Traveling Water Nerd

As someone who was born and raised in Austin, Texas, I never really considered traveling to northern Italy. My immediate thought is; what’s in northern Italy? I knew of Milan, but I’m not interested or ready to take on Milan and I’ll leave that to future me. On top of that, I hadn’t considered northern Italy to be mountainous. Oh was I wrong. One night in Austin I was talking to a friend who told me to check out the Dolomites and after a quick google search I was hooked. I found out that my Argentine friends, Nico Vidal (Instagram: @nicovidal89) and Sabrina Zabalegui (@sabrinazabalegui), were staying in the Dolomites and that officially sold me on this destination.

Although there are many destinations in the Italian Alps, my travels took me to Val Di Sole. Here you’ll find a beautiful mountainous region filled with authentic Italian culture. The valley is spotted with remote towns of no more than a few hundred residents each and only a 2-3 minute drive in between each one. Although there are roads parallel to the train and well maintained for a car, I’d suggest the train for the views and relaxation. It’s a smaller train than what runs through most of the countryside in Italy and the southern-most station is in Trento. I took a train from Trento to Dimaro for €4.70, which is a great price for a journey of 2.5 hours. Each town is slightly different from one another. I’m told that there’s a different dialect and history that separates each one, even though they’re so close together. Where there aren’t towns, there’s apple orchards and beautiful trees. Last night I saw fireflies for the first time in almost 6-7 years now!

From the top of the valley to the bottom runs the beautiful Noce river. Various rafting companies are spread throughout the valley to be able to enjoy the river to the fullest. If rafting isn’t for you, there’s a bike path follows the river in its entirety. One evening I took a bike and rode the train to the final stop in the mountains at a town called Mezzana and rode downhill all the way back to my apartment. It was so much fun! Only €5 a person with a bike. My suggestion is booking a rafting trip with Adventure Val Di Sole with Pedro Moyano. Unlike the other companies in the valley, his company is very personalized and he caters the experience to your preferences. I would refer to the other companies as McDonalds rafting, because they would rather rush through the trip so they have time for the next one, rather than personalized the experience for a better overall experience.

The river has a few unique sections that I’d like to point out, starting with the section in Mezzana. In Mezzana there is a slalom course that is great for kayaking. It’s great technical class III and there’s great swimming spots along the part of the section that’s next to the town. Be careful not to get swept downriver and be aware that the water is cold, but otherwise it’s perfect. Another unique section is the canyon section and Pedro’s company (Adventure Val Di Sole) is the only company that commercially operates on it. It’s the last section on the river and the section becomes more and more remote as the river creates separation between itself and civilization. Although not an incredibly long or difficult section, the canyon provides a majestic view with more technical class IV rapids. Definitely a place to check out! I’d say my favorite thing about the Noce river are the towns you’ll pass by. I really liked the feeling of turning the corner and finding yourself approaching the next town down the river that was previously blocked from view by the trees. Something about passing underneath the bridges and receiving smiles and waves from Italians on the riverside really made the experience special and unique.

Here are some other photos that I took during my trip. Enjoy!