Merano, lying thirty kilometers from Bolzano, is the second most densely populated city in the province. A walk through the historic center provides the perfect occasion to admire the city's architectural masterpieces, edifices such as the Castello Principesco, the Cathedral of San Nicola complete with 83 meter high belltower, one of the highest in South Tyrol, Castel Winkl, Palazzo Zarenbrunn, and the Puccini theatre.
Five kilometers North of Merano, travelling along the SS44, visitors reach Tirolo, a tiny little hamlet famous for and dominated by its early 12th century impressive castle, in which to find wooden statues dating all the way back to the 14th century and other works of art conserved within the South Tyrolean Museum of Cultural and Provincial History.
South of Merano, at Lana, the Val d'Ultimo commences, with its marvellous landscapes of wooded hills, lush meadows and rural landholdings. Bordered by the South Eastern peaks of the Ortles mountain range, the valley is a particularly popular destination for excursionists and mountaineers eager to attempt the numerous ascents.
Ten kilometers from Lana, at an altitude of 735meters, lies San Pancrazio, the most important town of the lower Ultimo valley: rising up from its center, the bell tower of the Gothic church, the oldest in the area. Three kilometers from San Pancrazio, Bagni di Mezzo is one of the best known spa towns in the area, famous since ancient times for the therapeutic qualities of its spring waters, rich in iron and magnesium. It was here that the German writer Thomas Mann finished work on his first novel The Buddenbrook, at the tender age of 25 years old.
The area is rich in lakes, both artificial and natural. The Fontana Bianca lake, from which the Valsura torrent is born, is situated at an altitude of more than 1800meters. From here, trekking enthusiasts can reach, via a remote mountain pathway, the Canizani Refuge, at 2561 meters above sea level and in the vicinity of the enchanting Lake Verde.
The Val d'Ultimo is part of the Stelvio National Park, bordered to the east by the Val Martello, in the heart of the Val Venosta. Of all the mountains in this, the most extensive of the natural parks in the Italian alps, the permanently snow-capped Mount Ortler is the highest (3905m above sea level) and towers above the valleys which surround it.
At Trafoi, a small town at the feet of the mountain and home town of world ski champion, Gustav Thoeni, lies Naturatrafoi, the Stelvio National Park's visitors' center, where to observe a collection of plant species capable of surviving in the coldest of temperatures. The area is famous for the Passo dello Stelvio, one of the world's most beautiful alpine roads, constructed in the five years following the Congress of Vienna, to link Tyrol with Valtellina, following the annexing of Lombardy to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The road traverses the Prato allo Stelvio, one of few flat areas of land in the park.
Whilst in Solda, once known as the Siberia of Tyrol'' visitors should not be surprised to see Tibetan yaks grazing in the meadows: this is where Reinhold Messner, one of the world's most famous mountaineers, has a farm and has opened both his Yak & Yeti restaurant and Mountain Museum'''.
