There is a version of the Italian mountains that has nothing to do with ski lifts, après-ski bars or the performative adventure of the high Dolomites. San Genesio Atesino, a small village perched 1,100 metres above Bolzano, eight kilometres and a world away from the city below, is that version. The air is different up here. The pace is different. And Hotel Saltus, a quietly exceptional eco-design property built from clay walls, limestone floors and locally sourced larch, with an 18-metre infinity pool pointing directly at the Dolomites, gives you the ideal base from which to do absolutely nothing, or rather, to do everything at exactly the right speed.
Day 1
Morning
To reach Hotel Saltus, take the train to Bolzano, then choose your onward route: a transfer can be arranged directly to the hotel, or you can continue by the smaller mountain train, the property will deduct 5% from your bill as a reward for the carbon-neutral choice. After check-in, lunch at the bistro is non-negotiable. The room itself earns a moment’s pause: a linen-filled living space with floor-to-ceiling glass that dissolves the boundary between inside and out, spilling onto a small terrace with forest views. The kitchen works almost entirely with zero-kilometre produce, local farmers, mountain dairies, seasonal vegetables from the region. Savour the daily soup, share a pizza or order a light salad (or perhaps, if hungry, we suggest the club sandwich).
Afternoon
The Salto, Il Salto, or Salten in German, is one of the great, quietly kept secrets of South Tyrol: Europe’s largest larch meadow plateau, a vast, open highland of ancient trees, wildflower pastures and Haflinger horses that have roamed here for centuries. The breed, golden-coated and sturdy, is native to this corner of the Alps, and riding across the plateau on horseback is the correct way to see it. Several stables in the area offer guided rides for all levels; the hotel can arrange.
Back at the hotel, one of the quieter pleasures of a stay at Saltus is the ongoing exhibition of work by New York-based German artist Lena Henke, whose sculptures occupy the hotel’s public spaces. Take a stroll through and admire the works of art that showcase a conversation between bodies, architecture and material memory with the natural surroundings.
The Forest Spa at Saltus is not a large spa, but it is a particularly good one, designed with the same minimalist attention to natural materials as the rest of the hotel, with a sauna that looks directly into the larch forest. The Aufguss, a traditional Alpine sauna ritual in which water infused with essential oils is poured over the coals and waved through the room with a towel, producing waves of intense heat, is the correct way to end a day of altitude air and physical exertion. Before or after, take a moment with the trees: the hotel actively encourages what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, forest bathing, and the larix grove beside the property is the ideal place for it. Should you wish to book a treatment, osteopaths and physiotherapists are on hand for full-body treatments that go well beyond the purely indulgent. Alongside the hands-on bodywork, the treatment menu includes rituals rooted in traditional wellness practice: among them the ear candle ritual, an ancient technique used to relieve tension and stress that feels entirely at home in this quietly restorative setting.
Evening
For dinner, retreat to the dining room, a space filled with all natural materials, warm light and views that stretch across the forest. The menu is thoughtfully drawn up to include local recipes revisited in a contemporary and creative guise.
Day 2
Morning
After a delicious (and energy-filled) breakfast, prepare for one of the most beautiful walks in Northern Italy. The classic hike from San Genesio across the Salto plateau to Malga Gschnoferstall takes roughly an hour each way. It’s a gentle, almost entirely flat route along trail 7A/E5 that winds through ancient larch meadows, passing the hilltop church of San Giacomo (1,527 metres, with a Romanesque bell tower and views across the Tessa Group and the Catinaccio) before arriving at the malga itself: a traditional stone and timber Alpine hut, open from Easter to mid-November, with solid wooden tables, a large outdoor terrace and a menu of honest South Tyrolean mountain cooking. Think canederli in broth, pasta alla pastora with speck and mushroom, goulash, strudel.
Afternoon
Back in Bolzano proper, two institutions make the city one of the most quietly interesting addresses for contemporary art in northern Italy. Museion, the museum of modern and contemporary art designed by KSV Krüger Schuberth Vandreike, occupies a striking glass building on the banks of the Talvera river and mounts consistently ambitious exhibitions. A short walk away, Fondazione Dalle Nogare operates from a beautifully renovated private palazzo, presenting focused exhibitions from its own collection, one of the most important private contemporary art collections in Italy.
San Genesio and its surroundings are a larder worth exploring: local cheeses, speck aged in mountain air, wild herb honeys, artisan schnapps. Browse the village producers and then visit Dama Studio, an artisan workshop in the area whose work embodies the precision and quiet pride of South Tyrolean craft.
Evening
South Tyrol produces some of Italy’s most underrated wines including Pinot Grigio, Pinot Nero and the aromatic Gewürztraminer. Several historic castle estates in the area offer tastings in settings that make the experience properly memorable. The hotel can arrange a special wine tasting experience and our suggestion? make it sunset to watch the golden glow across the mountains. End the day back at Saltus, with a final dinner on the terrace.