What is Lavarone known for?

Austro-Hungarian fort built 1908-1912 on a limestone spur over the Val d'Astico, one of the best-preserved Great War fortifications in Trentino. Karst lake at 1,079 metres holding a Bandiera Blu, set in conifer woods where Sigmund Freud spent three summer holidays. Settled by Bavarian colonists from the tenth century, part of the Magnifica Comunità degli Altipiani Cimbri with neighbouring Luserna.

Lavarone is a comune in the province of Trento, Trentino-South Tyrol region of Italy, about 34 kilometers from Trento.

Trentino-South Tyrol · Trento

Lavarone

A Cimbrian plateau at 1,172 metres above the Val d'Astico, with a karst lake, an Austro-Hungarian fort, and the woods where Freud walked.

1172m

Elevation

34 km / 21 mi

Nearest hub (Trento)

1,186

Population

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Bandiera Blu

Why come

Lavarone sits at 1,172 metres on a forested plateau between the Folgaria highlands and the Cimbrian island of Luserna, the southern edge of the Alpe Cimbra ski circuit. The territory is a scatter of twenty hamlets across pasture and conifer woods, settled by Bavarian-Cimbrian colonists between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. Lake Lavarone, a karst lake at 1,079 metres formed in a slowly filled sinkhole, sits at the centre of the plateau and holds a Bandiera Blu for water quality. Sigmund Freud spent three summer holidays here in the early twentieth century, walking the shore and the conifer woods above the lake. South of the village, the Forte Belvedere Gschwent stands on a limestone spur over the Val d'Astico, an Austro-Hungarian fortress built between 1908 and 1912 that marked the imperial border with the Kingdom of Italy and now houses a Great War museum. In winter the Alpe Cimbra lifts open from the plateau hamlets above 1,000 metres.

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Gallery

6 photos · scroll →

Known for

Forte Belvedere Gschwent
Austro-Hungarian fortress built 1908-1912 on a limestone spur at 1,177 metres over the Val d'Astico, with armoured cupolas and a Great War museum.
Lago di Lavarone
Karst lake at 1,079 metres, formed by the filling of a sinkhole, awarded the Bandiera Blu for water quality and ringed by a conifer-shaded walking path.
Altopiano di Lavarone
Forested plateau between the Folgaria highlands and Luserna, a scatter of twenty hamlets across pasture and woods at 1,000 to 1,200 metres.
Alpe Cimbra ski area
Folgaria-Lavarone-Lusérn ski circuit with slopes from the plateau hamlets above 1,000 metres, part of the Skirama Dolomiti card.
Freud's path
Lakeside trail marking the three summer holidays Sigmund Freud spent at Lavarone in the early twentieth century, with information panels along the route.

When to visit

Best months · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

June through September is the alpine summer: cool evenings even in July, hiking on the plateau, swimming and sailing on the Bandiera Blu lake, and the Forte Belvedere open to visitors. December through March is the ski season, with the Alpe Cimbra lifts running from the plateau hamlets above 1,000 metres and snow holding into early April. April and May are quiet shoulder months between the ski closure and the green-up of the meadows; many hotels close. October and November are the quietest months, with the lake and the fort emptied of visitors and the plateau settling into the pre-winter pause.