More like this
Trekking in the Dolomites
The towering limestone peaks of Italy’s South Tyrol, which feels more like Austria
Approaching across the North Italian Plain, the traveller's first glimpse of the Dolomites is thrilling, says Jeremy Laurance in the Independent on Sunday.
"Towering pinnacles of bleached limestone", they seem utterly "alien", rising above the fields of "iridescent" green "like the monuments of an ancient civilisation". Walking amongst them, around the Sciliar plateau, you'll find the villages and meadows "immaculate, from the pretty window-boxes to the neat log piles": this region of Italy – the South Tyrol – is ethnically and culturally Austrian, and it shows.
The jagged peaks of the mountains still dominate at every turn, savage and untameable. Most impressive is the Plattkofel, whose peak is accessible via a "terrifying" zigzagging path over the "blindingly white rock".
Inntravel (01653-617906) has a week's walking holiday incl. hotels from £635pp. ·
