What is the best season of the year? Is it spring? Is it summer, or winter?
What if we told you that it is autumn? Would you believe us? And why not?
For us, autumn is a season to be experienced since it is full of charm and adventure. It has something more, compared to the other seasons. Calm, tranquillity and peace characterise the places that are finally back on a more human scale. Furthermore, the intimacy of a cosy place, the warmth of a crackling fireplace and the bright red of a good glass of wine, are all contributing factors. Not to mention the colours of the autumn forest, the silence of natural parks and magnificent autumn days. Although the days a little shorter, its warmth and intense light make this season stand out from the others. This is a time to enjoy some fresh air and the mountain with its cooler temperatures. Furthermore, people, after the stress of hectic summer days, finally find the time to stop and chat with friends. In autumn, places are no longer crowded and are far more liveable. More available services enhance our professionalism, relationships and cordiality: more time for our guests and, on your part, more time for yourself. In autumn the daytime is ideal for outdoor living to really enjoy the mountains and practising sport. However, the evenings, that gradually get longer, are an invitation to spend time on our own and with friends. This is a time that we can dedicate to our well-being perhaps, or just gather around a table laden with mushrooms, cheeses, game and many other autumn delicacies.
Autumn in San Vigilio and San Martino is all this ... and a little more! There are the same wide range of leisure and activities. However, the setting is different, perhaps it is more authentic, certainly warmer and, in some ways more intimate. All this has been especially designed for everyone wanting to enjoy their holiday with us.
Autumn in San Vigilio and San Martino in Badia, it's time to come together. This is a time when the agriculture world enjoys the harvest season, tourism regains a slower pace after the summertime crowds have left and local communities have the time to devote themselves to ancient traditions. Among these we find country fairs, patron festivals which are religious moments to thank God for the harvest. Furthermore, there are the St. Mary of the Rosary procession, St. Francis markets and the shelters’ closing-season festivals. These are a world of customs that are simple, authentic and almost unknown to most people. However, it is nice for visitors to discover these traditions and maybe let a local elderly tell them the reasons behind the various uses and costumes.
Also in the autumn, the offers of San Vigilio and San Martino in Badia are many and varied. They are created based on the peculiarities of the place and the season, the specific knowledge gathered by the local people and the experience of our tour operators. Rely with confidence to our proposals and, if you feel that something is missing, tell us about your wishes and/or suggestions. It will be our pleasure to hear from you and who knows, maybe in your next visit you will find your wish turned into reality.
At San Vigilio and San Martino, visitor experience comes first. With the "Autumn Special" package we hope to make your stay even more enjoyable and unforgettable.
Embark on guided hikes to see the animals that live at high altitudes, visit the museums of mountain and Ladin culture, or feel an adrenaline rush as you descend the longest zipline in Europe! The package includes more than 15 experiences and offers, most of them free of charge or with significant discounts.
These activities are the perfect complement to your autumn vacation, the most beautiful time of the year, where nature, which reaches the height of its spectacularity, showing off an incredible array of colors.
This exciting weekly programme is repeated every week.
The registration at the respective events must be made at the tourist office within 17.00 p.m. of the day before.
Contacts: Tel. +39 0474 501037 - info@sanvigilio.com
Weekly program
This hike takes us to the Nature Park Puez - Odle, part of the Dolomites Unesco World Heritage. We will walk alongside the majestic Puez Group, at the bottom of its peaks Cima Dodici, Capuziner and Piz Duleda.
Reaching Fontanacia at the end of the valley, we will be surrounded by th magical silence of the pale mountains. We will return via the Medalges meadows, konwn for their colourful flora.
Get in the saddle with the instructors of the Bike School for an easy excursion on the slopes surrounding San Vigilio, from where you can enjoy the extraordinary autumn views, brightly colored by the foliage. The route will take you along less-frequented roads, where you will discover old houses and historic farms, built in the traditional Ladin style.
During this high-altitude excursion together with David we discover how the animals in our Nature Park Fanes-Senes-Braies have adapted to the Dolomites and their survival strategies, also in view of future climate change. We venture into the high-altitude ecosystems with the support of the binocles from Swarovski Optik, which will allow us to avoid disturbing only rare fauna.
The night sky has fascinated humans since ancient times. With an expert eye you can discover many things about stars, planets and constellations. Julian, an astronomy enthusiast, takes us with him during this night observation taking advantage of the total darkness to admire the beauty of the universe.
Accompanied by the instructors of the Bike School, enter the heart of the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and be enraptured by the spectacle offered by the forests and mountains of the Dolomites. But it‘s not only your eyes that will be satisfied: you are in a true MTB paradise and can fully enjoy yourself in a rollercoaster of breathtaking ascents and descents. Please note: the route has a minimum altitude difference of 1000 m.
What's more beautiful, for bike lovers, than getting up in the morning, opening the balcony, or window, and breathe in the crisp and clean air? Not to mention enjoying an energising breakfast and then off on their racing or mountain bikes? Our guests can also make use of convenient e-bikes, to clock the kilometres up along a well-protected cycle path or a muddy track, in the woods or towards the Dolomite shelters. September and even more so October, are also ideal months for cycling. After a summer full of cycling opportunities, training and personal condition are usually at the top. However, in San Vigilio, San Martino in Badia, Plan de Corones and the nearby natural parks, there are plenty of cycling paths able to satisfy everyone’s needs, including practising some skills. For those who don’t know this already, Plan de Corones offers many downhill tracks, able to tempt lovers of this type of activity of all levels. When the evening comes, after a whole day spent on the saddle, there is still a long time to enjoy a vast menu...and as you know, the appetite comes eating!
September let's go! It's time to climb.... Stealing and adapting a little from the opening theme of the famous "The Shepherds" by Gabriele D'Annunzio, we are certainly not wrong in saying that even for the finest mountaineers, the end of summer and the beginning of autumn are the best moments to do some climbing. It seems that at the end of summer, the relationship between the man and the mountain improves. The rock, cleaned by the summer storms, almost awaits the strong and curious touch of the mountaineer's fingers and that the man, on the other hand, approaches her with more respect, with less greed and a more genuine love. It seems that both parties, man and mountain, know how to enjoy each other better and lay the foundations of this beautiful story, which is an eternal and unique adventure. From the mountain tops, with views stretching beyond the haze caused by the summer heat, the show is unique and incomparable.
