Trentino-Alto Adige · Bolzano
Sterzing
A bilingual mining town at 948 meters on the Brenner road, where a 46-meter tower built in 1472 still divides the old town from the new.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Sterzing is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 8 min from Bolzano
- Population
- 7,032
- J3°
- F6°
- M8°
- A11°
- M16°
- J22°
- J24°
- A23°
- S19°
- O15°
- N9°
- D4°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Vipiteno sits at 948 meters in the upper Wipptal, twelve kilometers south of the Brenner Pass and the Austrian border, with the Eisack river running through the medieval town and the Stubai Alps rising on three sides. The German-speaking population calls it Sterzing and outnumbers the Italian speakers by roughly three to one. The town grew rich in the late fifteenth century from silver and lead mined in the Schneeberg deposits of the Ridnaun and Pflersch valleys to the west, and from its position on the Brenner trade route.
The mines belonged to the Fuggers of Augsburg, the banking family who financed Habsburg emperors; Vipiteno is still sometimes called Fuggerstadt. The Zwölferturm, a forty-six meter tower built in 1472, stands at the center of Piazza Città and divides the Altstadt from the Neustadt, the two halves of the medieval town. Both halves are lined with painted facades, oriel windows and stepped gables built when the silver flowed.
How to get there
From Verona (VRN), about 2 h 47 min by car.
Milan Bergamo (BGY) is about 3 h 31 min away.
By car from the center of Bolzano 1 h 8 min or Trento 1 h 40 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Zwölferturm
Forty-six meter tower built in 1472 at the center of Piazza Città, dividing the Altstadt from the Neustadt and serving as the town's symbol.
Altstadt and Neustadt
Two halves of the medieval town on either side of the Zwölferturm, lined with painted facades, oriel windows and stepped gables from the silver-mining century.
Schneeberg mining museum
Provincial mining museum in the Ridnaun valley west of Vipiteno, on the site of the Fugger-era silver and lead workings that funded the town's wealth.
Chiesa parrocchiale di Nostra Signora della Palude
Late Gothic parish church on the north edge of the town, one of the largest Gothic religious buildings in Tyrol, with a 1497 high-altar tabernacle.
Castel Tasso/Reifenstein
Thirteenth-century castle on a rocky spur south of the town, one of the best-preserved fortified residences in South Tyrol, with original medieval interiors.
From the guides
Where to eat
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.
Kleine FlammeRistorante
Kleine Flamme holds two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100).
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?
Sterzing meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 7,032 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Bolzano/Bozen, a city of 106,568, is 1 h 8 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
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 7,032, up 3.1% since 2015
- Nearest city Bolzano, 1 h 8 min drive
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,500 to €3,200 per m² to buy, €8.30 to €12.00 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- 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 47 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bolzano, 1 h 8 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
13% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Kosovo, Pakistan and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 117 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, Austria and France. There are 145 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 25% 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
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Bolzano, 46 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Bolzano, 46 km away. The nearest IB school is Realgymnasium Bozen, 46 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. The town adds nothing to your income tax. 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. Under 1% 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
ZWÖLFERTURM
Forty-six meter tower built in 1472 at the center of the town, dividing the Altstadt from the Neustadt as the symbol of Vipiteno.
FUGGERSTADT
Town of the Fuggers, who owned the Schneeberg silver and lead mines in the Ridnaun valley and made Vipiteno a Habsburg financial hub in the late fifteenth century.
PAINTED FACADES
Altstadt and Neustadt streets lined with painted facades, oriel windows and stepped gables built during the silver boom of the 1400s and 1500s.
Common questions
- What is Sterzing known for?
- Sterzing is a bilingual mining town at 948 meters on the Brenner road, where a 46-meter tower built in 1472 still divides the old town from the new.
- Where is Sterzing?
- Sterzing is a comune in the province of Bolzano, in Trentino-Alto Adige.
- What is the nearest airport to Sterzing?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Verona (VRN), about 2 h 47 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Bolzano to Sterzing?
- About 1 h 8 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Sterzing?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 24 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 20 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Sterzing?
- Pinzolo, Agnone and Nicolosi.
- How many people live in Sterzing?
- 7,032 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Sterzing a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Sterzing is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Bolzano/Bozen, is 1 h 8 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
The numbers
- Elevation: 948 m
- Population: 7,032
- Surface area: 32.97 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 Sterzing appears in
- The best ski towns that eat well in the province of BolzanoBolzano provinceski areaeats well7 towns · smallest 1,446 residents
- The 10 best high-altitude villages within 90 minutes of BolzanoNear Bolzanoabove 800 mwithin 90 min10 towns · smallest 933 residents · closest 43 min away
- The best mountain towns in the province of Bolzano/BozenBolzano provincemountain10 towns · smallest 933 residents
Similar
Towns like Sterzing
What all six share with Sterzing: mountain-valley towns · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
The letter
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Chioggia | Everyone is wrong about this town
It’s not an alternative to Venice
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