Madonna di Campiglio sits at 1550 metres, with the Brenta Dolomites on one side and the glaciers of the Adamello-Presanella on the other, and it is the most fashionable place in Trentino: designer windows, historic hotels and the memory of Empress Sissi. For anyone arriving by motorhome it is an awkward destination, though, because there is no equipped area in the village: only paid car parks with no services. The comfortable base is twelve kilometres down the valley, at Pinzolo.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
Two paid car parks up at the resort, both without services, and a campsite down the valley that is the real base.
Parcheggio Funivia Grostè
località Fortini, Campo Carlo Magno, 38086 Madonna di Campiglio (TN)
it lies at the foot of the Grostè gondola, so you step out of the motorhome with your skis on and you are straight onto the lifts of the ski area. In summer it is the starting point for the Ritort and Nambino lakes and for the Tour of the 5 Lakes. At night it is quiet, apart from the snow groomers working the pistes, and by day the solar panels charge well. The ground is uneven, with rocks and holes, and the slope is pronounced: levelling ramps are needed.
it stands on the SS239 state road, at the entrance to the centre and near the Hotel Bertelli, so a few steps from the shops, the restaurants, the church of Santa Maria Antica and the skibus stops. The ground is worse than at the Grostè, with more rocks, more holes and more of a slope, and the traffic on the state road makes itself heard. Many motorhomers use it only for a daytime stop.
a family run campsite at Pinzolo, with the services that Madonna lacks altogether: the service point is free, filling and emptying are included with the pitch, and there are a chemical toilet, showers with free hot water round the clock, a laundry with coin-operated washers and dryers and a dishwashing room. Electricity is on every pitch and is charged separately. Inside there are also a baby room, a ski room with boot warmers, a playground, barbecues and a dog area. In winter the free skibus stops practically in front of the entrance, and the Pinzolo-Campiglio Express gondola reaches the village in a quarter of an hour. In summer the Val Rendena cycle path starts from the campsite, 25 flat kilometres along the valley, with e-bike hire on site.
pitches from 40 to 90 square metres, in five sizes
Madonna di Campiglio skibus from December to April, with exact dates that change every year: lines 1 and 2 between the centre and Campo Carlo Magno, line 5 from Pinzolo and Carisolo up to Campo Carlo Magno, roughly one bus an hour
Skibus tickets: 2 euros a day, 10 euros a week, 40 euros a season; free under 8 and with the "Cinque su Sette" ski pass. They are bought online, on board, at the APT offices and in the hotels
Pinzolo-Campiglio Express gondola: 15 minutes between the two villages, it links the two ski areas and is included in the ski pass
In summer the skibuses do not run: a shuttle stays on with a reduced service, timetables at the APT office, otherwise your own vehicle
By bike from Pinzolo you climb along the cycle path and then on the SS239, but the state road is busy and the stretch is for those with legs
From the Camping Parco Adamello: Pinzolo centre 1 km, a quarter of an hour on foot; Madonna di Campiglio 12 km, a quarter of an hour by road; Cascate di Nardis 5 km; the Caderzone thermal baths 8 km; Campo Carlo Magno 14 km
Seeing
Sights
Eight stops in all: the first two are inside the centre of Madonna, the others are scattered among the pistes, the waterfalls and the Val Rendena as far as Pinzolo. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Piazza Righi
Square · free entry · 46.23074, 10.82657
the main square of the village, small but dense: boutiques, cafés with tables outside and the constant passage of skiers and holidaymakers. It is the place where you understand in two minutes what kind of resort Madonna di Campiglio is. The coffee costs more than down on the plain.
a few steps from Piazza Righi, built in local granite at the end of the nineteenth century in neo-Gothic forms of Tyrolean taste. From outside it looks massive; inside there is a single nave with a wooden truss ceiling.
the most famous black run of the ski area, with stretches of up to 70 per cent gradient, floodlit until late in the evening. In January it hosts the 3-Tre, a stage of the alpine skiing World Cup. Among the other pistes around, the DoloMitica is the longest at 5750 metres and 1284 of vertical drop from the Grostè down to Madonna, while the Spinale, the side Empress Sissi preferred, offers red and blue runs with views over the Brenta.
the best known walk in the area, a loop that takes in Lake Ritort, Lake Lambin, Lake Serodoli, Lago Gelato and Lake Nambino. It starts conveniently from the Grostè car park.
three falls of water along the Val di Vallesinella: the Cascate Alte, the Cascate di Mezzo and the Cascate Basse. You reach them with about an hour of walking from the centre of Madonna, or in half an hour from the dedicated car park, served by a shuttle in high season. The path is easy and crosses fir woods and meadows.
at the mouth of the Val Genova, 5 km from Pinzolo, a 95 metre fall of water over granite rock. From the car park it is a quarter of an hour on an easy path. The flow is at its fullest in spring, when the snow melts, and rainbows often form in the fine spray.
a fourteenth century cemetery church, the finest thing in Pinzolo. Along the outer façade runs the Danza Macabra, the dance of death painted in 1539 by Simone Baschenis, one of the best known frescoes in Trentino. Around it, the old centre of Pinzolo still has its houses with sloping roofs and wooden balconies.
25 flat kilometres along the river Sarca, from Pinzolo to Tione di Trento. No traffic, so it works with children too, and with an e-bike you cover the whole valley without effort.
Next: Coppa del Mondo di sci alpino, the 3-Tre · 22-23 Dec
22-23Dec
Coppa del Mondo di sci alpino, the 3-Tre
January
men's special slalom under floodlights on the Canalone Miramonti. It is the oldest World Cup race in Italy, run since 1967, and it has been won by Ingemar Stenmark with eight victories, Gustavo Thöni with four, Alberto Tomba with three and Giorgio Rocca, the last Italian in 2005.
21-24Jan
Winter Marathon
January
a regularity race for historic cars, first run in 1989, starting and finishing in Madonna di Campiglio: more than 500 km of roads and Dolomite passes in the depths of winter.
This year's dates are not out yet
Christmas markets
from 8 December to around 6 January
wooden huts in Piazza Sissi and along Viale Dolomiti di Brenta, with Trentino crafts, speck, cheeses, strudel and mulled wine.
I Suoni delle Dolomiti, the Sounds of the Dolomites
between late August and September
concerts at dawn or at sunset high up, in a different place every time among mountain huts, alpine dairies and summits. You go up on foot or by lift.
Remember
Useful tips
Madonna di Campiglio is not a motorhome friendly place: no equipped areas, only paid car parks without water, waste disposal or electricity. Anyone after comfort makes their base at the campsite in Pinzolo and comes up for the day
Both car parks at Madonna are on a slope and the ground is uneven: levelling ramps are not an optional extra
At the Grostè you pay cash to the attendant who comes round in the morning, so it is worth having the cash ready
The Cascate di Nardis are at their best early in the morning, with fewer people and better light for photographs
The Adamello Brenta nature park has 450 km of waymarked paths, from easy family routes to via ferratas for the experienced
Prices in the centre are those of an elite resort, starting with the coffee
wash the spinach and cook it in a pan with only the water left on the leaves, for three or four minutes
drain and squeeze it very well, because the water that stays behind makes the mixture slack, then chop it finely with a knife
cut the stale bread into small cubes, taking off the crust if it is very hard, and moisten it with the warm milk
let it soften for twenty or thirty minutes, stirring now and then
in a large bowl combine the soaked and squeezed bread, the chopped spinach, the eggs, the cheese, a grating of nutmeg, salt and pepper
add the flour a little at a time, until the mixture is soft but firm: the more flour you put in, the harder the dumplings turn out
let the mixture rest for thirty minutes
with floured hands shape oblong dumplings five or six centimetres long and two across, or round balls, and set them on a floured tray
bring plenty of salted water to the boil in a large pot and add a drop of oil
drop the strangolapreti in gently: when they come to the surface wait two or three minutes, eight to ten minutes of cooking in all, then lift them out with a slotted spoon
meanwhile melt the butter in a pan with the sage leaves and let it take up the flavour
toss the dumplings in the butter, stirring slowly, and serve with grated Trentingrana
the Brenta Dolomites seen from the porch of an alpine dairy, with the wooden tables out on the snowthe stone sign of Madonna di Campiglio under snow, among the frozen treesthe terrace of the Chalet Spinale, tables laid in front of the Brenta peaksa wooden kiosk on the pistes high up, skis propped outside and the Brenta chain oppositeMadonna di Campiglio at night seen from above, with the floodlit piste running down to the housesthe finish of the 3-Tre under floodlights, the crowd behind the barriers and the piste under the lamps
