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With its rugged mountain lodges and world-class ski slopes, Italy’s Alps may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about a European summer getaway, but it should be—especially when talking about the Dolomites. This lesser-known region, which nears the borders of Austria and Switzerland, may be home to some of the world’s largest ski areas, but the boutique spas and blossoming food scene are quickly overshadowing the slopes.
“The backcountry skiing here is great, but this is really an area that comes alive in summer once the flowers start blooming and people sit around the fireplace at night storytelling,” says Jan Clemens Von Wieser, the third generation to work at his family’s boutique hotel, Ciasa Salares, and one of Italy’s youngest sommeliers. During summer, Wieser not only plays DJ on the terrace at the hotel’s pig roasts and barbecues, he also looks for new ways to explore the peaks, typically with a picnic of specially sourced Italian cuisine involved.
From the Verona train station to the hotel in the town of San Cassiano, it’s a three-hour drive. Narrow roads pass through remote villages that were a challenge to reach until the early 19th century. When some began making the expedition to Alta Badia not long after, they had one goal in mind: climbing the Dolomite mountains. Today, photographers and explorers seek out this unique range for the color show that takes hold every evening as the sun sets, and the mountains change from fiery shades of red to softer pinks and oranges. The naturally occurring phenomenon results from the dolomite mineral-rich rocks that blanket the landscape and give the region its name.
In the summer months, boutique hotels in the area host prosecco-filled sundowners and Michelin-level apéritivos on terraces and mountaintops, while smaller lodges, which once served as homes for village farmers, transform into pop-up spas and restaurants. These mountain huts helped the region earn its nickname as the “gourmet valley,” with local producers and winemakers teaming up with award-winning chefs to offer gastronomic spreads.
Whether you’re more into spending your days on mountainside treks or dining on gourmet meals, there’s no shortage of ways to bask in one of Italy’s best-kept secrets come summer. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Plan a Movable Feast on the MountainsAs the yellow alpine poppies start blossoming across the meadows in June, Ciasa Salares re-creates its one-Michelin-star La Siriola restaurant as a laid-back pop-up eatery in the Maso Vanc mountain hut. Take a seat for a wine tasting curated from the hotel’s 16,000-bottle wine cellar—one of Italy’s largest. The country’s youngest starred chef, Matteo Metullio, looks to the surrounding hills for inspiration for his country-chic fare, whipping up dishes like roast suckling pig and saffron risotto with snails.
Back at the 50-room hotel, which overlooks Armentarola, the winter ski and summer hiking destination, Wieser can guide you through another type of mountaintop meal. Start with apéritivo on the terrace, sipping wines sourced from the surrounding South Tyrol region, while nibbling on speck cured on-site by Wieser’s grandfather. Make your way downstairs afterward for a fondue feast followed by something sweet in the cave-like Chocolate Room. Home to one of the largest cacao selections in the country, the dessert haven features everything from homemade raspberry and hay bars to the Venezuelan chocolate fountain.
Take a Wine-Fueled HikeIf you’d rather take your meal on the road, set off on one of the many hikes throughout the region’s more than 200 miles of trails. Treks range from light pasture strolls to fixed rope “via ferrata” routes and multiday jaunts through national parks. This summer, eight mountain huts along the trails will serve up different color-themed dishes during the Peaks of Gastronomy event. In each spot, a starred chef will craft cuisine based on the color of their choice, from green plates packed with seasonal veggies like artichokes and asparagus to rich red bowls of tomatoes and rhubarb, all served alongside a local sommelier-selected glass of South Tyrolean wine.
Sleep in a Mountainside ChaletWhen you’re ready to call it a night, cozy up in a private mountainside chalet like five-star Relais & Châteaux Rosa Alpina’s three-bedroom Châlet Zeno, the ultimate in luxury-lodge living (Finnish sauna and hammam shower included). This hotel is also home to Alta Badia’s two-Michelin-star Restaurant St. Hubertus, a former pizzeria named after the patron of the hunters. Eat your way through a project dubbed “Cook the Mountain” that is filled with creative country fare like honey- and milk-fed charcoal-roasted goose breast, as well as beef fillet straight from the eatery’s private pastures.
Bathe in the HayFor over a century, farmers in the area have mixed summer’s Swiss mountain pine and medicinal herbs like arnica (also known as mountain tobacco) with mountain grass and hay into heated baths meant to soothe bodies tired from tending to the fields. Indulge in a modern version of this age-old tradition at Hotel Heubad’s Marmot Hut, which lies just below Plattkofel mountain. It’s here where the historic hotel sources and stores its Dolomite hay—filled with more than 40 types of grass and flowers—for its summertime baths.
From the hotel’s location on Alpe di Siusi, the largest mountain plateau in Europe, make the three-hour-plus trek across the Pries meadows to the roughly 7,000-feet-high lodge, where you can experience what’s said to be one of the original versions of this healing hay bath.