Two provinces that govern themselves
A million inhabitants, three official languages and not one lowland municipality.
The region was created in 1948 as a special statute region, but the real power lies with the two provinces: Trento and Bolzano legislate on almost everything and keep most of the tax money locally. In Alto Adige about two thirds of the inhabitants speak German as their first language, a quarter Italian, and a Ladin minority lives in the valleys around the Sella; road signs are in two languages, in Val Gardena and Val Badia in three.
How it is put together
The layout is easy to grasp: a central valley, that of the Adige, running down from Merano to Trento and on towards Verona, and on either side a series of side valleys climbing away. To the west stand the Ortles and the Adamello, with their glaciers; to the east the Dolomites, which are something else again, pale rock that turns red at sunset. At the far end, seventy kilometres from Trento, the northern tip of Lake Garda brings olive trees down to seventy metres above sea level.
Where the campsites are
The campsites are where the summer tourism is: the upper Garda around Riva and Torbole, which is the warmest and the busiest area, the lakes of the Valsugana, Val Rendena below the Brenta, the valleys of Fiemme and Fassa, the Pustertal and the Vinschgau. They are generally well kept, medium sized, and a good share stay open in winter as well, because here the season is a double one.
Until the end of the nineteenth century nobody came here in summer: you came for the spa, or to cross to the other side.
Alpine tourism arrived with the Brenner railway, opened in 1867
How to plan it
Distances look short on the map but the roads climb and wind: from Bolzano to Val di Fassa is seventy kilometres and an hour and a half, from Trento to Riva del Garda forty minutes, from Bolzano to Dobbiaco two hours. It is better to pick one valley and stay in it than to cross the region every day.
Summer is high season just as winter is, and August has to be booked months ahead. June and September are the best months: the paths are open, the huts too, and there is no queue on the passes.