e-borghi travel 2, Well-being and villages: San Candido, a destination for all seasons

San Candido, a destination for all seasons San Candido is set in the unspoilt park of the three Peaks in the upper Pusteria Valley, it’s an ancient village that can still combine the traditions from South Tyrol with the warm Italian hospitality and the middle European atmosphere along its streets. The Austrian border is very near and its vocation is the well being. The well being is featured by breathless landscapes, you can spend hours in front of the amazing three peaks of Lavaredo to see the way they change from dawn to sunset when their colours go from the purple to the bright orange or you can chose among a wide range of sports activities that are offered in outdoor spaces of rare beauty in all seasons and you can also enjoy the food and its great variety, from the typical “canederli” to the Spätzle and the delicious apples strudel. Winter: not just skiing San Candido is one of the best loved Winter resorts in the Dolomites thanks to its skiing facilities of the three peaks of Lavaredo where there are around 110 kilometres of tracks at your disposal for all levels among which you can also find the steepest track in Italy, the Holzriese, with a 71% slope. Skiing is only one of the sports activities you can do in this area. The magic of snow in this valley meets all needs, it is great for the cross-country ski lovers who have around 200 kilometres of tracks at their disposal of different levels of difficulty, the Braies tracks and the Fiscalina Valley as well, they can snowboard in the snow-park, they can hike by using the snowshoes along a number of tracks and ski rings surrounded by nature, you can go for amazing walks in the surroundings and you can also have fun with the sled and in the evening. The thousand colours of nature The nature in the Dolomites is a burst of colours in all seasons: from the endless blossomed fields in Spring to the light intense green in Summer and the bright red and the red ochre in Fall. The colours match the different scents: the mountain flowers that the bees turn into honey, the forests scents of the warm Summer days, the mushrooms and the moss when it’s starting to get cold. If you want to be surrounded by all that you can go for amazing walks, you can have two or three days trips, you can stay in the mountains huts to have something to eat or rest at night. It’s not just about the Nordic walking, there are also several tracks where you can go mountain-biking or horse-riding and you can observe the endless green fields, the forests and the pastures from the air balloon or you can also try a paragliding experience. The bobsled facility on the rail is also available for kids. Stone beauty Although the nature is the absolute protagonist of a holiday in San Candido, after spending an entire day skiing or walking in the forests to cool up, the beautiful handful of stone houses featured by their sloping roofs hide more than a surprise to end your day. The peaks that are all around offer amazing views enriched with the beautiful tower-bells that pop op everywhere, the one with the shape of an onion of the Church of San Michele is stunning and it faces the huge quadrangular tower bell of the Collegiata of San Candido that is considered the most important Roman building of South Tyrol dates back to 1043 but it was built on the remains of a previous Benedictine Monastery dating back to the year 769. The area is also enriched with a number of nice cafés, pubs, restaurants and inns. An address you can’t miss is the DoloMythos, the museum of natural history that sounds a fairy tale while outside the city the hunting castle that dates back to the past century and the Wildbad Baths built at the beginning of the XVIth century near four sulphurous mineral sources deserve a visit. A treasure chest full of gifts You don’t have to be trekking or hiking experts to discover the several natural gems that you can reach from San Candido: a walk along the tracks leaving from the village will enable you to see the massive fortress of Baranci, a peak whose German name Haunold tells about a legend of the giants Hauno and Huno who fought in this land and you can still see the drawings of their deeds on the walls of some houses. A few kilometres far (ten minutes by car) you can discover a real jewel, the Lake of Dobbiaco, it’s a tiny lake surrounded by the green forests where the bravest ones can also try a diving experience in Summer. Then around twenty kilometres farther there’s another lake of rare beauty, it is the lake Braies, called the “gem of the alpine lakes” because of its bright blue colour that sometimes turn into charming emerald green shades. Sleeping, tasting, buying In San Candido, in the heart of the High Pusteria Valley you can spend your time in the magic facilities that are at your disposal in the village. The hotel Cavallino Bianco is the symbol of history and tradition, its fame is related to the railway the used to link the Pusteria Valley to the Eastern Alps. It has been aknowledged as one of the best historical buildings since 2014 and the hotel offers to its guests the room of the Lord, the room of the Emperor and the room of the King. The hotel Baranci is another elegant place, it has been totally restyled, it’s five minutes far from the historical centre and the pedestrian area and it’s very near to the ski-lifts. It combines the modern wooden design to the very good cooking. The Boutique Hotel Zenana’s suite rooms are well known, they all look out on the mountains of the high Pusteria Valley: from Zenobia to Lakshmi, from Giselle to Audrey, from Anastasia to Samblana, from Elena to Modjadji and Coco. At the restaurant Walter you can eat the traditional IGP speck from Alto Adige, the canederli with cheese and melted butter, the pappardelle (a type of pasta) with the roe sauce, the grilled veal steak, the lamb chop with the herbs and the fillet of beef cooked on the stone. At the restaurant Jora Mountain Dining the alpine cooking meets the Mediterranean one so the gourmets can find their paradise there, the typical soup of canederli with the speck is followed by the rich lunch from Tyrol with the “kaminwurz” and the typical cheese as well as the chestnuts tagliolini with the chamois sauce. The barbecue of potatoes and beef, the apples strudel are the specialities of the farmhouse Glinzhof, a place located in a breathless landscape. You can’t miss a stop at the Wachtler, one of the best shops of the Dolomites if you want to bring back a souvenir or a taste from this area of the Alps: you can find the chocolate, the typical sweets, the jam and a number of different types of artistic objects to collect. If you like the speck you must stop at the Alpine Hut of Speck where you can buy the traditional speck, the fillet of speck, the reserve type or the speck of boar.

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