Trentino-South Tyrol · Bolzano
Toblach
The Val Pusteria gateway where Mahler wrote his last three symphonies in a cabin behind town.
- Best time
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- By car
- 1 h 33 min from Bolzano
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 3,363
Known for
MAHLER
Gustav Mahler spent the summers of 1908 to 1910 in a cabin at Alt-Schluderbach, writing his last three works including the Ninth Symphony.
TRE CIME GATEWAY
Closest town to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo on the South Tyrol side, with the nature park visitor centre in the old Grand Hotel.
DOBBIACO-CORTINA CYCLE PATH
Thirty kilometres along the old Habsburg railbed to Cortina d'Ampezzo across Cimabanche pass, one of the most ridden cycle paths in the Dolomites.
When to visit
Best · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- J1°
- F4°
- M6°
- A9°
- M14°
- J20°
- J23°
- A22°
- S18°
- O14°
- N7°
- D2°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Giovanni Battista, 24 June
Why come
Dobbiaco sits at 1,256 metres in the upper Val Pusteria, on the Austrian border, its written record going back to 827. The old settlement, Alt-Toblach, grew around the parish church, while the newer part of town took shape lower down around the railway station built alongside the hotel that opened in 1877, which turned Dobbiaco into one of the first alpine resorts in the Habsburg empire. Further out in the woods at Alt-Schluderbach stands the cabin where a composer once retreated each summer to write, apart from the hotel guests and the trains.
South of the settlement the land opens into the Fanes-Sennes-Braies Nature Park, holding an alpine lake with a trail for walkers, and the old railbed continues in that direction as a route over Cimabanche pass toward Cortina d'Ampezzo. Beyond all of it, reached by way of Val di Landro and Misurina, rise the three spires that anchor the eastern Dolomites. The Gustav Mahler Musikwochen festival fills the town each July and August with concerts named for the man who once needed its quiet. Taken together, the town reads as three layers set one behind the other: a medieval nucleus, a Habsburg-era resort built on the railway, and beyond both, the mountains and woods that drew a composer to withdraw and now draw everyone else to pass through.
The Sunday letter
Toblach 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 Toblach comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Toblach in our articles
The best hidden towns worth staying overnight in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol7 towns, Toblach among them.
The best mountain towns you can reach by train in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol7 towns, Toblach among them.
The best ski towns that eat well in the province of Bolzano/Bozen7 towns, Toblach among them.
The best towns you can reach by train in the province of Bolzano/Bozen7 towns, Toblach among them.
How to get there
From Venice (TSF), about 2h 14m by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 3h 12m away.
By car from the centre of Bolzano 1h 33m or Trento 2 hours.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Venice?
What to see
Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista
Rebuilt 1764-1774 over the remains of a ninth-century Benedictine chapel, standing at the centre of the historic settlement of Alt-Toblach, the nucleus the rest of the town grew around.
Grand Hotel Toblach
Built 1877-1878 beside the new railway station. The building now holds the nature park visitor centre and the Mahler Auditorium, where the composer's name is heard again each summer.
Lago di Dobbiaco/Toblacher See
Alpine lake south of town in the Fanes-Sennes-Braies Nature Park, with a circular educational trail and observation platforms for waterfowl.
Casa Mahler
A reconstruction of the wooden cabin in the woods at Alt-Schluderbach, standing where the original stood among the trees, away from the town centre.
Ciclabile Dobbiaco-Cortina
The old railbed itself, crossing Cimabanche pass at 1,530 metres through the Dolomites UNESCO area on its way south.
Tre Cime di Lavaredo
Three rock spires of the eastern Dolomites, reached from Dobbiaco via Val di Landro and Misurina: the most recognised silhouette in the Dolomites UNESCO area.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Toblach fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
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.
TiliaRistorante
Tilia has two Gambero Rosso forks (81/100) to its name.
Valcastello Dolomite Château & Polo ClubHotel
Valcastello Dolomite Château & Polo Club holds a place in the Michelin hotel guide.
Living here
- Population 3,363
- Very remotei
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Venice, 2 h 14 min drive
- Regional capital Bolzano, 1 h 33 min drive
Common questions
- What is Toblach known for?
- Toblach is the Val Pusteria gateway where Mahler wrote his last three symphonies in a cabin behind town.
- Where is Toblach?
- Toblach is a comune in the province of Bolzano, in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, at 1256 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Toblach?
- Venice (TSF), about 2h 14m by car.
- Can you get to Toblach without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Bolzano to Toblach?
- About 1h 33m by car.
- When is the best time to visit Toblach?
- Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 23 degrees, and June the wettest, with about 20 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Toblach?
- The town keeps its patron saint's day: Giovanni Battista, 24 June.
- Which other towns are like Toblach?
- Innichen, Cortina d'Ampezzo and Bormio.
- How many people live in Toblach?
- 3,363 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 1256 m
- Population: 3,363
- Surface area: 125.42 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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