Wine and ice get together in Caldaro

Caldaro is situated in the warmest part of the Alps, in Alto Adige (South Tyrol), along the Strada del Vino (“The Wine Route”). It is a commune with nine hamlets located between 200 and 600 meters of altitude. Surrounded by colourful vineyards, this village has become a popular holiday destination for all those who are searching for a Tuscan landscape.

In the winter when the temperature drops, Lake Caldaro (Lake Kaltern) ices up and you can try to imitate “the holiday on ice” on your skates. When I was a little girl I had the luck to skate on a real lake. You have the sensation to be absolutely free in a pure environment and this was free of charge. This scene reminds you the one of the Flemish painter Pieter Brueghel in his painting “Hunters in the snow”, where you can see in the background people sliding on the iced lake.

And if it doesn’t get too cold there is always the artificial ice. The Raiffens Arena, inaugurated in 1994, is where the Hockey Club SV Kaltern Caldaro team play. It is really worth to listen to the national anthem, that you can find on the web site Eishockey-kaltern.com , that starts with Star Wars and goes on with a German heavy Metal rhythm. From October to mid March starting from 1pm the Arena is open to the public at very low prices: 3 euro for children and 3,50 euro for adults, 5 euro if you wish to rent the skates. If you don’t lake skating you can go skiing: the ski tracks of Monte Mendola allow you to ski, snowboard, cross-country-ski.

At Caldaro you cannot get bored, especially in the summer season. The climate starts getting mild from May and you can start doing water sports (the water’s temperature gets around 28°) .
Otherwise you can take walks along the “Sentiero del Lago” reaching Castelchiaro, with the ruins of the castle belonging to the Rottenburgs.

For who instead likes to stay still and relax there is a corner of paradise on the beach.
If I have convinced you to go there, take an evening dress for the nightlife: at the “Palcoscenico del Lago” several musicals are in programme.

The wine route passes through Caldaro. Here every year numerous wine events are organised such as the “Caldaro Wine Days” which takes place in September and reunites real wine intendors but also people like me that doesn’t know anything about wine but likes to drink it anyway.

Useful links
Touristic association Lake Caldaro/Lake Kaltern
The Wine Route