One Week of Hiking in Val di Funes (Villnöss) - Suggested Hikes

Overview | Backstory | Logistics | The Hikes | Flora | Food Photos | Trail Photos

  

Photos from Hike 2 Adolf Munkel Trail to Monte Dedite to Santa Maddalena in the Val di Funes.

  

Photos from hikes 1 and 3 and 4: around Zannes Alm and Munt d'Adagn.

  

Photos from hike 5: Zannes Alm to Sass de Putia.

  

Photos from hike 5 and 6. Center: Church of St. John (Chiesetta di San Giovanni in Ranui) in Val di Funes.

Overview

This post is about 6 days of medium difficulty hiking in Villnöss, Italy. We covered 101km (63 mi) in those 6 days, with a total elevation gain of 5,736 m (18,820 ft), and 28.9 hours walking time. We started our hikes in Santa Maddalena or Malga Zannes location, the latter being a good starting spot for many types of hikes.

We chose Villnöss because it geographically looked interesting and was in the Puez-Odle Nature Park. We did not know how famous this valley and specifically Santa Maddalena is for its Instagram-able churches. That explains a good percentage of the people we saw wandering around in decidedly non-hiking gear.

We stayed in Santa Maddalena for one week (June 11 - 18) at the Hotel Fines with half board.

Backstory

We used to always base ourselves in or around Corvara (Colfosco to be exact) and spend about a week hiking either in late spring/early summer or late summer. Over time, we branched out to try other locations as our base like Cortina d’Ampezzo (2021) and Merano (2023). Our goal for these Dolomites week-long vacation is to get in 5 to 6 big hikes.

Here are a few hiking-related past posts on the Dolomites:

2008: Hiking: Alta Badia and Val Gardena – Eight Hikes in the Dolomites - our first time!
2018: Six Days in Val Badia – Dolomites: Hiking, Walking, and Dining
2021: A Hiking Week in Cortina d'Ampezzo – Six Hikes over 100 Kilometers – 10 Tips
2023: A Week in Merano, Italy – Hiking

This year we tried the Villnöss Valley (German: Villnößtal), simply known as Villnöss. In Italian, it is referred to as Val di Funes. The valley is in South Tyrol and is about 24 km long. To the north, the Villnöss Valley is framed by the mountains of the Odle di Eores, to the south by the Odle group. The highest parts of the valley are protected in the Puez-Odle Nature Park.

We picked this valley by simply looking on the map and seeing where an interesting area might be to explore. We had explored parts of the Puez-Odle Nature Park on other trips and this Villnöss gave us another angle and way to explore the park.

The Puez-Odle Nature Park, located in the province of South Tyrol in Northern Italy, spans an area of 10,722 hectares (41.4 square miles). It extends across several municipalities including Corvara, Badia, Ortisei, St Christina, Selva in Val Gardena, San Martino in Badia, and Funes. The views and terrain in the park are superb and keep us coming back each year.

Logistics

On this Dolomites hiking trip, we were based for 7 days in Santa Maddalena. We stayed in the Hotel Fines with half board (breakfast and dinner). This isn't the only solution for lodging and eating. But, in the small town of Santa Maddalena, and being so early in the season, eating options are not that numerous. But the bigger factor is when you are focused on hiking all day from say 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, the last thing you want to do is have to figure out where to go for dinner. It's easy just to shower and go downstairs and eat with half board. 

The half board breakfasts and dinners were satisfying. Breakfast was buffet style: meats, cheeses, fruit, yogurt, brioche, etc. A little of everything. Dinner had two starter options and two main options we could choose from, plus optional salad and dessert. Vegetarian options were available.

The 330 bus runs frequently from Bressanone (Brixen) to the end of the Val di Funes, passing through Santa Maddalena. The bus is free to ride if you have the DolomitiMobil card, which most hotels give you upon check-in. (That’s what happened in our case, and I think it is common everywhere). That card gives you a discount on parking at Zannes Alm if you take your car there. Make sure to present it when paying for parking, if you chose that mode. That said, the vast majority of people arrive at Zannes by bus.

We had lunch every day during our hikes at a rifugio. In fact, we usually planned our hikes around where we could stop for lunch. Therefore, we carried little food and mostly water. Always check if the rifugio (alm, utia, hutte, whatever the name) is open the day you plan to go. A rifugio can have a day off and you don't want to be going there on that day. In the lobby of our hotel there was a list of the days off for various rifugi. Look for that list or ask.

We drove to Santa Maddalena from Bergamo in a rental car. However, you can arrive with public transportation. A fast train reaches Bolzano and from there a bus to Santa Maddalena is your non-car option. We met one lady who did that, and it seemed easy.

The Hikes

Some notes:

• When looking at our suggestions, keep in mind that we are medium-level hikers. Nothing crazy here.
• We hiked rain or shine, and fortunately we had just sprinkles.
• We considered Plose area but were told by different people that it was "boring". (It might be great for getting up high quickly but not for walking? It's a ski area and Val di Funes isn't.)
• All of our hikes started and stopped at the same point. And we usually try to make it a loop hike.
• As you can see in the overview images (summarizing all six hikes), we repeated parts of some trails to be able to access other areas of the park.

Overview images

 

Six hikes in Val di Funes summarized on one map with annotations, north up.

 
Six hikes in Val di Funes summarized on one map with annotations, north is southwest.

Hike 1: Malga Zannes to Col di Poma to Gampenalm and back

Duration: 3 hours
Elevation: 747 m
Length: 11 km

This was a simple loop hike. This was our first day and we needed a warmup hike. We started from Zannes Alm and walked up to Rifugio Genova (which was closed on this day for us). From there, it was a short hop up to Col di Poma.

We followed a different route back and had lunch at the cozy Gampen Alm.

 


Hike 2: Adolf Munkel Trail to Santa Maddalena

Duration: 6.25 hours
Elevation: 1194 m
Length: 22.3 km

We decided to start and end in Santa Maddalena instead of Zannes Alm (Malga Zannes). So, we took a trail from Santa Maddalena to Zannes Alm, got on trail 6, and then over to the Adolf Munkel Trail (35). We could have cut our hike short by taking trail 28 back to Santa Maddalena, but we instead continued past Brogles-Alm (which had yet to open) to trail 10 to return back Santa Maddalena. Trail 10 was tough: hard to follow and very steep.

For lunch we stopped at Geisler Alm (Rifugio Odle), which seems to be the most popular rifugio for folks walking the Munkel Trail. The rifugio is truly in an impressive location and the food was good. Unfortunately, service was all over the map, plates arriving willynilly, and there were too many people to give that special cozy feeling. (For something more intimate, try Dusler Alm, Glatschalm), which are close to the trail too.

 


Hike 3: Herrnstein - Sentiero dei Signori Loop

Duration: 4 hours
Elevation: 820 m
Length: 12.2 km

We did this loop hike clockwise. Starting at Zannes Alm and taking the lower Herrnstein trail to Prato del Covelo (Kofelwiese), we caught the Günther Messner Steig for a bit, and picked up the upper Herrnstein trail back to Zannes Alm. Lunch was at Kaserill Alm. Try their homemade cheese.

 

Hike 4: Hike to Ütia Ciampcios (Munt d'Adagn)

Duration: 5.25 hours
Elevation: 1093 m
Length: 16.9 km

We started from Zannes and took the trail to Medalgesjoch (Forcella Medalghes). From there, we took the trail toward Roa Scharte (Forcella della Roa) but then picked up trail 5A heading down into these beautiful pastures. Then we caught a trail/dirt road up to Ütia Ciampcios and had a wonderful lunch.

On our return to Zannes, we tried to go back via Rifugio Genova but were blocked by snow at Passo Bronsoi and turned around and went back to Medalgesjoch. That's how it is with early season hiking. Discretion is the better part of valor.

Hike 5: Zannes to Rifugio Genova and then circumnavigate Sass de Putia.

Duration: 6 hours
Elevation: 1120 m
Length: 23.1 km

In 2008, we circumnavigated Sass de Putia and the experience remained etched in our heads. Learning that Sass de Putia was very close, we were hesitant about repeating the experience. (You know, the second time can ruin the whole thing.) Well, we went anyway and are glad we did. Circumnavigating Sass de Putia is a beautiful experience.

This trip around we didn’t try to go to the smaller for the two peaks as we did in 2008. The climb up to the Forcella Putia is a grind.

For this hike, we started at Zanne Alm, hiked up to Rifugio Genova and had a strudel break. From there, it was on to do a (counterclockwise) loop around Sass de Putia. Lunch was at Utia Vaciara.



Hike 6: Santa Maddalena to Adolf Munkel Weg to Dusler Alm

Duration: 4.25 hours
Elevation: 762 m
Length: 15.4 km

This was our last day of hiking. The road to Zannes Alm was closed for construction. That left a lot of casual visitors in a lurch because the bus could only go as far as Waldschenke. At Zannes, the views and experience are good for all levels of hiking. At Waldschenke, you are in the forest and it’s hard to get a view unless you walk a good deal.

We walked from Santa Maddalena to Waldschenke and took trail 28 to Adolf Munkel Weg (35). This time we walked it counterclockwise (west to east) as compared to Hike 2. We stopped at Dusler Alm for lunch instead of Geisler Alm. After lunch, we walked back to Santa Maddalena.

Flora

 

Here's a list of flowering plants we saw. Keep in mind it's early in the season, so we were limited in what we would see. Over time, we'll add reference photos for each of these plants.

As usual for our hikes, we did not stray off trail to see these flowers. All were easily seen next to the train. In fact, going off trail (or into meadows) is discouraged if not prohibited in many places.

Our reference guide for helping us identify plants is Checklist Flora per Regione.

Our typical nomenclature is:

[Family] Genus species - common name {common name in Italian}

[Brassicaceae] Biscutella laevigata  

[Brassicaceae] Draba fladnizensis  

[Brassicaceae] Noccaea rotundifolia  

[Campanulaceae] Jasione montana  

[Campanulaceae] Phyteuma orbiculare  

[Caprifoliaceae] Knautia arvensis  

[Caprifoliaceae] Valeriana montana  

[Caryophyllaceae] Silene dioica  

[Caryophyllaceae] Silene acaulis  

[Caryophyllaceae] Silene vulgaris  

[Ericaceae] Rhododendron ferrugineum  

[Fabaceae] Anthyllis vulneraria  

[Fabaceae] Hippocrepis comosa  

[Gentianaceae] Gentiana acaulis  

[Gentianaceae] Gentiana verna  

[Lamiaceae] Ajuga pyramidalis  

[Lentibulariaceae] Pinguicula alpina  

[Liliaceae] Gagea minima  

[Melanthiaceae] Paris quadrifolia  

[Orobanchaceae] Bartsia alpina  

[Orobanchaceae] Pedicularis verticillata  

[Oxalidaceae] Oxalis acetosella  

[Plantaginaceae] Globularia cordifolia  

[Plantaginaceae] Plantago media  

[Polygalaceae] Polygala alpestris  

[Polygalaceae] Polygala chamaebuxus  

[Polygonaceae] Bistorta vivipara  

[Primulaceae] Primula elatior  

[Primulaceae] Primula farinosa  

[Primulaceae] Soldanella alpina  

[Ranunculaceae] Caltha palustris  

[Ranunculaceae] Clematis alpina  

[Ranunculaceae] Pulsatilla alpina  

[Ranunculaceae] Pulsatilla montana  

[Ranunculaceae] Ranunculus montanus  

[Ranunculaceae] Trollius europaeus  

[Rosaceae] Dryas octapetala  

[Thymelaeaceae] Daphne striata OR ceneorum  

[Violaceae] Viola biflora  

Food Photos

Hike 1 - Gampen Alm dishes

 

Left: Meat and cheese board.

Right: Ravioli.

Hike 2 - Geisler Alm dishes

 

Left: Carne salata.

Right: Canederli.

Hike 3 - Kaiserill Alm dishes

  

Left: Cheese platter with locally made cheeses.

Center: Mezzelune.

Right: Strudel.

Hike 4 - Ütia Ciampcios dishes

  

Left: Potato, speck, and egg,

Center: Tagliatelle con ragu di cervo.

Right: Kaiserschmarren.

Hike 5 - Utia Vaciara dishes

  

Left: Cheese board with cheeses made by Utia Vaciara.

Right: Tagliata di manzo.

 

Left: Tagliatelle with zucchini and prosciutto.

Right: Fresh yogurt.

Hike 6 - Dusler Alm dishes

  

Left: Manzo all'agro, guarnito con cipolle fine

Right: Crauti.

 

Left: Arrosto di capra di montagna di allevamento proprio con canederli 

Right: Kaiserschmarren 

Trail Photos

Hike 1

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Hike 2

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Hike 3

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Hike 4

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Hike 5

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Hike 6

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