Ziano di Fiemme
Ziano di Fiemme is a municipality in the Val di Fiemme, in Trentino, set at about 950 metres of elevation along the course of the...
Updated 17 July 2026
This season · July · Summer
What to do in Ziano di Fiemme now
The story
The story of Ziano di Fiemme
Ziano di Fiemme in the Valley, along the Avisio
Ziano di Fiemme lies in the heart of the Val di Fiemme, the valley carved by the Avisio river that connects the Costalunga Pass, on the border with the Val di Fassa, to the Vallagarina further downstream. The municipality sits at about 950 metres of altitude, in a basin where the valley floor, farmed as hay meadows, narrows between the first woods of the Lagorai chain to the south and the slopes rising toward the Latemar group to the northeast. Its position, roughly halfway between Predazzo and Cavalese, has made Ziano a crossing point along the Strada Statale 48 delle Dolomiti, today partly bypassed by a tunnel that skirts the town centre and reduces through traffic. Around the main village lie farmsteads and small rural clusters, evidence of a scattered settlement pattern that has always coexisted with the valley's farming and forestry activity.
Cross-country Skiing and the Marcialonga
Ziano di Fiemme is one of the stages of the historic Marcialonga route, the cross-country skiing granfondo born in 1971 that every January crosses the Val di Fassa and the Val di Fiemme along a course of nearly seventy kilometres, from Moena to Cavalese. After climbing the Val di Fassa and reaching Canazei, skiers return to the Val di Fiemme and pass right through Ziano before reaching Predazzo, Panchià, Tesero and finally the finish line in Cavalese, in one of the most attended Nordic skiing competitions in the world, inspired by the Swedish Vasaloppet. Beyond the race itself, the village's Nordic vocation is reflected in the network of cross-country trails and loops that runs through the whole valley, linking the different municipalities into a single large ski area that in winter turns the valley floor into one great open-air stadium, used by racers and casual enthusiasts alike.
The Dolomites of Fiemme and Outdoor Life between Latemar and Lagorai
From the valley floor at Ziano, the view sweeps across two very different mountain landscapes. To the northeast rise the Dolomite spires of the Latemar, which together with the nearby Catinaccio form the so-called Dolomites of Fiemme and Fassa, a UNESCO World Heritage site, visible from many vantage points in the municipality. To the south stretches the Lagorai chain, an older and less frequented massif of porphyry rock, marked by alpine lakes, high-altitude pastures and gentler yet still wild forms. This double exposure makes the Ziano area an ideal base for hiking, with trails that climb quickly from the valley floor toward the two mountain groups, offering, within a few hours of walking, very different environments, from conifer woods to high pastures, from Dolomite rock faces to the glacial valleys of the Lagorai.
The Forests, the Magnifica Comunità and the Farmsteads
The territory of Ziano is wrapped in extensive red spruce forests, part of the large woodland heritage administered by the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme, the valley's ancient self-governing institution, whose roots go back to the Patti Ghebardini of 1111 and which still manages about twenty thousand hectares of certified forest, collectively owned by the people of Fiemme. The village is home to a sawmill run by the Magnifica Comunità, direct evidence that timber working remains a concrete economic activity for the local community, not merely a symbolic one. The red spruce trees on some of the valley's slopes, selected for their fine, regular grain, have for centuries been sought after for building musical instruments, from violins to pianos, a link between the Fiemme forest and violin-making that has made the whole valley famous. Around the main village, the farmsteads scattered across the slopes and the hay meadows tell the story of a mountain rural economy built on livestock farming, subsistence agriculture and the wise use of forest resources.
History and Experiences
The history of Ziano di Fiemme is closely bound to that of the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme and to the collective governance of the forests that for centuries regulated life in the valley, guaranteeing every family rights of use over timber and pastures. The village also bears the painful mark of the Second World War: between 2 and 4 May 1945, in the final days of the conflict, retreating German troops were responsible for massacres in several locations in the area, an episode still remembered by the local community today. Among the village's better-known natives is Renzo Zorzi, a Formula 1 driver born there. Today Ziano offers visitors a range of experiences spanning winter cross-country ski trails, summer hikes toward the Lagorai and the Latemar, visits to the farmsteads, discovery of the timber working linked to the Magnifica Comunità, and walks along the Avisio, in a balance between rural tradition and sporting vocation that characterises the whole Val di Fiemme.
Not to be missed
- A stretch of the Marcialonga route through the valley-floor meadows
- A hike toward the Lagorai chain, among alpine lakes and pastures
- A view of the Dolomites of Fiemme, with the Latemar in the background
- A visit to the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme sawmill
- A walk among farmsteads and red spruce woods along the Avisio
To see
What to see in Ziano di Fiemme
Routes · Trovido Route
