Skiing, Dining and Slow Living in South Tyrol’s Dolomites
For some of us, lingering over a long lunch when there are blue skies and more runs waiting to be thrashed is a colossal exercise in restraint. For others, the lunch is the highlight and bookings need to be made far in advance. Wherever you sit on the fence, the gastronomy in the South Tyrol is far from the heavy Alpine staples of potatoes and cheese and undoubtedly exceeds expectations.
The popular mountain restaurants I visited in Obereggen and Kronplatz are not just ski huts; they’re architectural works of art with menus that proffer foodie heaven whilst remaining firmly rooted in mountain culture.
© Oskar Dariz
The cantilevered Oberholz hut feels like a contemporary wooden stube, serving up colourful knödels garnished with flowers, with a sun-trap terrace and glass gable ends that each frame a different mountain in the distance. The overall scenery in Obereggen is awesome, right up close and personal with jagged dolomite rock faces whilst you cruise around the undulating valleys of the low-key resort.
Over towards Brunico, or Bruneck – people are often tri-lingual in the region, speaking German, Italian and local dialect Ladin – Michelin-starred chef Norbert Niederkofler endeavours to “cook the mountain,” sourcing hyper-locally for his stunning AlpiNN restaurant, which sits at 2,275m with floor-to-ceiling panoramic glass and loden wool design touches. Such delicate char ceviche is a rare treat in the mountains.
Remarkably, there is one more layer of cultural heritage to lure you away from the slopes in Kronplatz, which is well worth a stopover, even for die-hard first to last lifters. The summit features two separate museums, which are open winter and summer – one focusing on mountain photography and the other on traditional alpinism.
The LUMEN Museum is housed in the old cable car station. It tells the story of intrepid pioneers who carted around heavy equipment to capture a single shot, which is hard to imagine these days, though they have a decent collection of old camera gear to reinforce the point. Jumping into the current age, there’s a Red Bull ‘adrenaline room’ and a mesmerising ‘room of mirrors’ with looping video walls and kaleidoscopic scenes which blow your mind.
@Skirama
The Messner Mountain Museum (MMM Corones) is part of a wider project on six sites across the South Tyrol and nearby Belluno. Designed by Zaha Hadid, the space encapsulates Messner’s view that, “each mountain in the Dolomites is like a piece of art.”
Often regarded as one of the greatest mountaineers in history, Reinhold Messner hails from the South Tyrol and was the first to climb all 8,000m peaks globally and made the first ascent of Mt Everest without oxygen. Wandering through the halls, you are greeted with 250 years of climbing history, through artwork and relics – pick axes, battered crampons, boots and attachments from lauded expeditions.
Curator Agathe Fischnaller also brought out a medal from the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, echoing the wider ‘cultural Olympiad’ happening across Italy thanks to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, uniting art, heritage and sport.
It’s so easy to rock up to a ski resort, ski hard, have a bit of a party and head home. It took me by surprise how much I enjoyed seeing the mountains through a slow tourism lens, and that I could actually be torn away from racking up the ski miles for such a long, lingering moment.
That’s not to say we didn’t get any skiing in, far from it. With 31 lifts and 121km of pistes at Kronplatz, all conveniently linked to the Sella Ronda and Alta Badia on the Domomiti Superski pass, we covered a respectable amount of ground. And bombed down the World Cup run Erta, part of the ‘black five’ most challenging runs in the area, though there is plenty for all abilities.
I’d tend to think of the Dolomites as a week-long holiday destination but with direct flights from Gatwick to Bolzano in a propellor plane with Sky Alps twice a week (tip – take noise cancelling headphones), you could easily make it into a long weekend too. And Bolzano has a beautiful city centre, with a bustling Christmas market in December.
We stayed at the charming, family run Hotel Petrus in Brunico. In the fantastic spa, with indoor and outdoor pools, hay and waterbed relaxation rooms and various saunas, I was initiated into ‘aufguss’ culture, which if you haven’t experienced it, is unforgettable.
In the main sauna, a topless chap wearing a kilt put on some music and placed snowballs infused with essential oils onto the hot rocks, wafting the steam towards each person in turn. Swimwear isn’t allowed, although towels for modesty seem okay. The locals are certainly not shy.
The evenings are a quiet affair, with drinks around the fire and an outstanding restaurant on site, notable for the friendly service and field-to-table ethos befitting the artisans they are. The portions are just right, no food comas here, and every bite and sip is a joy. Combining southern ease and a rural sense of tradition, this corner of the South Tyrol has mastered the art of savouring every moment, not just racing through it.
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