An Alpe di Siusi private tour, without the rush
The Alpe di Siusi is the largest high-alpine meadow in Europe: some 56 square kilometres of pasture, wooden huts and hay barns, framed on one side by the Sassolungo and Sassopiatto and on the other by the unmistakable profile of the Sciliar. It is a place for slow looking, not for chasing summits.
That is why this tour is built as a gentle day: a 9 o’clock start, only about 40–50 minutes on the road to Siusi, and most of your time spent outdoors rather than in the car. We suggest it as a first day at altitude, with young children or grandparents, or simply when you want to slow down after the journey.
The hour-by-hour itinerary below is a starting point. More time on the plateau, fewer villages, a longer lunch: you decide with Ferjy, even on the morning itself.
Suggested itinerary, hour by hour
- Pick-up in BolzanoA later start for a gentler day.
- Castelrotto & SiusiFarmhouses, onion-domed churches, the Sciliar ahead.
- Alpe di SiusiUp by cable car from Siusi: the road is closed to traffic during the day, so the plateau stays quiet. Flat paths, wooden huts, the Sassolungo everywhere you look.
- Lunch at a mountain hutDumplings, speck and apple strudel, with the view.
- Val GardenaSelva, Santa Cristina and Ortisei: three villages, one valley.
- Return to BolzanoWith a stop at Ponte Gardena if you like.
Ideal with children, grandparents or on a first day at altitude. In winter this is the perfect snow day, with sledging and horse-drawn sleighs.
Getting up there: road closure, cable car and Mont Sëuc
The road from Siusi up to Compatsch (Compaccio) is closed to private traffic from 9:00 to 17:00 whenever the cable car is running, which means throughout the main summer and winter seasons. The easiest way up is therefore the Alpe di Siusi cable car: it leaves from Siusi allo Sciliar and reaches Compatsch in about 15 minutes, climbing roughly 800 metres.
Ferjy drops you at the valley station and collects you wherever suits you best. If you enjoy walking, you can cross the plateau to the top station of the Ortisei – Alpe di Siusi gondola (Mont Sëuc): about 6–7 km on easy paths, a couple of hours with stops. The gondola takes you straight down to Ortisei, where the van is waiting, so you never retrace your steps.
In the quiet weeks between seasons, roughly mid-April to mid-May and early November to early December, the lifts stop and the road is open all day, although many huts close. Access rules change from year to year, so we check the ones in force for your date and plan the way up accordingly.
On the plateau: you choose how far to walk
A few steps from the top station at Compatsch and you are on the meadows, the Sassolungo ahead and the Sciliar behind. The paths are wide, well signposted and gently graded. You need no equipment and no training, just comfortable shoes and a jacket: at over 1,800 metres the air is noticeably cooler than in Bolzano.
Lunch is the long moment of the day: dumplings, speck, alpine cheese and apple strudel on a hut terrace overlooking the meadows. If you like, we book the table for you.
- Views only: a short loop around Compatsch, a coffee in the sun, the best photographs.
- A one- to two-hour stroll between huts and hay barns, with a stop for lunch.
- The crossing to Mont Sëuc and the gondola down to Ortisei, about two hours on foot.
- With a pushchair or grandparents: wide, almost level paths with no exposed sections.
Val Gardena: Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva
In the afternoon you drop into Val Gardena, one of the Ladin valleys of the Dolomites: people speak Ladin, German and Italian here, and every village has three names. Ortisei has a pedestrian centre and a long tradition of woodcarving, which you will see in its workshops and churches.
Santa Cristina and Selva sit higher up, right beneath the Sassolungo and the Sella group; from Selva the roads climb to Passo Gardena and Passo Sella. If a taste is enough, we stop in Ortisei; if you have time, we drive to the head of the valley, face to face with the Sella walls.
The way home follows the valley down to Ponte Gardena and then the Isarco valley: from Ortisei to Bolzano takes about 40–50 minutes.
In winter: the perfect snow day
The tour runs all year. In winter the Alpe di Siusi becomes a vast white plateau with groomed winter walking trails, sledging runs and horse-drawn sleigh rides; the cable car runs and the road stays closed during the day, just as in summer.
In winter we always check road conditions on the morning itself. The van runs on winter tyres and there is room for skis and boots too; for proper ski days, have a look at our private Val Gardena transfer. And when the passes are closed, the Great Dolomites Road tour also becomes a Val Gardena and Alpe di Siusi day.
Combining it with other days
If Seceda is on your list, give it a day of its own: the Seceda and Val di Funes tour also starts in Ortisei but shows you the Odle peaks from above and below. With a single free day and an appetite for miles, there is the Dolomites in one day instead.
For single journeys, evenings out or hotel-to-hotel moves between valleys, our private driver service in Bolzano is always available, with Ferjy at the wheel.
