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Stemma di Brunico

Trentino-South Tyrol · Bolzano

Brunico

The largest town of the Pustertal at 838 metres, built around the prince-bishop's castle and the Stadtgasse, with Plan de Corones rising above the valley.

838m

Elevation

77 km / 48 mi

Nearest hub (Bolzano)

16,978

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

Why come

Brunico, Bruneck in German, is the largest town of the Val Pusteria at 838 metres in the eastern Alto Adige, founded around 1250 by the Brixen prince-bishop Bruno von Kirchberg, who built the castle that gave the town its name. First documented as Bruneke in 1256, the town received weekly market rights and the privilege of high justice, and grew rich in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries on the Augsburg-Venice trade across the valley. The Stadtgasse, the pedestrian central street, runs between four medieval town gates lined with painted townhouses, bay windows and ornate shop signs. The Castello di Brunico, summer residence of the prince-bishops, since 2011 houses the Messner Mountain Museum Ripa, one of six museums of the alpinist Reinhold Messner who was raised in the Pustertal. The South Tyrolean Folklore Museum, in the Mair am Hof Residence built 1690-1700 at Teodone, runs an open-air section with two dozen rebuilt farmhouses. Plan de Corones at 2,275 metres above the town holds MMM Corones, designed by Zaha Hadid and opened in 2015.

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Gallery

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Known for

  • Castello di Brunico

    Castle built around 1250 by Prince-Bishop Bruno von Kirchberg, summer residence of the Brixen bishops, since 2011 home to the Messner Mountain Museum Ripa.

  • Stadtgasse

    Pedestrian central street between four medieval town gates, lined with painted townhouses, bay windows, ornate shop signs and the merchant houses of the Venice trade.

  • Museo Etnografico Sudtirolese

    South Tyrolean Folklore Museum in the Mair am Hof Residence at Teodone, built 1690-1700, with twenty-four rebuilt farmhouses from across the province in its open-air section.

  • Plan de Corones / Kronplatz

    Town mountain at 2,275 metres, with MMM Corones inside the summit ridge, designed by Zaha Hadid and opened in 2015, and a major Dolomiti Superski ski area in winter.

  • Chiesa Parrocchiale di Santo Stefano

    Parish church on the Stadtgasse, the centre of Bruneck after the town became a parish in its own right in 1610, rebuilt after the great fire of 1723.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

May through October brings the warm months in the Pustertal, with the Stadtgasse and the castle terrace usable from early afternoon and Plan de Corones open for hiking and biking from late June. June and July are the cool alpine months, with long evenings in the historic centre and the cable cars running up from the south side of town. September and October bring the autumn colours and the start of Törggelen, the South Tyrolean chestnut-and-new-wine season. December through March is the ski season: Plan de Corones runs at full schedule as part of the Dolomiti Superski circuit, and the Bruneck Christmas market fills the Stadtgasse. April is the quiet shoulder between the end of skiing and the green-up of the valley.

How to get there

From Bolzano, Brunico is roughly 77 km by road. Allow about 66–92 minutes depending on traffic and route choice (autostrada vs scenic).

Drive time to the nearest gateway airports

  • Venice2h 46m
  • Verona2h 48m
  • Milan3h 32m

Elevation 838 m

Reachable by train

Google MapsApple MapsDirections from Bolzano

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