San Cassiano

Updated October 2026 · Sources: Alta Badia tourist board, Dolomiti Superski, Museum Ladin, IDM South Tyrol, Wikipedia

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San Cassiano (St. Kassian in German, San Ćiascian in Ladin) is a village in Alta Badia, at 1,537 metres above sea level, in South Tyrol (province of Bolzano), in the Italian Dolomites. It is not a municipality of its own: it is part of Badia, in a side valley of Val Badia that climbs towards the Valparola Pass. Above the village rise the walls of Lavarella and Conturines; higher up are the Lagazuoi and the Settsass.

Driving distances: about 5 km to La Villa, about 10 km to Corvara, about 30 km to Cortina d’Ampezzo over the Valparola and Falzarego passes, and about 40 km to Brunico, the nearest railway station. Bolzano is about 80 km away.

Why stay here rather than in the bigger villages of the valley? In winter you are on the Alta Badia slopes and the Dolomiti Superski, plus the Lagazuoi run, which ends at Armentarola, just above the village. In summer you are at the edge of the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park, a few kilometres from the First World War sites. It is a small, quiet village with a cave bear museum and a long tradition of fine dining.

You can walk around the village in half an hour. The things to see are the museum, the church and above all the mountains around it, which you reach by gondola or along the Valparola road.

The village and its church

The centre clusters around the church, with shops, bars and hotels along the road up to the Valparola. The first farmsteads, called viles in Ladin, are recorded as early as 1296; for centuries the valley was mostly pasture. Tourism arrived in the 1960s and is now the main source of income.

The parish church, dedicated to the patron saint Cassian, dates from 1782. The high altar painting of the saint’s martyrdom is by Carlo Henrici, a painter from Silesia.

Museum Ladin Ursus ladinicus

This is the cave bear museum. In 1987, thousands of bones were found in a cave in the Conturines above the village, belonging to a bear that lived more than 50,000 years ago: Ursus ladinicus. It is the highest site in the world where remains of cave bears and cave lions have been found. The museum opened in 2011 and is a branch of the Museum Ladin Ciastel de Tor in San Martino in Badia.

Over three floors you see how the Dolomites were formed, with the fossils typical of the San Cassiano area, the story of the cave excavations and, on the ground floor, a reconstruction of the cave with a hibernating mother bear and her cub. It is wheelchair accessible. Opening times: 2 May to 5 November 2026 and 26 December 2026 to 15 March 2027, 10am to 6pm; check closing days on the Museum Ladin website.

Piz Sorega and the Pralongià plateau

From the village, the Piz Sorega gondola rises to 2,040 metres. Above lies the Pralongià, a wide high plateau of meadows between San Cassiano, Corvara and La Villa, facing the Sella, the Sassongher and the Conturines. In winter it is the heart of the Alta Badia ski area; in summer it is one of the easiest walking areas in the valley.

From the top station to the Ütia Bioch (2,073 m) and Pralongià (2,135 m) huts the path is almost flat. With children, this is the easiest choice.

Armentarola

Armentarola is the part of San Cassiano above the village, towards the Valparola Pass. The name comes from the Ladin armenc, herd: these were cattle pastures. Here you find the Sciaré meadows with the Alta Badia cross-country centre, the bottom of the run down from the Lagazuoi and, a little higher, the Capanna Alpina at around 1,700 metres, the gateway to the Fanes-Senes-Braies park.

Lagazuoi

The Lagazuoi is the First World War mountain above the Falzarego Pass. The cable car runs from the pass (2,105 m) to the Lagazuoi hut at 2,752 metres; the summit is at 2,778 metres. Up there is an open-air museum of trenches, communication trenches and tunnels dug by Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers. It is about 10 km from the village.

You can also walk up: from the Valparola Pass the Kaiserjäger trail, the original path of the Austrian troops, has been restored, with sections protected by cables and a 15-metre suspension bridge. About 5.4 km and about 600 metres of ascent, roughly 3 hours. Check it is open before you go.

Valparola Pass and Forte Tre Sassi

The Valparola Pass (2,192 m) lies above Armentarola, on the border with the Veneto, about 2 km from the Falzarego Pass. The road is open all year, apart from temporary closures in bad weather. On the pass stands Forte Tre Sassi, an Austro-Hungarian fort from the First World War, now a museum of weapons, equipment and soldiers’ everyday objects. The Kaiserjäger trail and the Settsass traverse start here.

Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park

The park starts east of San Cassiano, with the Conturines and Lavarella. It is part of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site. From Armentarola you enter its wildest part: the Lech de Lagació lake (2,182 m) below the Lagazuoi, the Scotoni hut and, further on, the Fanes high plateaus. The park visitor centre is in San Vigilio di Marebbe.

Settsass

The Settsass is the mountain south of the village, between the Valparola Pass and the Pralongià. It is less famous than the Lagazuoi, but the summit is a short, easy detour from the trail and has one of the widest views in the Dolomites. Do it as a day traverse (see below).

From San Cassiano you ski on three levels: the Alta Badia slopes, the Sella Ronda circuit and the whole Dolomiti Superski, 1,200 km of pistes and about 450 lifts on a single pass. The 2026/27 season in Alta Badia runs from 4 December 2026 to 4 April 2027, snow permitting.

Alta Badia slopes from Piz Sorega

The Alta Badia ski area has 130 km of pistes and 54 lifts: 74 km blue, 47 km red, 9 km black. It is mainly easy and intermediate terrain, good for families and average skiers. From San Cassiano the Piz Sorega gondola takes you straight onto the wide Pralongià slopes, linked to La Villa and Corvara. You ski back to the village on the Piz Sorega runs.

Sella Ronda from San Cassiano

San Cassiano is not on the circuit itself: ride up to Piz Sorega and ski down from the Pralongià to Corvara, where you join it. The official loop is 39.6 km of pistes and lifts, about 4 hours clockwise and 4.5 hours anticlockwise, without breaks. Add the time to get there and back: start early and check when the last lift towards the Pralongià closes.

The Lagazuoi tour and the Armentarola run

This is the best-known descent in the area. From the Falzarego Pass take the cable car up the Lagazuoi, ski the Lagazuoi run (3.5 km, 600 m vertical) and then the Armentarola run (7.5 km, 1,130 m vertical), a long descent through a lift-free valley between rock walls. At the bottom, at Sas Dlacia, a pair of horses tows skiers holding a rope to the Armentarola lift, where you rejoin the Alta Badia ski area.

To reach the Falzarego from Alta Badia there are paid ski buses and taxis, not included in the ski pass. The run only opens when there is enough snow: check the Alta Badia website.

Ski pass 2026/27

Official Dolomiti Superski prices: an adult day pass costs 89 euros in high season and 80 euros in low season; an adult 6-day pass in high season costs 453 euros. New this year: the Dolomiti Superski Family card can be bought online. If you stay in the valley, the Alta Badia pass is cheaper. Full prices on the Dolomiti Superski website.

Cross-country skiing, sledging and snowshoeing

The Alta Badia cross-country centre is on the Sciaré meadows at Armentarola, about 3 km from the village: 26 km of trails for classic and skating, at the foot of the Conturines, Lavarella and Settsass, with snowmaking on about 4 km, rental, a school and a bar.

With children, try the Tru liösa Foram toboggan run: about 3 km from the Piz Sorega plateau, at around 2,000 metres, down to the village. On snowshoes there are marked routes towards Armentarola and the Valparola alpine hut. The village has ski schools with instructors for adults and children.

In summer the Piz Sorega gondola and the Lagazuoi cable car run; check the operating dates before you go. Walking times below are from the official route descriptions, without breaks.

From Piz Sorega over the Pralongià to Corvara

The classic San Cassiano walk, almost all downhill. From the Piz Sorega top station (2,040 m) follow trail 21A to the Ütia Bioch, then trail 23 along the ridge to the Pralongià (2,135 m), then trails 25 and 24 to Corvara. 8.7 km, 2 hours 40 minutes, 128 metres up and 581 down. Return by bus from Corvara.

Scotoni hut and Lech de Lagació

From the Capanna Alpina above Armentarola, the trail climbs in about 45 to 50 minutes to the Scotoni hut, on a small flat area below the Lagazuoi. From there, through a gorge, you reach the Lech de Lagació, the Lagazuoi lake, at 2,182 metres. Fine for families used to walking.

For more, the loop over the Forcela dl Lech (2,486 m) and Alta Via no. 1 is about 10 km, 5 hours and about 800 metres of ascent. The long trail to the Fanes high plateaus also starts from the Capanna Alpina, a full-day walk.

The Settsass traverse

Take the bus to the Valparola Pass and follow trail 24 towards the Settsass; a short detour takes you to the summit. Then descend to the Pralongià and finish at Piz Sorega on trails 23 and 21A, riding the gondola down to the village. About 14 km, about 5 hours, about 500 metres up and 700 down. A moderate hike over meadows and ridges, with no difficult sections.

The Lagazuoi on foot

Via the Kaiserjäger trail from the Valparola (about 600 m of ascent) you reach the Lagazuoi hut, then take the cable car down to the Falzarego, about 2 km from the Valparola. You need to be sure-footed: there are cables and a suspension bridge. If you suffer from vertigo, ride the cable car up and visit the trenches at the top.

Cycling

On a road bike, climb from San Cassiano to the Valparola Pass and, just beyond, the Falzarego: a classic Dolomites climb on the road to Cortina. On a mountain bike you have the tracks across the Pralongià meadows and around Armentarola. For the Sella loop by bike, head down to Corvara.

The cooking is Ladin and Tyrolean: cajincì (filled pasta, sometimes fried), turtres (fritters), canederli (bread dumplings), alpine cheeses and strudel. In the huts on the Pralongià and below the Lagazuoi you eat mountain food with a view.

San Cassiano also has a long tradition of fine dining: for years it has been one of the big names of gourmet cooking in the Alps, with Michelin-listed restaurants in the village and the valley. Book well ahead, especially at Christmas and in August. On 13 December 2026 the Gourmet Skisafari takes place: a ski tour of Alta Badia huts serving dishes by Michelin-starred chefs.

• La Villa (about 5 km): the Gran Risa World Cup run; in 2026, men’s giant slalom and slalom on 20 and 21 December.
• Corvara and Colfosco (about 10 km): the Boè gondola towards the Sella, the Sassongher and the Puez-Odle park.
• Pisciadù waterfall: below the Sella walls near Colfosco, on the road to the Gardena Pass.
• Gardena Pass: beyond Corvara and Colfosco, towards Val Gardena.
• Arabba: over the Campolongo Pass, with steep runs and the Marmolada close by.
• Cortina d’Ampezzo (about 30 km): over the Valparola and Falzarego passes.
• Giau Pass and Cinque Torri: from the Falzarego, with the First World War open-air museum at the Cinque Torri.
• San Martino in Badia: the Museum Ladin Ciastel de Tor, on the language and history of the Ladin people.

• Village centre: for skiers and anyone without a car. You can walk to the Piz Sorega gondola, the museum and the bus stops.
• Armentarola and Sciaré: for cross-country skiers and peace and quiet. You are on the trails, at the bottom of the Lagazuoi run and close to the Fanes park paths; use the ski bus or car to reach Piz Sorega.
• Families: the centre or near the gondola, with easy slopes, the toboggan run and Pralongià walks close at hand.
• On a budget: San Cassiano is one of the most expensive villages in the valley. Look for apartments in La Villa or Badia, or come in low season (December before Christmas, January, March, June and late September).

You will find spa hotels, garni B&Bs, apartments and farm stays. Christmas, February and August book up months ahead.

By car

Take the A22 Brenner motorway to the Bressanone (Brixen) exit, follow Val Pusteria towards Brunico as far as San Lorenzo, then Val Badia up to La Villa; there turn towards the Valparola Pass, and San Cassiano is about 5 km on. From Cortina and the Veneto, come over the Falzarego and Valparola passes, open all year except for closures in bad weather. In winter you need winter tyres or chains in the car.

By train

San Cassiano has no station. The nearest is Brunico, about 40 km away, on the Fortezza – San Candido line; at Fortezza you connect with Brenner line trains from Verona, Bolzano and Innsbruck. From Brunico, continue by bus.

By bus

From Brunico, buses run up Val Badia to Alta Badia; the San Cassiano stops (centre, cross-country centre, Armentarola) are served by line 465. Check routes, changes and timetables on Südtirol Mobil. In winter ski buses link the Alta Badia villages.

By plane

The nearest airport is Bolzano, about 80 km away. The main gateways are Innsbruck (about 140 km), Treviso (about 180 km), Venice (about 190–200 km), Verona (about 220 km) and Munich (about 340 km). In winter there are shuttle-bus transfers from the airports: check the services for the season, or book a private transfer.

Parking

Near the Piz Sorega gondola and in the village, car parks are often full on busy days: leave the car at your hotel and use the ski bus. In summer there is a car park at the Capanna Alpina, the starting point for the Fanes park; for the Lagazuoi, park at the Falzarego Pass.

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