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00 Pinzolo
Stemma di Pinzolo

Trentino-South Tyrol · Trento

Pinzolo

The Val Rendena base town at 770 metres, set between the Adamello-Presanella massif and the Dolomites to the east.

Best time
May–Oct
By car
1 h 33 min from Trento
Population
3,042

Known for

  • DANZA MACABRA

    Twenty-two-metre Dance of Death fresco painted on the exterior of San Vigilio in 1539 by Simone Baschenis, the most complete surviving cycle of its kind in the Alps.

  • ADAMELLO-BRENTA

    Gateway to the largest protected area in Trentino, with the granite Adamello-Presanella on one side and the UNESCO Brenta Dolomites on the other.

  • MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO

    The Habsburg-era resort up the valley, frazione of Pinzolo, where Emperor Franz Joseph and Princess Sissi summered in 1889 and 1894.

When to visit

Best · May–Oct

  • J6°
  • F9°
  • M10°
  • A14°
  • M18°
  • J23°
  • J25°
  • A25°
  • S20°
  • O16°
  • N10°
  • D6°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: San Lorenzo, 10 August

Why come

Val Rendena runs the length of the valley floor, separating the granite of the Adamello-Presanella to the west from the Dolomites to the east, and Pinzolo sits at its center at 770 metres. The settlement is documented from 1211 as Penzollo, a medieval community of farmers and pastoralists that kept a degree of independence from the D'Arco counts through its own village assembly, the Università.

Most of the municipal territory now falls inside the Adamello-Brenta Nature Park, the largest protected area in Trentino, which places both mountain ranges within the same administrative boundary as the town itself. Up the valley, the frazione of Madonna di Campiglio grew from a travelers' hospice into a resort, and the two settlements are now linked by gondola as well as by governance, the older farming village at the valley floor and the younger resort on the slopes above it. Pinzolo became a ski town in the second half of the twentieth century, and the cable car climbing from its centre to 2,100 metres is the physical expression of that link, carrying the town's growth up toward the peaks that have always framed it.

The Sunday letter

Pinzolo is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Pinzolo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Pinzolo in our articles

How to get there

From Verona (VRN), about 2h 45m by car.

Milan (BGY) is about 3 hours away.

By car from the centre of Trento 1h 33m, Bolzano 2 hours or Brescia 2h 26m.

Pinzolo, photo 1
Pinzolo, photo 2

What to see

  • Chiesa di San Vigilio

    The church stands above the village. Its painted procession of eighteen skeleton pairs leads pope, emperor, king, beggar and child in a single line across the exterior wall, the fresco surviving in near-complete condition.

  • Chiesa di Santo Stefano

    Cemetery church on the edge of the village, frescoed inside and outside by the Baschenis painters with another Dance of Death cycle and scenes of saints.

  • Parco Naturale Adamello-Brenta

    Largest protected area in Trentino, covering most of the Pinzolo territory and including the Brenta Dolomites and the Adamello-Presanella glaciers.

  • Madonna di Campiglio

    The resort sits at 1,550 metres, built around a hospice that once sheltered travelers before it grew into the summer retreat later favored by Habsburg royalty.

  • Pinzolo–Madonna di Campiglio ski area

    Part of the Skirama Dolomiti Adamello Brenta circuit, with the Pinzolo–Doss del Sabion gondola climbing from the village to 2,100 metres.

  • Val Genova

    Glacial side valley reaching west from Pinzolo into the Adamello-Presanella, a chain of waterfalls and pastures leading toward the Mandrone and Lobbia glaciers.

The slow-trip planner

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We recommend

Where to eat and stay

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Living here

  • Population 3,042
  • Remotei
  • Pharmacy in town
  • Nearest airport Verona, 2 h 45 min drive
  • Market day Wednesday
  • Regional capital Trento, 1 h 33 min drive

Common questions

What is Pinzolo known for?
Pinzolo is the Val Rendena base town at 770 metres, set between the Adamello-Presanella massif and the Dolomites to the east.
Where is Pinzolo?
Pinzolo is a comune in the province of Trento, in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.
What is the nearest airport to Pinzolo?
Verona (VRN), about 2h 45m by car.
How long is the drive from Trento to Pinzolo?
About 1h 33m by car.
When is the best time to visit Pinzolo?
Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 25 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 25 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Pinzolo?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: San Lorenzo, 10 August.
Which other towns are like Pinzolo?
Sterzing, Piancastagnaio and Auronzo di Cadore.
How many people live in Pinzolo?
3,042 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

  • Elevation: 770 m
  • Population: 3,042
  • Surface area: 69.32 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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