How to spend a weekend in Trentino

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

Trentino is a province of collisions. Stitched to the forested underbelly of South Tyrol, just south of the Swiss and Austrian borders, its spruce forests and opalescent lakes are shadowed by the Dolomites: grey-pink shark’s teeth mountains formed when the African and European tectonic plates made impact some 60 million years ago.

For the ancient Romans, these were frontier lands, with the nearby Brenner Pass on the Austrian border serving as a gateway for peoples, languages and recipes from the other side of the Alps. Today, those influences can be felt in everything from the hearty stews served in Trentino’s timber-framed restaurants to the old German dialect spoken in its remote mountain enclaves.

Though it’s the province’s extremities that attract the most visitors — the lake town of Riva del Garda in the south and the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort in the north — Trentino’s eccentricities shine through in its quieter corners. Haunted castles, forest art galleries and Alpine vineyards are some of the area’s highlights — all within easy reach of Trento, the provincial capital.

Day 1: Ravioli and renaissance charm

Morning
Start in Trento, a city spliced by the waters of the Adige River, which was once a hub for merchants carrying silk, amber and spices from North Africa and the Middle East. Such was its wealth that its Renaissance facades were brushed with ornate frescos in preparation for the Council of Trent in 1545, a meeting of Catholic clerics convened by Pope Paul III in response to the Reformation. Discover the symbolism behind the ‘Painted City’s’ best-preserved works with local tour guide Sabrina Deprà. Her walk takes you from cafes adorned with 16th-century hunting scenes to grand palazzos guarded by stone gods, one of which, Palazzo del Diavolo, was once thought to have been raised by the devil himself.

Afternoon
Head for lunch at Scrigno del Duomo, where outdoor tables look onto Trento’s gleaming basilica. There’s an old Roman wine cellar in the basement, which the waiters will happily show you if you ask nicely. Order the handmade ravioli and, if the season’s right, the asparagus risotto, wrapping up with a slice of fudgy sacher torte and an espresso before walking south along the river to MUSE Science Museum, one of the best in Italy. The glass structure’s six floors delve into the story of the surrounding Dolomites, from the prehistoric hunter-gatherers who wandered its crags to the primordial sea monsters fossilised within. Don’t miss the gardens, where apple trees blossom beneath limestone peaks.

Evening
From here, it’s a short hop to Trento Cable Car. First opened in 1925, its pods climb 1,300ft over the River Adige, gliding up the terraced vineyards of Monte Bondone to the town of Sardagna. The cafe at the top, Trento Alta, is a great spot for a sunset aperitivo overlooking the city. Order a ‘hugo’ — a cocktail of Prosecco, soda, elderflower cordial and fresh mint invented in Trentino-Alto Adige. Wait for the blood-orange sun to slip behind the mountains and then head back to Trento’s historic centre, having booked ahead for tender beef cuts and apple strudel at Osteria a Le Due Spade. The restaurant originally opened in 1545 to feed pilgrims and nobles during the Council of Trent.

Day 2: Cobbled streets & strangled priests

Morning
Grab something flaky from Sosi Trento on Via Suffragio — a bakery cherished by locals since the early 1920s — before catching a 50-minute train to Levico Terme. On the shores of Lake Levico in the Valsugana valley, the spa town is best known for its healing thermal waters. It also lies along the course of the Valsugana Cycleway, a 49-mile route linking the villages of Pergine in Trentino to Bassano del Grappa in neighbouring Veneto. Hire some wheels from Valsugana Rent a Bike and follow the Brenta River’s jade torrent west to the town of Borgo. A Venice in miniature, Borgo is well worth exploring; thanks to its cobbled streets and paint-box houses it was added to Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages list in 2022.

Afternoon
Carry on to Arte Sella, an open-air art gallery set deep in the forested hills above Borgo. Getting there by bike is an uphill struggle, so pause for lunch at Osteria Al Legno, a timber-framed enclave where chef Elena serves up Trentino classics like strangolapreti — literally ‘strangled priests’ — dumplings. Sufficiently fortified, totter over to the gallery, where mint green meadows give rise to installations designed to meld with the landscape as they slowly degrade. Keep an eye out for Giuliano Mauri’s Cattedrale Vegetale, a crop of artfully arranged beech saplings planted in 2010. They were designed to grow over the course of 20 years and have been gradually merging to form the columns and arches of a gothic basilica.

Evening
Take a tour of Castel Pergine, a medieval hillfort, hotel and gallery north of Levico. As the cicadas begin to whir, you’ll wander among flowering jasmine to a tower that 15th-century Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I once slept in. The adjoining Palazzo Baronale displays contemporary works by local and international artists, along with artefacts from the castle’s history, including early Renaissance portraits. Equally intriguing are the stories of Pergine’s permanent guests. Don’t miss the ‘White Lady Room’, where a benevolent spectre is said to have appeared to several staff members. Re-enter the world of the living with arctic char and punchy coffee panna cotta at the Palazzo Baronale’s candlelit restaurant.

Published in the June 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).

To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).