Trentino-Alto Adige · Bolzano
St. Ulrich
A Ladin wood-carving town at 1,236 meters, set between two high plateaus.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
St. Ulrich is on our list.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- By car
- 43 min from Bolzano
- Population
- 4,724
- J2°
- F5°
- M7°
- A11°
- M15°
- J21°
- J23°
- A23°
- S18°
- O14°
- N7°
- D2°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The valley climbs east from the Eisack toward the Sella and the Sassolungo, and the town sits at its middle point. Almost all residents speak Ladin at home, and signage runs trilingual in Ladin, German and Italian. Three lifts leave the village in three directions: one to the northwest onto a plateau, one north onto a long ridge below the Odle, and one south onto a high meadow that forms the valley's southern edge. The museum inside the Cësa di Ladins holds the record of the valley's carving tradition alongside fossils from the surrounding peaks and material on Luis Trenker, the mountaineer-actor-director who came from here.
The layout, a village hemmed by three lifts and named for the saint of its own parish church, reads as a place organized entirely around the ground it sits on: craft below, peaks and plateaus in every direction above.
How to get there
From Verona (VRN), about 2 h 24 min by car.
Milan Bergamo (BGY) is about 3 h 8 min away.
By car from the center of Bolzano 43 min or Trento 1 h 17 min.
Coming by train into Trento? St. Ulrich is about 1 h 17 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Parish church (St. Ulrich/San Udalrico)
Neoclassical church with Baroque elements, rebuilt in the late 18th century, dedicated to the Epiphany and to St. Ulrich, the patron saint who gives the town its German name.
Museum Gherdëina
Local-heritage museum inside the Cësa di Ladins documenting four centuries of woodcarving, wooden toys, sacred sculpture, Dolomite fossils and the Trenker family archive.
Seceda
Long limestone ridge reached by cable car from the village, with the Odle/Geisler peaks rising sharply to the north and high meadows dropping toward the valley.
Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm
Europe's largest high-alpine meadow, a plateau at 1,800 to 2,300 meters reached by cable car from the village, with the Sassolungo and Sciliar on its edges.
Resciesa
Plateau above the village reached by funicular, with the Holy Cross chapel and trails toward the Aferer Geisler and Brogles.
From the guides
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.
Anna Stuben dell'Hotel GardenaRistorante
Anna Stuben dell'Hotel Gardena carries two Gambero Rosso forks (85/100).
Gardena Grödnerhof Hotel & SpaHotel
Gardena Grödnerhof Hotel & Spa carries one Michelin Key.
Hotel MontchaletHotel
Hotel Montchalet carries a place in the Michelin hotel guide.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
St. Ulrich is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 4,724, with Castelrotto/Kastelruth (7,053 people) 13 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Bolzano/Bozen, a city of 106,568, is 43 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 4,724, down 0.7% since 2015
- Nearest city Bolzano, 43 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Bressanone, 14 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €5,400 to €9,500 per m² to buy, €15.80 to €31.70 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Verona airport (VRN), 2 h 24 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bolzano, 43 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Peru, Romania and Slovakia, against 9% across Italy. 39 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany and Austria. There are 168 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 45% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Bolzano province ranks 2nd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Bressanone, 14 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Bolzano, 27 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Bolzano, 27 km away. The nearest IB school is Realgymnasium Bozen, 27 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
South Tyrol has its own property tax, IMI, in place of IMU. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Trentino-Alto Adige spends about €2,940 a month, €610 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €302 a year for water, on the Trentino-Alto Adige average. In Bolzano, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.52, a meal in a pizzeria €15.14 and a man's haircut €23.58.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone F, the coldest of Italy's six, with no national limit on when the heating runs. The national maps show no residents in a medium flood zone. 2% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
WOODCARVING
Local craft since the 17th century: sacred sculpture, altars, nativity scenes and the Val Gardena wooden-toy industry that exported across Europe.
LADIN VAL GARDENA
Ladin-speaking valley with the language as the everyday medium for most residents, trilingual signage and a strong cultural identity preserved through Union Generela di Ladins.
DOLOMITI SUPERSKI
Three lifts (Seceda, Alpe di Siusi, Resciesa) climb from the village; Val Gardena is part of the Dolomiti Superski circuit and hosted the 1970 Alpine Ski World Championships.
Common questions
- What is St. Ulrich known for?
- St. Ulrich is a Ladin wood-carving town at 1,236 meters, set between two high plateaus.
- Where is St. Ulrich?
- St. Ulrich is a comune in the province of Bolzano, in Trentino-Alto Adige, at 1236 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to St. Ulrich?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Verona (VRN), about 2 h 24 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Bolzano to St. Ulrich?
- About 43 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit St. Ulrich?
- Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 23 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 18 rain days.
- Which other towns are like St. Ulrich?
- Kastelruth, Cavalese and Toblach.
- How many people live in St. Ulrich?
- 4,724 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is St. Ulrich a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, St. Ulrich is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Castelrotto/Kastelruth, 13 min). The nearest city, Bolzano/Bozen, is 43 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Bressanone, 14 km as the crow flies.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
The numbers
- Elevation: 1236 m
- Population: 4,724
- Surface area: 24.16 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.
The ranked lists
Lists St. Ulrich appears in
- The best hidden towns worth staying overnight in Trentino-Alto AdigeTrentino-Alto Adigeworth staying overnighthidden7 towns · smallest 1,446 residents
- The best ski towns that eat well in the province of BolzanoBolzano provinceski areaeats well7 towns · smallest 1,446 residents
- The 9 best small high-altitude villages that eat well in Trentino-Alto AdigeTrentino-Alto Adigeabove 800 meats wellsmall9 towns · smallest 266 residents
- The best small mountain towns within 90 minutes of BolzanoNear Bolzanomountainwithin 90 minsmall9 towns · smallest 933 residents · closest 41 min away
- The best small ski towns that eat well in Trentino-Alto AdigeTrentino-Alto Adigeski areaeats wellsmall9 towns · smallest 266 residents
- The best towns worth staying overnight in the province of BolzanoBolzano provinceworth staying overnight9 towns · smallest 1,446 residents
Similar
Towns like St. Ulrich
What all six share with St. Ulrich: high in the mountains · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · mountain towns above 1,000 metres
The letter
St. Ulrich 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: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when St. Ulrich comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Chioggia, 158 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.