Christmas Markets in South Tyrol

[Sara]

This is a trip I took 5/6 years ago, but I guess it would be an interesting read given the fact it’s Christmas time.
I have friends in South Tyrol (known in Italian as Alto Adige), who invited me to have a look at their traditional Christmas Markets. Nowadays you can find the Christmas Markets basically everywhere in the country, but those in South Tyrol were absolutely the first, given the region’s ties to the “German” culture.

During the festivities South Tyrol hosts several markets in most of its towns; the so-called “original South-Tyroler Markets“ though are just five and during my stay there we decided to make some sort of tour and visit them all.

I arrived in Bolzano, the capital of South Tyrol, with a Trenitalia train leaving from Veneto (where I live). If you travel from the South, you can catch Trenitalia or Italo trains directed toward Bolzano or Brennero or DB / OBB trains directed toward Munich (they usually stop in Bolzano). The closest airports are those in Innsbruck and Verona.
I didn’t stay in a hotel, as I was a guest at my friend’s, but I know for sure that if you stay in a hotel you are granted a guest card that allows you to travel for free with the public transportation system in the whole region (trains, bus, cableways etc.)

 

[Sara]

1st DAY - BOLZANO'S CHRISTMAS MARKET

The first day I stayed in town and visited the first original market, the Bolzano’s one, which is the largest of South Tyrol.

For a big part, it takes place in Waltherplatz, the main square of the city and seat of the city’s Dom, characterized by a majestic roof made of green, black and ochre tiles that form a peculiar pattern.







The piazza takes its name after the monument dedicated to Walther von der Vogelweide, the greatest medieval poet and minnesinger of the German language allegedly born in South Tyrol.

Near the piazza there was a building of the Public Administration that served as an Advent Calendar during the Festivities!









The city centre is quite small and one can walk though it quite easily and enjoy all the Christmas decorations in all freedom.

These decorations, for instance, were really pretty and they hanged from a historical hotel/restaurant near Piazza delle Erbe, where the local vegetable market takes place.