Consider a beautiful off-road trip to the northern Italian destination Bolzano! The easy-to-navigate city, also known as Bozen, is the perfect location if you plan a gravel trip with female or male cycling friends. It is a city and area where you will find everything. It is not a long flight (to Verona and then by train) or you can travel all the way by train from Utrecht to Bolzano. Due to long waiting times at Schiphol or lost luggage, the latter might even be the faster option 😉. Gravel in Bolzano is versatile, challenging, but a must-do.
Text: Femke Rotteveel – photos: Femke Rotteveel – Sander Kolsloot – Lotte van Trigt
Culinary highlight
Bolzano is full of delicious restaurants, such as for example dinner at Italia & Amore or lunch at Corte. Of course, a wine tasting is a must on this trip, especially one where they serve Lagrein. That’s the local grape variety, which they also serve at Schmid Oberrautner Have fun with delicious wines. In October it was too cold to sit in their beautifully landscaped garden, but you can stay there for hours if you want.
Lazy day out
On a rainy day there are also a number of options; for example, you can Runkelstein Castle visits, where you have great views from the tower over the valley with all the vineyards. Alternatively, you can go to the Archaeological Museum, Where you can read and watch the whole story of Ötzi the Iceman. Also fun for people who don't like museums!
Bolzano = cycling
But when you plan this trip, it’s first and foremost about cycling. In this area you don’t have to worry about that. Bolzano is the starting point of the Giro della Dolomiti, an amateur cycling race with stages that guarantee beautiful views and great climbs. But you can also get around easily with a gravel bike here. To get out of the city, you use the ‘piste ciclabili’, a beautifully maintained cycle path that allows you to cycle outside the city in no time at all.
Vineyards – Tree groves – Gravel
After that, you can expect a combination of bike paths between the apple orchards with the mountains on the left and right and unpaved roads between the vines. If you want to climb on gravel, that is also possible, but make sure that you and the rest of the group have good climbing legs, because here everything is steep. What you can expect after steep climbs are beautiful views of the valley. Often with the mighty Dolomites in the background as well. You have to suffer a little, but then you get something in return.
Stoarnane Mandl – a real challenge
Climbs of 15% are not an exception; sometimes there are even outliers of more than 20%. But is it worth it? Absolutely! After a long morning on the bike you reach the 2500 meter mark and you reach the stone men, Stoarnane Mandl. Hikers and cyclists pile up stones here into small towers & each visit looks different because of weather conditions and newly created piles. This place exudes something magical.
Descending is fun, but challenging, and be careful not to accidentally pick one of the MTB or hiking trails. Preparing the route is essential if you want to ride gravel in this area. Choosing the right route is essential here. Be sure to also look at routes that have already been ridden before and keep an eye on ‘this road is impassable. You should also take into account the incoming darkness and the weather that is very changeable in the mountains.
In short
In short, Bolzano is a perfect city from which to set off for challenging gravel rides with beautiful views and to relax afterwards with delicious Italian food or a wine tasting. Gravel in Bolzano is a bit different from, for example, the Achterhoek. You can cycle here almost all year round, with the real winter months excluded. Soon in the spring it gets warm here and until the end of October you can enjoy the surroundings in a beautiful sunny setting. When it really gets hot, you might be better off heading to the mountains; there it cools down a bit more. In October is the most beautiful month, the month of Hunting.
Read also: Bolzano: your gravel basecamp in the Dolomites
Gravel routes in Bolzano
See here some (very challenging) routes that we (partly) rode during our visit to Bolzano.
Questions & tips
Do you have any questions about this route, or have you been there yourself? Share them here. We read everything and usually respond within a few days.