What is Borgo Valsugana known for?

Only town in Trentino with its historic centre on both banks of a river, with painted facades over the water and historic bridges across the Brenta. Open-air contemporary art project in the Val di Sella since 1986, with works in natural materials including the Cattedrale Vegetale at Malga Costa. Twelfth-century castle on Mount Ciolino above the valley, with a square watchtower twenty-six metres high dominating the historic centre.

Where is Borgo Valsugana?

Borgo Valsugana is a comune in the province of Trento, Trentino-South Tyrol region of Italy, about 43 kilometers from Trento.

Trentino-South Tyrol · Trento

Borgo Valsugana

The valley town built on both banks of the Brenta in lower Valsugana, with Castel Telvana above and Arte Sella in the side valley.

43 km / 27 mi

Nearest hub (Trento)

7,021

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Borghi più belli d'Italia

Why come

Borgo Valsugana sitson the Brenta river thirty kilometres east of Trento, in the lower part of the Valsugana valley that carries the road and the railway between Trento and the Veneto plain. The Roman settlement of Ausugum stood on the same site, on the Claudia Augusta Altinate road from Altino to Tridentum. Borgo is the only town in Trentino built on both banks of a river: the centro storico straddles the Brenta with painted facades reflected in the water and arcades opening onto the quays, which is why locals and visitor guides call it the Little Venice of Trentino. Castel Telvana, whose square watchtower goes back to the twelfth century, rises on Mount Ciolino above the town. The Val di Sella, a side valley west of the centre, is the setting for Arte Sella, the open-air contemporary art project active since 1986, with works including the Cattedrale Vegetale and the installations around Malga Costa. The valley was the front line in 1915 to 1916 and much of the historic centre was rebuilt after the war.

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Gallery

7 photos · scroll →

Known for

Castel Telvana
Twelfth-century castle on Mount Ciolino above the town, built around a square watchtower five metres per side and twenty-six metres high.
Ponte Veneziano
Fifteenth-century bridge over the Brenta crowned by two aedicules with graffiti inspired by seventeenth-century works of Jacopo Fiorentini.
Arte Sella
Open-air contemporary art project in the Val di Sella since 1986, with works in natural materials around Malga Costa, including the Cattedrale Vegetale.
Centro storico sul Brenta
Old town on both banks of the Brenta, the only such configuration in Trentino, with painted houses reflected in the water and historic bridges.
Sentieri della Grande Guerra
Trail network through the World War I front-line positions above the valley, where Italian and Austro-Hungarian lines faced each other from 1915 to 1916.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June brings mild weather along the Brenta, the Val di Sella in full green and Arte Sella at its most photogenic between bud and full leaf. September and October are the dry months, with the Tognola peaks above the valley starting to colour and the river running clear after the summer rains. July and August can hit thirty-three degrees at 380 metres, with the quays in shadow by late afternoon and Arte Sella busy with visitors. November through March is quiet, with the Brenta high from autumn rain and Castel Telvana on reduced winter hours. Snow rarely settles in the centre but holds on the higher trails above the valley.