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High alpine trails on Schartlkamm, in the Venosta Valley, Italy.
© Bartek Woliński
MTB
Watch this 360º video bike guide of Venosta Valley
Mountain-bike photographer Bartek Woliński and crew tackle the trails on the sunny side of the Alps.
Written by Lukas Pilz
3 min readPublished on
James Renwick, Lukas Pilz ride the Holy Hansen trail in Venosta Valley, Italy.
Flow and switchbacks on the Holy Hansen trail© Bartek Woliński
Venosta Valley is one of the most popular bike regions in Italy for a reason. It offers a huge variety of trail riding: single-track, enduro trails (lift-assisted Resia/Reschen at the border triangle) and high alpine trails.
This guide focuses more on the area around Laces and its famous trails – Holy Hansen, Propain and Schartl. Nevertheless you'll get a feeling for this epic bike destination.
Scroll down for photos, POV runs, 360º videos and info about guiding, accommodation, bike shops and how to get there.
Ride Venosta Valley in 360Venosta valley is one of the most popular bike regions in Italy. Experience the epic destination.
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The facts:

Location: Venosta Valley, Italian Alps
Good for: Single-track trails, epic mountain trails, bike shuttles
Trail difficulty: S1 - S2.
Accomodation: bikehotels.it 
Favourite trail: Holy Hansen
Nearest airport: Bolzano, Innsbruck, Bergamo, Milan
Local speciality: Italian cuisine
When to go: March to November

Trail guide: Propain

Built largely on pre-existing irrigation channels, Propain makes for a nice introduction to the area. On the same side of the valley as the Sunny Benny trail, we rode Propain the morning after a six-hour torrential downpour and it was bone dry. Featuring a mixture of tight and more open berms before opening up into some faster, rougher sections littered with rocks and roots, there's enough to keep you on your toes and wanting more. You can either climb 800m of vertical or take one of the numerous bike shuttles.
When you hit the bottom, ride into town for some pasta and salad. The Goldene Rose has a nice courtyard in the sun (and another out of the sun) and became our go-to lunch spot.

Trail guide: Holy Hansen

Ride up the 1,050m climb or get a shuttle with the numerous uplift providers. Consider saving this one until last, or you’ll end up riding nothing else! From the first few turns you can tell it’s been built by people who know what they’re doing.
Fast, flowy and a little rough in places, the more open top section entices you to attack, railing berms, pumping rollers and even getting a little air-time for those that want it.
A mix of fast, direct lines with berms, switchbacks and some high speed gullies that invite you to open her up and let rip. It instantly went into our best-ever list.
Watch below to see a full POV run of Holy Hansen trail.
14 minPOV run of Holy Hansen trailPOV run of Holy Hansen trail
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Essential Info

Contact: Matze Gruber vinschgaubike.com if you want to have the best experience on the trails there. They know every corner of the valley and where to find the best gelato, wine and beer once you come down to lower ground!
Where to stay: There are a number of Bikehotels in and around the small town of Latsch, not to mention a well-maintained campsite that sits close to the bottom of Propain Trail in Schlanders.
Looking at Vinschgaubike.com map in Venosta Valley, Italy
Checking the map from Vinschgaubike.com© Bartek Woliński

How to get there

By car: On the Brennero/Brenner Motorway A22 take the exit Bolzano Sud/Bozen Süd and then the dual carriageway MEBO to MERANO/MERAN and continue to Latsch/Laces
By plane: Bolzano, Innsbruck, Verona, Venice, Bergamo, Milan are the closest airports.
By bus: meinfernbus.de travels to South Tyrol every day. Hop on! From Merano/Meran take the train to Coldrano/Goldrain.
By train: With the Brennero/Brenner train you can reach the North and South of Bolzano/Bozen. Take the Vinschgerbahn train to Coldrano/Goldrain.
Fancy seeing more MTB destination guides from locations around Europe? Go to our MTB Destination Guides page.
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