July 2009
Food
I should start by acknowledging that we are not foodies. We don’t plan our trips around
food and we prefer more casual meals to fine dining; nevertheless, we enjoy the meals
as a part of the whole travel experience and do usually put at least some effort into
selecting them.
As with accommodations, we didn't find a lot to go on here in terms of personal
recommendations or reviews—aside from one slightly scathing review of the pizza
place that we could see from our apartment window. Good tip! We were tempted once
but looked elsewhere. We did ask our proprietor for some recommendations, and she
provided a few. We certainly didn't find ourselves hurting for options within Selva, itself,
and especially with the other towns less than 15 minutes away.
We ate dinner out in Selva five times.
Our favorite restaurant, which we visited twice, was Sal Feur. It has a very nice terrace
with views of the mountains, and most of our dishes very good—particularly the pizza. It
seemed to be quite popular.
Most of the restaurants we visited have a mix of things you’d likely find on an Italian
menu and more traditional SudTirol fare. One of the regional specialties is speck, and
you will find it in quite a variety of dishes—particularly Speckknödel.
We did try to mix it up and sample some of the local specialties, including
schlutzkrapfen (ravioli filled with spinach), spinach gnocchi, polenta dishes, and
risotto—and, of course, apfelstrudel. I’m not sure if it’s a regional specialty, but menus
everywhere seemed to have gelato con lamponi caldi (vanilla ice cream with hot
raspberry sauce), which Allie discovered on day two and sought out just about every
day—in preference to the apfelstrudel.
One local restaurant, very close to our apartment, that specializes in SudTirol dishes is
the Speckkeller, which we enjoyed—but, watch out for the portions. We each ordered a
starter and a first course and the amount of food almost killed us.
We also were pleasantly surprised to find that you can eat very well at some of the
mountain huts. We particularly enjoyed our meals at these Rifugio Emilio Comici and
the Troier Hutte. I have no idea how they get all of the food and supplies up to some of
these huts, particularly the really remote ones such as the Puez Hutte.
We'd be remiss in not mentioning the local wine and beer. We ordered local house
wine just about everywhere and found it to be very good. We also went through a “few”
bottles at our apartment :) . And, Chris really enjoyed his Forst (Marisa's not much of a
beer drinker, but she thought it was pretty good, too).
Most of our meals tended to be in the $50 to $75 range for the three of us, which
included wine and/or beer. Only one, Speckkeller, was more ($110).
We also prepared some of our own meals, including a couple of dinners, breakfast
every day, and some awesome sandwiches for lunch on a few of our hikes. Selva has a
couple of Despar supermarkets, including a very nice (albeit not large) one in the
Gardena Center. We were in there at least every other day. Allie and Marisa were very
happy to be reunited with Barilla Mulino Bianco Abbracci—the tasty half chocolate, half
vanilla biscuits that were a highlight from last year’s extended family trip to Italy.
Finally, Selva has at least one excellent bakery, Costa. We went early on Saturday and
was surprised to find the place packed with people.
Language
We learned our lesson the first time through this area: even though it is in Italy, one
should be prepared for a lot of German. Ladin is, of course, the traditional language in
the Val Gardena, but the tourist facing infrastructure primarily is in German and Italian.
German seems to be predominant, but some establishments definitely seemed to
favor Italian (and most handle English fairly well, too). We always try our best to attempt
some local language (our Italian is definitely better than our German), but it is a little
trickier to gain momentum when constantly switching back and forth between two very
different languages.
Wrap up
This is an awesome place to visit, in every sense. The scenery, of course, is
astonishing at every turn...our online pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.
The hearty, unpretentious locals are helpful and welcoming. The roads are in excellent
shape, and the area is easy to get to (and easy to get around in). And, as stated, the
food, wine and beer are plentiful and consistently enjoyable. And despite all this, it didn't
really cost us an arm nor a leg.
So...where are all the Americans, Canadians, Australians, British...? We spent a full
week in the middle of summer vacation in the beating heart of the Dolomites and
encountered only a few stray English-speaking tourists. How can this magical place
with its rugged beauty and unbelievable wealth of hiking and biking trails be so far off
the vacation radar screens?
The inevitable comparison must be made between the Val Gardena and other well-
trodden destinations in the Alps, such as the Berner Oberland. We've now spent time in
both areas, and our general impression is that they are similar...but not the same. The
Bernese Alps are generally mightier, taller and more majestic, while the Dolomites tend
to be more dramatic, jagged and rugged. If the former seem to say, "Gaze upon me in
awe!" the latter seem to beckon you, "Come climb all over me...you know you want to!"
As for the lush, green valleys and comfortable alpine resort towns in both locales, they
are very similar indeed...although one does seem to find just a hint more of the easy-
going Italian joie de vie in the Dolomites. And a whole lot more pizza! Regardless, both
trips rank in the top tier of our very favorites.
Thanks for reading!
All of our trip photos
Home
I should start by acknowledging that we are not foodies. We don’t plan our trips around
food and we prefer more casual meals to fine dining; nevertheless, we enjoy the meals
as a part of the whole travel experience and do usually put at least some effort into
selecting them.
As with accommodations, we didn't find a lot to go on here in terms of personal
recommendations or reviews—aside from one slightly scathing review of the pizza
place that we could see from our apartment window. Good tip! We were tempted once
but looked elsewhere. We did ask our proprietor for some recommendations, and she
provided a few. We certainly didn't find ourselves hurting for options within Selva, itself,
and especially with the other towns less than 15 minutes away.
We ate dinner out in Selva five times.
Our favorite restaurant, which we visited twice, was Sal Feur. It has a very nice terrace
with views of the mountains, and most of our dishes very good—particularly the pizza. It
seemed to be quite popular.
Most of the restaurants we visited have a mix of things you’d likely find on an Italian
menu and more traditional SudTirol fare. One of the regional specialties is speck, and
you will find it in quite a variety of dishes—particularly Speckknödel.
We did try to mix it up and sample some of the local specialties, including
schlutzkrapfen (ravioli filled with spinach), spinach gnocchi, polenta dishes, and
risotto—and, of course, apfelstrudel. I’m not sure if it’s a regional specialty, but menus
everywhere seemed to have gelato con lamponi caldi (vanilla ice cream with hot
raspberry sauce), which Allie discovered on day two and sought out just about every
day—in preference to the apfelstrudel.
One local restaurant, very close to our apartment, that specializes in SudTirol dishes is
the Speckkeller, which we enjoyed—but, watch out for the portions. We each ordered a
starter and a first course and the amount of food almost killed us.
We also were pleasantly surprised to find that you can eat very well at some of the
mountain huts. We particularly enjoyed our meals at these Rifugio Emilio Comici and
the Troier Hutte. I have no idea how they get all of the food and supplies up to some of
these huts, particularly the really remote ones such as the Puez Hutte.
We'd be remiss in not mentioning the local wine and beer. We ordered local house
wine just about everywhere and found it to be very good. We also went through a “few”
bottles at our apartment :) . And, Chris really enjoyed his Forst (Marisa's not much of a
beer drinker, but she thought it was pretty good, too).
Most of our meals tended to be in the $50 to $75 range for the three of us, which
included wine and/or beer. Only one, Speckkeller, was more ($110).
We also prepared some of our own meals, including a couple of dinners, breakfast
every day, and some awesome sandwiches for lunch on a few of our hikes. Selva has a
couple of Despar supermarkets, including a very nice (albeit not large) one in the
Gardena Center. We were in there at least every other day. Allie and Marisa were very
happy to be reunited with Barilla Mulino Bianco Abbracci—the tasty half chocolate, half
vanilla biscuits that were a highlight from last year’s extended family trip to Italy.
Finally, Selva has at least one excellent bakery, Costa. We went early on Saturday and
was surprised to find the place packed with people.
Language
We learned our lesson the first time through this area: even though it is in Italy, one
should be prepared for a lot of German. Ladin is, of course, the traditional language in
the Val Gardena, but the tourist facing infrastructure primarily is in German and Italian.
German seems to be predominant, but some establishments definitely seemed to
favor Italian (and most handle English fairly well, too). We always try our best to attempt
some local language (our Italian is definitely better than our German), but it is a little
trickier to gain momentum when constantly switching back and forth between two very
different languages.
Wrap up
This is an awesome place to visit, in every sense. The scenery, of course, is
astonishing at every turn...our online pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.
The hearty, unpretentious locals are helpful and welcoming. The roads are in excellent
shape, and the area is easy to get to (and easy to get around in). And, as stated, the
food, wine and beer are plentiful and consistently enjoyable. And despite all this, it didn't
really cost us an arm nor a leg.
So...where are all the Americans, Canadians, Australians, British...? We spent a full
week in the middle of summer vacation in the beating heart of the Dolomites and
encountered only a few stray English-speaking tourists. How can this magical place
with its rugged beauty and unbelievable wealth of hiking and biking trails be so far off
the vacation radar screens?
The inevitable comparison must be made between the Val Gardena and other well-
trodden destinations in the Alps, such as the Berner Oberland. We've now spent time in
both areas, and our general impression is that they are similar...but not the same. The
Bernese Alps are generally mightier, taller and more majestic, while the Dolomites tend
to be more dramatic, jagged and rugged. If the former seem to say, "Gaze upon me in
awe!" the latter seem to beckon you, "Come climb all over me...you know you want to!"
As for the lush, green valleys and comfortable alpine resort towns in both locales, they
are very similar indeed...although one does seem to find just a hint more of the easy-
going Italian joie de vie in the Dolomites. And a whole lot more pizza! Regardless, both
trips rank in the top tier of our very favorites.
Thanks for reading!
All of our trip photos
Home
Climb Every Mountain:
Our long-awaited trip to the
Dolomites...and Munich
Our long-awaited trip to the
Dolomites...and Munich
Overview: Plenty of options, but where to stay?
Overview: Hiking in the Val Gardena
Day 1: Stau!
Day 2: This is why we wanted to visit!
Day 3: Sprechen zie...speck?
Day 4: Bolzano, Merano and a date with Ötzi
Day 5: The flying telephone booths
Day 6: I love a parade
Day 7: One little victory
Days 8-9: Munich
Wrap up: Weather, packing; useful resources
Wrap up: Food, language and final thoughts
Home
Overview: Hiking in the Val Gardena
Day 1: Stau!
Day 2: This is why we wanted to visit!
Day 3: Sprechen zie...speck?
Day 4: Bolzano, Merano and a date with Ötzi
Day 5: The flying telephone booths
Day 6: I love a parade
Day 7: One little victory
Days 8-9: Munich
Wrap up: Weather, packing; useful resources
Wrap up: Food, language and final thoughts
Home