Trentino: visit stunning Italian holiday hotspot with beautiful lakes, mountains and wine, away from the crowds

It’s not prosecco we’re drinking, the most popular type of fizz in the world, but instead Italy’s answer to Champagne - Trentodoc. This is only made in Trentino using the traditional method of creating sparkling wine, and the result is a beautifully light, dry glass of fizz that’s the polar opposite of the relentless bubbles of prosecco.

It’s the first night of the trip and I’m already hooked. “This bottle is from 50 metres away,” our guide, Katia says, before correcting herself and changing the distance to 200 metres from the hotel.

This may seem extraordinary, but it’s no surprise in Trentino. The veranda of my room at the Hotel Cristallo (139 euro a night with breakfast) opens out onto a vineyard, and the valley is filled with wineries

I’m staying in Levico Terme, a historic spa town on the shores of the Lago di Levico, where the sparkling wine is stored to rest. It sits at 520 metres altitude which means it’s a perfect location for making Trentodoc due to the warm days and cooler nights. The town is a spectacular location, surrounded by the jagged snow-capped peaks of the Lagorai mountain range. It couldn’t be more different from the popular tourist spots of Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia. 

Trentino - great in the summer or winter

It’s in the south-east of Trentino, one of Italy’s autonomous provinces, which sits towards the top of the boot, not far from the border with Switzerland. It stretches from Lake Garda in the south to the spectacular Brenta Dolomites in the north, making it a great holiday destination in any season. The elegant and lively university city of Trento is the provincial capital.

It’s very popular for sport - skiing and snowboarding in the winter and hiking and cycling in the warmer months. The area has a strong German influence, as it borders Sud Tyrol to the north. Both provinces initially formed part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and during the First World War around 55,000 Trentini ended up fighting against Italy, despite the fact that they spoke Italian. Both provinces were given to Italy in 1919 after the First World War. In Sud Tyrol, German is still the first language. 

You can feel this influence in the region’s cuisine. At Hotel Cristallo, I’m treated to the local speciality, carne salada, which is sliced raw beef, flavoured with cumin and other spices, and served with cheese, salad and cabbage. It’s absolutely delicious, almost like a Trentino version of steak tartare, and I tuck into that ahead of the prosciutto for the rest of the trip.

I’m also served what I’d tentatively describe as a German-style lasagna, which is pasta sheets filled with radicchio, speck and scamorza cheese. The result is a hearty, smokey dish, which is unlike any other lasagna I’ve tasted. The main dish is perfectly cooked lamb, with a morel mushroom sauce and chicory. This is washed down with another spectacular local wine, this time a red from Cantina Salizzoni. 

Trentodoc

As the rain tumbles down and the clouds hang low around the mountains, I’m taken to Castel Ivano - a 12th century castle with spectacular views across the Lagorai range and the stunning town of Borgo Valsugana. This is where the Terre del Lagorai, one of the 65 wineries in the region which make Trentodoc, holds its tastings (23 euro per person).

Stefano Dalledonne tells me that wine was made in the region to give to soldiers in the First and Second World Wars. Terre del Lagorai grows grapes between 300 to 650 metres altitude. The vines ripple up the mountains behind me, as the ivy peels around the castle walls. The warmer day temperatures preserve the freshness and acidity, while the cooler nights give energy to the plants which is important for sparkling wine. 

The vineyard makes three different versions of Trentodoc, including a beautiful, light rose made with pinot noir. “It’s more difficult because of the change in climate,” Stefano says, “but it’s important to preserve.” Terre del Lagorai makes a delicious, sweet white wine with Kerner grapes, which is more sustainable as they don’t need to be sprayed to cope with frosts. 

A light pinot noir is another favourite, that I return home with alongside the rose. I probe Stefano about his favourite, however he says it would be like choosing a favourite child. 

After several more glasses of wine that I’m used to before midday, a hearty lunch is needed to soak up the alcohol and I’m taken to Al Legno - a typical Trentino mountain restaurant. There are juicy cubes of polenta served with peppery Italian sausages and ribs. 

The highlight of the meal is a Trentino classic of strangolapreti, which is large gnocchi-like pasta cooked with sage and butter. It’s named after the gluttonous priests in Trento, who used to guzzle so much food they would choke.

Different languages and cultures

After lunch, I’m taken deeper into the mountains to Arte Sella (10 euro for adults)  - a spectacular land art reserve. Sculptures are weaved into the hillside and then nature is allowed to take its course. In total there are 32 artworks to take in over a one kilometre walk, through the mountains where the First World War was fought.

We wind through trenches, followed the whole way by Romeo, one of the two Arte Sella cats. Highlights are Henrique Oliveira’s intertwined tree trunks and the haunting Tree Cathedral by Giuliano Mauri. Soon the leaves will grow over to complete the roof. It’s the perfect day out for a family with young children, as many of the artworks have little coves to explore.

The next day, the sun has finally peaked out from behind the clouds, and I’m greeted with the postcard view of the mountains surrounding the hotel. At the bottom of the valley the lake shimmers. We’re travelling to the Valle dei Mocheni, home of the Mòcheni people who speak one of the three minority languages of Trentino. 

They originally emigrated from Germany in the 13th century to dig for silver and bronze. Around 2,000 people still speak the Germanic language, and as our van winds up the mountain the signs are translated from Italian into Mòcheno. We go past a woman wearing the traditional dress of a shawl and a headscarf. It almost feels like we’ve travelled back in time.

The other official languages of the region - which make it such a fascinating and diverse place - are Cimbra and Ladin. There are only 200 native Cimbra speakers left, which is similar to a South Bavarian dialect. To try and keep the language alive, the government will pay people to live in the mountains for three or four years and learn Cimbra. Ladin is more similar to Italian, and originated from the Celts.

We meet Francesca Zeni and Anna Perdibon 1,200 metres up in the mountains to go foraging (12 euro each or free with Valsugana guest card). Next to us is a beautiful Alpine meadow and in the distance the Brenta Dolomites sparkle. We’re going to pick some herbs and make a pesto to eat on the mountainside - I feel energised despite all the wine from the day before.

Francesca starts by casually plucking some nettles, showing no signs of discomfort. She gives us a foraging pep talk: “You should only pick what you need and no more. Nature is abundant but you have to respect it. You are a guest in nature, human beings think that it’s our property - if we go and pick up plants we have to do it with respect.”

And slightly worryingly she adds: “You have to know what you are picking, there are lots of poisonous plants and you can die if you pick the wrong plant.” However I feel confident remaining alive with Francesca, she has been a forager and a mountain guide for more than 10 years. 

And her enthusiasm is contagious. We pick wild raspberry and strawberry for the pesto, as well as blueberry and cranberry. This isn’t going to be your standard Sacla fare. Francesca and Anna hand out herbs and flowers to try, saying: “Flowers are the maximum expression of plants, when you eat flowers you feel well.”

Francesca explains how mountain communities used plants to heal illnesses: “Information was passed down through the generations. People that lived in the mountains had to heal themselves for centuries. But until the end of the Second World War everybody used plants for medicine.” While anthropologist Anna adds: “A lot of the traditional knowledge and hand crafts were lost.”

We sit at a picnic table in the meadow, and bash together the pesto over a cup of nettle tea. Francesca explains that foraging is getting more popular with young people, and I can see why. The pesto is fresh and flavourful, unlike any I’ve had before, the mountain air feels cleansing and my notebook is full of new facts and ideas. 

With the sun out in the afternoon we cycle through the valley along a bike path, past the jet blue streams flowing down from the mountains, to Borgo Valsugana. It’s known as the Venice of Trentino and has been named as one of the prettiest towns in Italy. It’s some claim and I can immediately see why, as bars and restaurants overhang the Brenta River. It looks like the perfect spot for an aperitivo, but we don’t have time as we’re heading to Castel Pergine. 

A 12th century castle you can stay in

The castle sits alone on a hilltop with stunning views across the valley and of the mountains around. There was first a house here during Roman times, as it sits along the road from Augsburg in Germany to Rome. “The outside, it’s a patchwork,” Cristina Eberle, the effervescent manager tells me, “everybody who came here did something new, used the castle in a different way.”

The walls are 12th century or older, while the main building, the Palazzo Baronale, was refurbished in the 16th century. The roof of the castle was ingeniously inverted to collect water. It was used for centuries to govern the valley, however for the last 100 years it’s been a spectacular hotel.

Guests can stay in the four towers, which sit on the ramparts, as well as old fashioned and modern rooms in the main building, from the end of March to the middle of October (double rooms from 130 euro a night). Even if you’re not a guest you can take a stroll around the castle through the gardens and book in for dinner, both things I’d highly recommend.

We climb a rocky outcrop to the edge of the Square Tower, which has a sublime view over the lakes and snowy peaks. Cristina says she likes to sit out here in the middle of night and look at the stars, and I can understand why - it’s so peaceful.

Cristina takes us through an old door and I find myself in a beautiful walled garden. Ivy winds up the guest rooms to the left, while in front of us the old castle towers above. Trees are dotted around the grass, alongside chairs for guests to relax in.

“We don’t have a wellness centre,” Cristina says, “this is our natural wellness centre.” This fits in with the hotel’s ethos of being a place of calm, where guests can unwind. There are no TVs in the rooms and there is no wifi. It’s easy to understand why the hotel has been so popular with philosophers and thinkers, such as the Indian spiritual figure Jiddu Krishnamurti in the 1920s.

The inner garden is the perfect place for an aperitivo, before heading up into the castle for dinner. Many of the rooms here haven’t been altered for centuries. On the top floor, an old bedroom still has its paint from the 1500s on the walls, while a torture dungeon reminds visitors of the castle’s medieval past.

The dinner is spectacular and the wine, as with the rest of Trentino, is divine - a perfect end to a perfect trip.

NationalWorld was a guest of Visit Trentino. For more information on the region of Trentino and the city of Trento, visit here.