The region is also unique musically, ranging from the Kastelruther Spatzen to the Haydn Orchestra. Of course, genuine folk music is not to be missed at any folk festival – on high holidays, the village brass band plays in front of the church. In modern music with traditional and innovative influences, the northern Italian region is constantly reinventing itself. The cultural mix has also given South Tyrol a particularly inventive cuisine! The simple alpine cuisine of the mountain farmers (Gerstlsuppe, dumplings and strudel) and the specialties of the cities that Viennese cuisine (Tafelspitz and Sachertorte) influence combined with Italian gastronomic influences to create a distinctive South Tyrolean cuisine. The autumnal “Törggelen” is South Tyrol’s culinary season when wine, chestnuts and traditional peasant fare are feasted on every year after the grape harvest.

Likewise, the northern Italian region offers an extraordinary variety of wines – from the simple “Kalterer See” to international award-winning drops from the wineries of Bolzano, Terlan, Appiano and Caldaro.