Alpe di Siusi

The Seiser Alm covers about fifty-six square kilometres of gently rolling pasture between roughly seventeen hundred and twenty-three hundred metres, the largest high alpine meadow in Europe, with the flat-topped Sciliar and the Sassolungo group rising directly from it. It has been grazed for centuries and is still worked, with hay barns scattered across the slopes. The plateau road is closed to non-resident traffic during the day, so access is by cable car from Siusi or on foot, which keeps it quiet. In winter it becomes a broad, gentle ski area with cross-country tracks across the meadows.

History

The area was once a primeval forest where Middle Stone Age people hunted, in the Bronze Age people began to graze cattle here, and a Roman mule path still leads up to the plateau from Siusi (Wikipedia, Seiser Alm).

What you'll find

• The open meadow - 56 square kilometres of rolling high pasture.
• The Sciliar - a flat-topped massif rising from the plateau edge.
• The hay barns - working buildings scattered across the slopes.
• The winter tracks - cross-country skiing over the same meadows.

When to go

June to September for walking and flowers, with the bloom peaking in June. Winter for skiing. The plateau road is closed to daytime traffic year-round.

Good to know

Private cars cannot drive up during the day, so plan around the cable car hours. It is popular and the main paths are busy. Weather at altitude changes fast.

Nearby

Val Gardena lies east; Bolzano is southwest.

Key facts