Travel guide St. Christina
Over the Brenner into the alpine mountain world of northern Italy
The community of St. Christina in Val Gardena (Ladin Gherdëina and Italian Santa Cristina Valgardena) is located in the Val Gardena Valley in the
Dolomites in the
South Tyrol-Trentino region. You can easily reach your holiday apartment in St. Christina by train. The nearest train stations are Klausen and
Bolzano. From there, regular buses run into the Val Gardena Valley. By car, you can reach your holiday accommodation in St. Christina from the north via the Brenner motorway (A22), exit Klausen/Val Gardena. Book accommodation or an apartment in the village center, an apartment or a holiday home with Wi-Fi, a sunny terrace, and a kitchen, and enjoy relaxing holidays with your family according to your personal wishes in the magnificent Val Gardena Valley.
Warm summers and crisp cold winters in St. Christina
St. Christina is located at 1,428 meters above sea level in the Val Gardena Valley. The alpine climate offers long cold winters and mild summers with lots of sunshine. In July and August, the maximum temperatures can sometimes reach 30 °C. The winters are perfect for a
ski holiday with numerous slopes in St. Christina. The pronounced microclimates in South Tyrol mean that wine-growing regions and glaciers are often only a few kilometers apart. With your own house or apartment in the village center, you can explore numerous slopes, hiking trails, and excursion destinations nearby.
Feasting in the mountains with a glass of wine
Alpine cuisine with a Mediterranean touch - this is probably the best way to describe South Tyrolean cuisine. Traditional dishes are dumplings, fritters, and meat dishes. If you are traveling in autumn, you should visit the wine taverns in the wine-growing areas. There you can enjoy the home-made wine. Local delicacies like smoked meat, barley soup or homemade calf's head with onion rings, vinegar and oil, and bread are served with it. Gröstl is a traditional leftover dish. It consists of fried potatoes with onions, meat leftovers, and black pudding. There is also a variant with dried salted fish. The choice is particularly difficult among the meat dishes - whether beef, veal, pork, poultry, lamb, or goat. The quality is outstanding, especially as more and more farms in South Tyrol are focusing on humane animal husbandry. The many forests provide excellent game. South Tyrolean wine, which is among the best wines in Italy, deserves a chapter of its own. In no other wine-growing region in the country is the proportion of quality wines higher than in South Tyrol. Try white wine from the
Eisack Valley or the indigenous red varieties Lagrein and Vernatsch, both of which have been cultivated in the Alto Adige for many centuries.
Whether in summer or winter, vacations take place outdoors
Your beautiful accommodation or holiday home or apartment in the village center of St. Christina is located in an idyllic valley of the Dolomites at over 1,400 meters above sea level. From here, you can enjoy numerous hiking, climbing, and cycling tours in the summer, such as to the small mountain lake Lech Sant on the Mastlé-Alm. The lake is located at the foot of the Pitschberg and the Seceda. A leisurely stroll takes you to the Tervela waterfall directly opposite the village center. Well-developed hiking trails lead through the forest and over the upper edge, offering a panoramic view of the valley directly below the waterfall. The newly designed Val Gardena railway path runs along an old railway track. All paths are also perfect for a
holiday with a dog in St. Christina. In winter months, the ski areas Monte Pana in the south and Col Raiser and Seceda in the north attract visitors, all connected to the Sellaronda and the Gardenaronda (Dolomiti Superski). One of the most beautiful mountains within the Dolomiti Superski network is the
Kronplatz near Bruneck. The valley is the venue for the Alpine Ski World Cup every year. The men's super-G downhill race on the weekend before Christmas can be perfectly combined with the Christmas market in St. Christina. Also, take a trip to St. Ulrich or Wolkenstein or hike to the Langkofel.
Churches, castles, and classical (alpine) modernity in St. Christina
The cultural history of the Val Gardena Valley dates back many millennia. The history of the church community began around the year 1000. Even before the present church, there is said to have been a chapel dedicated to St. Christina in the valley. The bell tower of the church, dating from Romanesque times, is the oldest part of the church. The Gothic choir room dates from the 16th century. Of the three castles in the valley, only the Fischburg remains today. The Renaissance-style complex dates from 1622 to 1641. The castle was a summer and hunting lodge and not a fortification, although its appearance quotes medieval castles. Today, the castle is owned by a noble family from Venice. Only ruins remain of the castles of Wolkenstein and Stetteneck. On Monte Pana, there is a sundial that, in addition to Central European time, displays the true local time (with the highest position of the sun as noon). Among modern buildings, the Hotel Monte Pana is worth seeing. It is considered a flagship project of classical modern alpine architecture dating back to the 1930s. Rent a holiday accommodation or a chalet, an apartment, a holiday apartment, or a holiday home in the Val Gardena Valley with a sunny terrace, kitchen, Wi-Fi, and according to your personal wishes and enjoy unforgettable, relaxing holidays with your family.