Recommended hut for 3-4 days staying

[Yair Shahar]

Hi,
My wife and I are planning trip to north of Italy for 4 days with our little baby girl (1 year old).
We thought of staying at one hut all of the period, enjoy its nature (there must be a lake...), and go for easy tracks of 2-3 hours near that hut.
Could you guys please recommend me of a hut / village that:

1. near lake.
2. has fantastic view of mountains, rivers, wild nature etc. , such as we could stay a whole day in the hut and just enjoy its view.
3. has easy tracks (prefer of circle) of 2-3 hours near. We will carry our baby with us (of-coarse...)
4. near a town with vegetarian restaurant, and coffee.

Any comment are welcome!
Thanks, Yair.

 

[Yair Shahar]

I would like to correct my use of the word 'hut' which is very basic accommodation (I figured that just now).
It has to be more than basic accommodation, we would like private shower and toilet inside the cabin , a porch which we could seat and have a coffee, a simple kitchen with small fridge and running water, electricity - that kind.

 

[Pauline]

Hello Yair, will this be your first trip to Italy? Are you thinking of the Dolomites, the alps in the north eastern part of Italy, near the town of Bolzano? This is a very popular hiking area. The official region is "Trentino-Alto Adige", also called Südtirol. People usually stay in one of the small towns and do day hikes from there. Instead of a "hut" you could look for a vacation rental or holiday rentals - houses or apartments that you rent by the week, usually from Saturday to Saturday. Or an "agriturismo", an apartment on a farm.

The term "hut" is used to describe those simple accommodations up in the Alpine levels where people hike up from a town and stay in a hut (usually dormitory style).

For vacation rentals, have a look on HomeAway or AirBnB to see if there is anything in that area.

Or look at the Italian Agriturism sites to see if they have any in this area:

*Agriturismo.it Listings of Agritourism farms and estates throughout Italy.

*Agriturismo.net Villas, houses, apartments on farms/estates (agritourism). Most properties are in Tuscany, but also in Umbria and other regions. Also B&B, hotels, rooms on farms. Part of 4tourist.net based in Pisa (agriturismo.net, lodging.it, tuscanjourney.org).

*Agriturist Listing of all Agritourism farms/estates (farm-stays) in Italy by the National Association for Agritourism. Farms/estates listed by region with links to their websites.

Regarding vegetarian restaurants, you won't find any. I am a long-time vegetarian and Italy is a great place for vegetarians (especially if you eat dairy and eggs). Most menus offer vegetarian pasta selections. It will a bit more difficult in the north because meat is more central in the diet there, but you should be able to find vegetarian meals.

 

[Ian Sutton]

Hi Yair
We've stayed twice in Molveno, which sits and the edge of Lago Molveno and some proper mountains and views with all the boring bits removed. If going there in summer, then the modern gondola ski lift opens up some great walks up the mountain. but otherwise there are some good walks around the lake, including a ~ 3 hr full circle of the lake.
Lots of self-catering chalet style apartments, not too expensive but well fitted, and many have nice gardens.
The usual hang-gliders / para-gliders should amaze a 1 year old and there is a swimming pool area and places designed for small children. Otherwise a walk, maybe taking in a picnic in the woods might appeal

Downsides
- for only 4 days, this will require a degree of travelling to get there from the airport (and back). Verona is nearest airport. If you have a hire car that's fine (though the roads are a bit twisty). Alternatively it's a fast train to Trento, but then it's either 2x buses (changing at Mezzolombardo) or local train + bus (also changing at Mezzolombardo).

- Italy isn't the best for vegetarians and the further north the harder it can be, so self-catering is the way to go, and there are always plenty of lovely meat-free dishes to buy pre prepared to have a rolling salad / picnic / supper selection. You'll find non-meat dishes on the menu, but not much without eggs, cheese, milk (p.s. the local Malga cheese is wonderful).

regards
Ian

 

[Pauline]

Italy isn't the best for vegetarians

It is better than France! Way better! But, as you said, better in central and southern Italy where vegetarian pastas are common.

 

[Yair Shahar]

Thank you Ian and Pauline, this is really informative and helpfull.

 

[joe]

Hi Yair and welcome here!
I don't have a recommendation for you from personal experience but I have a tip for you : use the regional websites in the area you want to visit, in order to get an idea of what's available. These regional websites are usually well organized, and quite user-friendly. They realize that tourism is a mainstay of the local economy, and therefore treat these marketing platforms seriously.
You didn't say which area of north Italy you're interested in, but here are two examples :

http://www.cuneoholiday.com/index.p...le=&ric_valle=&ric_comune=&cercaEventi=Search

http://www.lovevda.it/en/accommodation/mountain-huts

In a similar fashion, you can run a search on any region that interests you.

Pauline's advice about considering agriturismi is also good : these family farms are a great way to connect to the locality, and our experience with them is that they are overflowing with hospitality.

I am also sending you a private message, check your inbox. Have fun with the planning.

 

[Yair Shahar]

Thanks Joe for the reply, also for the private one. I now have lots of information and I have to organize it. If I will have another issues I know where I can get some answers...
(here... )

 

[Ian Sutton]

Absolutely - always happy to cover follow-up questions

Indeed the traveler who asks lots of questions is a very good traveler for writing suggestions for, because they come back to clarify and so you know they are reading the responses and the effort was worthwhile!