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)As soon as we landed in the regional capital, Bolzano, we sensed the efficiency and cleanliness of Switzerland, the Alpine beauty of Austria and a fascinating culinary marriage of Italian and German.
But we weren’t just here to admire the natural beauty and gorge on cheeseboards – we were on a mission to discover why South Tyrol has such a density of saunas in a relatively small geographical area.
The area is embroidered with spa towns where thermal waters bubble up from underground, and have been popular since the 19th century. One of them is the thermal village of Naturns (also known as Naturno), around 40 minutes’ drive northwest from Bolzano on the Adige river, where people have been enjoying the hot mineral springs since Roman times.
This area is also home to three family-run Dolce Vita hotels that harness this mineral water, which emerges from a depth of around 200m at the foot of Monte Sole at 17°C. Along with two more Dolce Vita properties nearby, together they flaunt a staggering 41 pools, 35 saunas, 31 relaxation rooms and five rooftop spas – including a six-floor sauna tower at the adults-only Preidlhof hotel, where we were staying.
Rob soaks up the views from one of the many saunasAs self-confessed sauna fanatics, my wife Josie and I were delighted to find that with its hotel-hopping concept, we would be able to sample the saunas or restaurants at any of the other four Dolce Vita hotels, all run by generations of the same families. The guesthouses came together under one umbrella around 25 years ago when they pioneered modern wellness tourism in the region.
Our first day at Preidlhof was spent gliding between floors sampling saunas, cold plunges, naked rooftop pools and probably our favourite experience – a snow room complete with mini snow drifts …the perfect place to chill out at -10°C after a sauna. It’s also a refreshing counterpoint to the hot, dry heat down at sea level across much of Europe this summer.
The show sauna, with its muscular, towel-whirling Aufguss masters silently steamed at 90 degrees and even during a European heatwave it all seemed to make perfect sense to sit in the steam with our fellow guests and embrace the heat.
Meals were taken in the eye-poppingly well-stocked restaurant with probably the largest and most sumptuous buffet breakfast I’ve ever seen – mountains of pancakes, local fruit and charcuterie boards to die for, taken on a sun-dappled balcony overlooking the valley. Dinners were slightly more formal with gourmet cooking and plenty of opportunities to sample excellent, crisp Alto Adige wines such as Gewurztraminer and local Alta Badia and Stelvio cheeses.
A riverside promenade in the spa town of Merano (Photo: johannes86/Getty)The next day we borrowed a couple of the hotel’s high-end e-bikes and whizzed down to historic Merano, a major thermal spa town that was put on the map as part of the 19th-century Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its showpiece is now the modern cube-glass Terme Merano complex on the Passer River, as well as its medieval fortress, arcades, and high-level Tappeiner promenade that offers views of the town below.
We pedalled back up to Naturns, dropped the bikes and walked five minutes to sister hotel Lindenhof, where we were blessed with seven more incredible saunas that are looked after by Aufguss world champion Claudio Massa.
The panoramic sky sauna overlooks the rooftops of Naturno, and there are infrared cabins, a huge Finnish sauna with aromatic infusions and windows onto a nature park, a mini castle sauna by a fire pit, a saline pool and a thermal pool fed with blissful, healing water from deep underground.
The Feldhof’s panoramic sauna (Photo: Armin Terzer Photography/Dolce Vita Hotels)While many of us love sauna culture for its tranquillity, it turns out a lot of us have kids too, so it was great to walk another five minutes to the Feldhof Resort, where not only are there numerous places to chill out and relax but also plenty of fun for families. This includes an 80-metre indoor flume, indoor football pitch and family spa.
South of Merano, the Alpiana hotel – with Dolomites views and guided mountain hikes and biking, rafting and high ropes – is ideal for picking up the pace in this dramatic setting.
Having made previous sauna pilgrimages to Finland and Estonia, South Tyrol hadn’t been an obvious destination for us, but we were sold on its majestic backdrops and the easy access to post-sauna hiking, cycling, impressive modern spas and a paradisical landscape.
Rob and Josie da Bank run Camp Bestival in Dorset, with the Slomo wellbeing area and tickets available this weekend
How to get there
Sky Alps flies from Gatwick to Bolzano, alternatively, fly to Milan, Verona or Innsbruck in Austria.
Where to stay
Dolce Vita Hotels room rates start at €171 (£150) per person per night, including breakfast, afternoon buffet and dinner, as well as the hotel hopping concept. Four-night packages at the Preidlhof hotel start at €996pp (£850).
More information
merano-suedtirol.it
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