Folgaria
Folgaria is the main town of the plateau that bears its name, the Alpe Cimbra, a green upland spread across Trentino south of the...
Updated 17 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Folgaria now
The story
The story of Folgaria
The Folgaria Plateau and the Alpe Cimbra
Folgaria stands on a plateau that stretches south of Trento, between the Vallagarina, crossed by the Adige river, and the Valsugana. This upland, known as the Alpe Cimbra, lies at an altitude that favours a cool, healthy climate, with wide green spaces dotted with conifer woods and high-altitude pastures. The gentle, open landscape made the area particularly suited to holidaymaking since past centuries, when the first visitors discovered the plateau as a refuge from the summer heat of the lowlands. Today Folgaria is the best-known municipality of the Alpe Cimbra, together with the nearby towns of Lavarone and Luserna, and represents the main reference point for visitors to this part of Trentino. Its position, straddling two historic valleys of southern Trentino, also made the plateau a place of passage and of border, an element that has deeply marked its recent history.
Skiing and Holidaymaking in Folgaria
Folgaria has for decades been one of the most popular ski destinations in Trentino. The Skiarea Folgaria-Fiorentini, part of the wider Alpe Cimbra ski area, offers slopes of different levels, suitable for beginners and experienced skiers alike, served by modern lifts. Alongside alpine skiing, the plateau also offers cross-country ski trails, which take advantage of the wide flat spaces and the woods that characterise the territory. The winter season is the moment of greatest influx, but Folgaria also enjoys an intense summer season, when the cool mountain climate attracts those seeking relief from the heat and opportunities for outdoor activities. This dual winter and summer vocation has allowed the village to develop over time a widespread accommodation offer, made up of hotels, mountain huts and family-friendly facilities, making Folgaria a tourist destination able to attract visitors throughout the year.
Cimbrian Culture and the Linguistic Minority
The Folgaria plateau is part of the territory historically inhabited by the Cimbrian linguistic minority, a community of Germanic origin settled for centuries on these Trentino heights. Although the everyday use of the Cimbrian language has progressively declined, its legacy remains visible in the plateau's place names, in some popular traditions and in the attention that local communities devote to preserving their cultural identity. The nearby towns of Luserna and Lavarone, together with Folgaria, are the main points of reference for this minority culture, which stands out in the Trentino landscape for its linguistic origin, neither standard Italian nor German, but linked to an ancient Alpine Germanic stock. Visiting Folgaria therefore also means coming into contact with a distinctive cultural heritage, made up of customs, place names and memories that tell the story of a mountain community that has managed, over time, to retain distinctive traits of its origin.
First World War Forts: Forte Belvedere
During the First World War, the Folgaria plateau lay along the former Austro-Italian front, becoming the scene of intense fortification activity. The Austro-Hungarian army built a series of forts here intended to defend the border, the best known and best preserved of which is Forte Belvedere, also called Gschwent. The structure, built in concrete and integrated into the plateau's rocky landscape, still testifies today to the imposing nature of the Austro-Hungarian defensive system in this part of the Alps. After the war, the fort was restored and turned into a museum, allowing visitors to retrace the history of the conflict through its original rooms, galleries and positions. Around Forte Belvedere runs a network of historic trails, often following the same military routes, connecting other fortified works scattered across the plateau. This wartime heritage makes Folgaria a significant destination also for those interested in the history of the Great War in the Alps.
Hiking, Mountain Biking and Nature on the Plateau
Beyond skiing and historical memory, Folgaria is an ideal starting point for exploring the nature of the Alpe Cimbra throughout the year. The plateau offers a dense network of hiking trails that cross woods, clearings and pastures, suitable both for family walks and for more demanding routes towards the peaks bordering the territory. Many itineraries follow the old military tracks of the Great War, thus combining natural interest with historical interest. Mountain biking finds particularly favourable terrain here, thanks to routes that develop through the woods and along the plateau's ridges, frequented by local enthusiasts and visitors alike. The territory also lends itself to observing the night sky, favoured by reduced artificial lighting and the presence of an astronomical observatory that organises dedicated activities. This variety of offerings, from walking to stargazing, makes the Folgaria plateau a destination capable of offering different experiences in every season.
Not to be missed
- Forte Belvedere-Gschwent, an Austro-Hungarian First World War fort turned museum
- Skiarea Folgaria-Fiorentini, the Alpe Cimbra ski area
- The historic Great War trails across the plateau
- The hiking and mountain biking routes of the Alpe Cimbra
- The plateau's astronomical observatory for stargazing
To see
What to see in Folgaria
Routes · Trovido Route
