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the snow covered Alpe di Siusi with the Sassolungo and the Sassopiatto behind, and the wooden hay barns on the meadows
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Italy · Trentino-Alto Adige · Mountains and hiking

Alpe di Siusi

the largest high altitude plateau in Europe, with the Sassolungo in front and the Sciliar behind

1 stopwhere to park
4 sightsto see
2 eventsseasonal
December 2025checked
On the map

The Alpe di Siusi is a plateau of meadows at eighteen hundred metres, fifty six square kilometres without a real climb: you walk on the level looking at the Sassolungo, and the Sciliar stays behind your shoulders with its two towers. A motorhome does not go up: you sleep below, at San Costantino, and reach Compatsch by cable car, ten minutes above Siusi. From there the plateau is covered on foot, on skis, by horse drawn carriage or on the local buses, because cars do not pass through in the middle hours of the day. In winter it is an easy, very wide ski area; the rest of the year it is the most comfortable walk in the Dolomites.

Sleeping

Stops and overnight stays

Only one, and it is not on the Alpe: you do not sleep on the plateau in a motorhome. The campsite is at San Costantino, a hamlet of Fiè allo Sciliar, with the Sciliar in front of the windows.

Camping Seiser Alm

Via Dolomiti 10, San Costantino, 39050 Fiè allo Sciliar

a four star campsite inside the Sciliar-Catinaccio Nature Park, open in winter too, with the pitches cleared and a gravel surface that holds. The comfort pitches have 220 Volt, 16 amp power with a CEE adaptor, water in and out at the pitch, TV and Wi-Fi. Pitches are booked in writing and for a minimum of five or seven nights depending on the season, with a deposit: that is the condition that decides whether this place suits you. Anyone staying briefly uses the motorhome area at the entrance, paid by the night, not booked and not beyond 48 hours. Inside there are the Zur Quelle restaurant, a salt water pool, a sauna and a shop. Private bathrooms can be rented, and the rate is for the whole stay, not per night.

comfort pitches from 60 to 200 square metres, all suitable for winter

WaterGrey waterElectricityToiletsShowerWi-Fi

Comfort pitches from 25 to 70 euros a night depending on category and season; motorhome area 31 to 49 euros a night for up to 4 people, maximum 48 hours. On top, the eco contribution of 1 euro and the tourist tax of 2.50 euros, per night and per person over 14 · +39 0471 706459 · camping-seiseralm.com

46.533359, 11.533640
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Getting around

Getting around

  • From the campsite to the valley station of the Seiser Alm Bahn cable car, at Siusi, is a few minutes by road; the ride up to Compatsch takes about ten
  • Cars do not circulate on the Alpe during the middle hours of the day: it is the reason the plateau is what it is, and the reason the cable car is not a fallback but the front door
  • The local buses that serve the plateau as far as Saltria leave from Compatsch, and others link Siusi and Castelrotto down in the valley
  • On the plateau you go on foot, on skis or by horse drawn carriage, which run along the main road in winter
  • Distances on the Alpe are measured in minutes, not in metres: the wooden signs at the junctions give the time to each mountain inn

Seeing

Sights

Compatsch is where you arrive and the centre of everything; the rest is plateau, and the two names you look at from here are the Sassolungo, in front, and the Sciliar, behind. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.

1

Compatsch

Village · free entry · 46.54236, 11.61700

at 1857 metres, where the cable car arrives: a few hotels, the sports shops, the ski depot, the ski school with the big wooden heart in front of it where the lessons gather, and the bus stop. It is not a village but a hub, and it is where everything you do on the Alpe starts from. In winter the apron in front of the lifts is a field of skis planted in the snow.

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2

Church of San Francesco

Church · free entry · 46.54040, 11.61949

the small church of Compatsch, dedicated to Saint Francis, a couple of steps from the hotels. In German it is the Franziskuskirche.

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3

Piz

Viewpoint · free entry · 46.54845, 11.64884

the rise at 1939 metres that closes the plateau to the east, barely an hour on foot from Compatsch along the level road. At the junction stands the post of signs with the times to the mountain inns and the high altitude hotels, and a little further on a wooden crucifix with a bench: from there the Sassolungo and the Sassopiatto stand in front of you with nothing in between.

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4

Sciliar

Point of interest · free entry · 46.51084, 11.56075

the mountain that stands as the symbol of the Alto Adige, 2448 metres, with Monte Pez at 2568 as its highest summit. From the plateau and from the campsite you know it by the two towers in front of it, Punta Santner and Punta Euringer: at sunset they are the first thing to catch fire red, and by moonlight they stay cut out above the woods. It gives its name to the Sciliar-Catinaccio Nature Park, the oldest in the Alto Adige.

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When

Events

Next: Castelrotto Christmas Market · 28-29 Nov

28-29Nov

Castelrotto Christmas Market

from late November to just after Christmas

the village at the foot of the Alpe fills with wooden huts around its bell tower, and it is the natural evening stop for anyone sleeping nearby. It is a small market, eight stalls in the square with the skating rink beside them: on weekdays it opens in the afternoon, and the mulled wine stands stay lit into the evening.

28-29 Nov · 4-8 Dec · 18-20 Dec · 23-24 Dec · 26-27 Dec
11-13Jun

Oswald von Wolkenstein Ride

between late May and June

four riding trials between Castelrotto, Siusi and Fiè, with hundreds of riders in costume: the qualifying round in late May, the tournaments in June. It is the best known event in the area.

Remember

Useful tips

  • The best period depends on what you are after: December to March for skiing on wide, easy pistes, June to September for the level walks, which here suit people who do not usually walk in the mountains
  • The best light is the first of the morning and the last of the afternoon, when the Sassolungo turns from grey to orange. At midday the plateau is against the light from almost every direction
  • On the Alpe you eat at the mountain inns and the high altitude hotels: the Hotel Icaro and the Ritsch are on the road towards Piz, and the sunny terraces fill up at one
  • Reckon that at 1900 metres in winter the packed snow of the morning turns to ice in the shade and slush in the sun: snow boots are needed by people who do not ski too
  • Lift prices and day tickets change every season and we have not checked them: ask before going up
  • A few minutes from the campsite is the Laghetto di Fiè, which you can swim in during summer and which freezes in winter: it is the short walk for the day you do not go up
  • Castelrotto, Siusi and Fiè are three different villages at the foot of the same plateau, and they serve different purposes: Castelrotto for the old centre and the market, Siusi for the cable car, Fiè for sleeping

Alpe di Siusi · part two

and then?

What to taste, and where to go tomorrow.

Taste

The most typical dish, to cook again at home.

Beetroot canederli · ingredients for 4 people, about 12 canederli
  • 350 g of stale bread, white for preference: black bread would cover the colour here
  • 250 g of cooked beetroot
  • 200 ml of whole milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 80 g of smoked ricotta or of Graukäse from the Valle Aurina
  • 30 g of butter, plus more for dressing
  • 2 tablespoons of chopped chives
  • 2 tablespoons of flour, if needed
  • salt, pepper and nutmeg
  • melted butter, grated smoked ricotta and chives to serve
Method
  1. cut the bread into one centimetre cubes and put it in a large bowl
  2. blend the beetroot with the milk to a smooth cream of a full red, and pour it over the bread. Leave to stand for twenty minutes, turning once: the bread must go soft and evenly pink
  3. soften the onion in the butter without colouring it, and add it to the bread
  4. add the eggs, the grated smoked ricotta, the chives, salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg, and work with your hands until it holds together
  5. if the mixture stays too soft add the flour a spoonful at a time: beetroot carries a lot of water and the amount changes every time. Try one dumpling on its own in boiling water before shaping the rest, which is how not to discover the problem with twelve balls already made
  6. let the mixture rest for twenty minutes covered, then shape balls the size of a tennis ball with wet hands
  7. cook them in salted water at the barest simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes: they are ready when they rise and stay firm
  8. drain and dress them with melted butter, grated smoked ricotta and chives. They are served dry: in broth the colour is lost in the plate
60 more local recipes, region by region

Nearby

The next stop, ordered by driving time.

Piazza Walther from above at dusk, the red huts of the market and the bell tower of the Cathedral

Bolzano

Trentino-Alto Adige · Cities of art · overnight stay · 39 km
51minutes

Distances and times by road, measured with OSRM on OpenStreetMap data.

Looking

Alpe di Siusi in photographs

24 shots from our visit. Tap one to see it large.

the snow covered Alpe di Siusi with the Sassolungo and the Sassopiatto behind, and the wooden hay barns on the meadows
the carriage drawn by two Haflinger horses on the plateau road, with the meadows and the snow behind
a lone Swiss pine on the snow, and behind it the Sassolungo and the Sassopiatto
the sign at Piz with the times to the mountain inns: Sonne, Icaro, Monte Piz, Sanon, Adler Lodge
the Sassolungo with its towers and the snow covered Sassopiatto, from the meadows of the Alpe
the wooden crucifix with its bench on the snow, and the Sassolungo behind
Letizia sitting on the boulder at the junction of the paths, with the Sassolungo in front of her
an Antonius Kellerbier on the table in the sun, and the skis planted in the snow behind
Letizia and her schnitzel with chips, on the sunny terrace
Marcella with the plate of beetroot canederli, on the hotel terrace
the table at the end of lunch, and the field of skis laid on the snow in front
the Kaiserschmarrn dusted with icing sugar, with apple compote and vanilla ice cream
the skis planted in the snow in front of the hotel, and at the back the Sciliar with its two towers
the grainy snow in the foreground and the Sassolungo out of focus on the horizon
Letizia with her arms wide on the snow, in her blue suit
the stone wall reading Seis am Schlern, Siusi allo Sciliar, at the entrance to the village
the Sciliar with Punta Santner and Punta Euringer seen from San Costantino, with the moon in the afternoon sky
Louis at the motorhome window, looking out into the first sun
Letizia inside the big wooden heart of the ski school, at Compatsch
on the ski apron at Compatsch, among those buckling their boots and those waiting for a lesson
Gabriele and Letizia on the sunny terrace, with the ski rack behind them
ready for the piste with skis on, Letizia in the middle in her white helmet and Gabriele on the right
the Sciliar by moonlight above the wood, with the lights of the village below
the campsite at dawn, our motorhome on its pitch and the frost on the grass