First encounter with Campill in South Tyrol

After a relaxing stay in Tuscany with its picturesque old towns and inviting coasts, we didn’t want to drive straight home on the way back, but instead explore areas of South Tyrol that were still unknown to us. Therefore, north of Trento, we left the Adige Valley heading east and drove into the Fleims Valley until just before Cavalese.

Having been on the road for several hours, we found a high, sunny spot near Dosso Veronza with a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Here we recovered from the many hundreds of motorway kilometres since leaving Talamone in the morning. We cooked and ate outside in the warm evening sun against the panorama of the Trentino mountains. After a restful sleep, we started a sunny morning from our pitch and set off on the drive through the Fassa Valley. Our original destination was Colfosco, surrounded by the Dolomite mountains of the Sella massif and the Cir peaks. But even in the Fassa Valley, we often only moved at a snail’s pace because of the many other holidaymakers.

At the Sella Pass and Gardena Pass, all the car parks were overcrowded. The campsite in Colfosco was also fully booked. What a contrast to the sparsely visited places in Tuscany – so all the holidaymakers from Germany, Austria and Northern Italy were in South Tyrol!

We decided to explore one of the next side valleys and turned west in the Gader Valley until we ended up at the end of the road in the small village of Campill. At the Sitting Bull Ranch riding stable with its attached motorhome pitches, we were warmly welcomed by the couple who run it. Here we did manage to find a quiet spot with a view for the night. Directly behind our location lies the Muntcörta protected landscape area with flowering alpine meadows and spruce forests, above which rises a panorama with the vertical rock walls of Somamunt (2,366 m) in the Puez-Geisler Group. Via the Zwischenkofel Valley, which begins there, you can also hike to the Zwölferkofel (2,384 m) on easy paths, but this peak had to wait for our next visit.

Instead, I explored the immediate surroundings of the village in the muggy air. There, for example, you can find the picturesque and listed ensembles of old farmhouses, barns and outbuildings in the hamlets of Misci and Seres, as well as the water-driven historic mills in the Valley of the Mills. Towering above them is the Peitlerkofel, whose summit rewards you with a panorama of the entire main ridge of the Alps. At dinner, the rock faces glowed in the red evening light before the lightning and rain of a rapidly approaching summer thunderstorm drove us inside into the roof tent.

The following morning, we started a short but scenic hike to the Joéljoch in the fresh, cool air before we had to set off again in the afternoon. But it certainly wasn’t our last stay in Campill; we will definitely return.