7 January 2016

Suitcase. Merano, Italy – Travel Guide

The best thing about living in London is having friends from all over the world. My beautiful friend Valentine is a gorgeous Italian from the Southern Tyrol region at the north of the country. Her home town is a quaint little place called Merano and boy can I tell you, it was a magical spot to spend Christmas. I’ll try and keep it short and sweet with this one because I think the photos simply speak for themselves. Behold the serenity…

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery
 That's my Dad, he came over to visit for Christmas

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

Sights
Mountains, mountains everywhere. Literally. They surround every inch of this scenic part of the country. Driving up to Merano from Milan felt like the beginning of a fairytale, I was just waiting for a knight in shining armour riding a horse driving a Ferrari to appear. We passed many-a-little-village, each as charming as the next and ooh'ed and ahh’ed at the historic castles perched on the mountains’ cliff edges.

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

Merano itself is a spa town know year-round for its thermal pools. With a quaint little stream running through the centre and charming Austrian-style architecture it’s a great place to spend the festive season. There were Christmas markets on every corner and children performing routines on the ice rink.

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery, ice skating, children, kids, winter

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery, christmas

If you’ve got time then I highly recommend a trip up Vigiljoch Mountain in neighbouring Lana. We did so on Christmas Day and it was definitely one to remember starting with a cable car ride up to 1,300m before hopping into little chairs for an open air experience to climb the final 600m.

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

The air was clear, the sky was blue and the views, well check them out…

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

A little church sat solitary on a hill chiming out its bells across the hills...

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

Frost covered the ground where the sun hadn't yet reached...

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

And children played on the ice of the frozen lake...

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery, ice, frozen, winter, children, kids

Afraid I might fall through, I preferred the swing.

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery, swing, play

Transport
We had a hire car for our leg of the trip in order to visit neighbouring towns like Bolzano and Bressanone. Merano itself is small enough to walk everywhere yet I’m certain you’ll want to explore past its borders, look how charming these places were too.

bolzano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery
The main street of Bolzano 

bolzano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery
Christmas markets in Bolzano 

bolzano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery
The church in Bolzano

bolzano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery
The very Austrian architecture of Bolzano

bolzano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

bressanone, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery
The church in Bressanone 

bressanone, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

bressanone, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

bressanone, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery
Magical Bressanone

Food
It’s safe to say I returned from my Christmas trip several kilos heavier. There is so much great food in this region and whilst not all traditionally Italian, it’s just as enjoyable with its German/Austrian influence. There were plenty of pizzas, schnitzels and cold meats and cheeses. If you’re here at Christmas time, then the mulled wine is second to none too. Sorry no photos, we were too busy eating!

Whilst there was no snow in the region (the first year in many), I certainly had myself a merry little Christmas in this winter wonderland.

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

merano, italy, travel, adventure, wanderlust, mountains, scenery

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Photos by Krissie.