves. I can honestly say that I haven’t come across one obese person since being here. I really can’t think of the last time I have been able to say that. It does help that their food is clean and usually locally produced by the endless farms here. OHH OHH and most importantly, I have come across more outside calisthenics parks here than anywhere else I have been, and I love it! But I am weird like that and it’s one of the ways that I can tell a region puts fitness as a high priority.
Locally Owned
Refuges and hotels are still majority owned by families. Places feel real. There’s, of course, this manicured look, but it’s clear that it comes from a place of pride rather than window dressing for tourists. Besides a few sports and grocery chains, I haven’t seen any huge chains out here, certainly not any fast food chains.
Trails
Trails are abundant and well-maintained. Every trail, even ones rarely used, is well-marked and maintained. I’ve gone on many off-the-beaten-path trails where I thought there would be no way to maintain the trail, only to find fallen trees that have already been sawed to allow hikers to continue down the path. Another great part of the trails here is that for every ascension climbed, you will be rewarded with better and better views. It’s magnificent.
Activities
Winter sports. Summer sports. Whatever kind of sport you are into, they’ve got it. Okay, maybe not surfing but damn near everything else. Here’s a quick list of what I have either done or seen people do while I have been here during the summer:
Trekking
Trail Running
Road Biking
Mountain Bike
Via Ferrata (basically a sport that is somewhere between mountain climbing and scrambling)
Mountain climbing
Scrambling
Skydiving
Swimming
Paragliding
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I have only seen a small fraction of this region so far, but man, from what I have seen, I love it. At the very least I highly recommend people put the Dolomites on their Italian travel list. This place will blow your mind away.