Holiday apartment in Schnals: Ötzi, Certosa and paths of silence
Accommodation in Schnals
The Schnalstal Valley offers a remarkable range of elevations over just a few kilometres: it stretches from 500 to 3,200 metres above sea level. A holiday apartment in Schnals is therefore a starting point for very different kinds of holiday days – from archaeology and monastic culture to mountain trails and winter sports. The places and experiences connected with the valley’s history are particularly distinctive.
File:ITA — Region Trentino-Südtirol — Provinz Bozen–Südtirol — Bezirksgemeinschaft Vinschgau — Gde. Schnals — Vernagt (Vernagt-Stausee, West) 2024-07-14 Mattes.jpg
Photo: Photo: User:Mateus2019
Ötzi and archaeology in Madonna di Senales
Madonna di Senales is home to the archeoParc Schnalstal, an open-air archaeological museum with a visitor centre in South Tyrol’s Schnalstal Valley in Italy. The exhibitions explain how and where Ötzi was found in 1991 and how he and his contemporaries lived 5,300 years ago. The visitor programme also includes a visitor workshop, an archery range and a dugout canoe landing stage. This means that a museum visit can be explored not only through the story of the discovery, but also through vivid insights into life in that period.
To reach the archeoParc, train line 250 Merano–Malles and bus line 261 Naturno–Schnalstal take visitors to the Unser Frau Oberdorf stop. From there, it is a three-minute walk to the archeoParc. This specific connection can provide helpful guidance when planning a day focused on culture and history.
Certosa and the Path of Silence
The Carthusian monastery “Allerengelsberg” in Certosa also offers a unique connection with the history of the Schnalstal Valley. The cloister, grotto, priory, monastery kitchen, surrounding wall, monastery gate and St Anne’s Church can be visited all year round. Certosa is also the destination of the Via Monachorum – Path of Silence from Monte Santa Caterina to Madonna di Senales. The trail leads to Certosa, the former Carthusian monastery whose monks had taken a vow of silence.
The Via Monachorum can be reached at its starting point in Monte Santa Caterina by the SAD interurban bus service no. 261. The combination of the trail, the former monastery and buildings that can be visited year-round makes the route interesting for you too if you do not want to plan your nature experiences and history separately.
Glaciers, tradition and winter sports
The guided Ötzi Glacier Tour leads on foot or by ski from the head of the Schnalstal Valley to the discovery site at Tisenjoch, at an altitude of 3,210 metres, where Ötzi was found. The tour takes place every Tuesday and can be booked as a private tour on other days. Another special tradition is the annual transhumance: at the end of the summer season, up to 4,000 sheep move from their summer pastures in Austria’s Ötztal Valley across the glacier and the national border back to Vernagt and Kurzras. Visitors can accompany the sheep on the final part of their journey.
In winter, Alpin Arena Schnals offers slopes reaching up to 3,200 metres above sea level. Its long ski season lasts from September to May. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Schnals, you can therefore base your choice of location on the experiences you want: Ötzi and the archeoParc, Certosa and the Via Monachorum, the Ötzi Glacier Tour, the transhumance or a longer period for skiing. The Schnalstal Valley offers both cultural-historical and high-alpine themes.
For further orientation: Burgeis, Graun in Vinschgau, Kapron, Taufers in the Münstertal, Prad am Stilfserjoch, Kastelbell-Tschars, Goldrain, Latsch.
For the higher-level travel overview: Vinschgau.
