The Via Alpina is a network of five long-distance hiking trails across the alpine regions of Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Monaco. [1] The longest of trails is the red trail, whose termini are in Trieste and Monaco.
The Via Alpina was created by a group of public and private organisations from the 8 Alpine countries in 2000, receiving EU funding from 2001 until 2008. It was initiated by the Association Grande Traversée des Alpes in Grenoble, which hosted the Via Alpina international secretariat until January 2014, when it was transferred to the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps CIPRA (Liechtenstein). There are national secretariats (hosted by public administrations or hiking associations) in each country. Its aim is to support sustainable development in remote mountain areas and promote the Alpine cultures and cultural exchanges.
The Via Alpina green trail follows the Swiss National Route no. 1 (previously known as the Swiss Alpine Pass Route) from Sargans to Lenk, which then continues over a further four passes to Montreux. [2] [3]
From D11 to D51, coinciding to a large extent with the Piedmontese Grande Traversata delle Alpi (GTA).
The longest trail, crossing all 8 countries.
The Adula Alps, also known as the West Graubünden and Misox Alps, are a western Alpine mountain group, the part of the Lepontine Alps from the Lukmanier and St Gotthard Passes to the Splügen Pass.
The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main physiographic regions. The Swiss Alps extend over both the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, encompassing an area sometimes called Central Alps. While the northern ranges from the Bernese Alps to the Appenzell Alps are entirely in Switzerland, the southern ranges from the Mont Blanc massif to the Bernina massif are shared with other countries such as France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein.
Cortina d'Ampezzo is a town and comune in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alpine valley, it is an upscale summer and winter sport resort known for its skiing trails, scenery, accommodation, shops and après-ski scene, and for its jet set and Italian aristocratic crowd.
The Brenta Group or Brenta Dolomites is a mountain range, and a subrange of the Rhaetian Alps in the Southern Limestone Alps mountain group. They are located in the Province of Trentino, in northeastern Italy. It is the only dolomitic group west of the Adige River. Therefore, geographically, they have not always been considered a part of the Dolomites mountain ranges. Geologically, however, they definitely are - and therefore sometimes called the "Western Dolomites". As part of the Dolomites, the Brenta Group has been officially recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site under the World Heritage Convention.
A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization dedicated to hiking or mountain recreation. They are known by many names, including alpine hut, mountain shelter, mountain refuge, mountain lodge, and mountain hostel. It may also be called a refuge hut, although these occur in lowland areas too.
Monte Rosa is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over 4.000 m, is the Dufourspitze, the second highest mountain in the Alps and western Europe, after Mont Blanc. The east face of the Monte Rosa towards Italy has a height of about 2.400 meters and is the highest mountain wall of the Alps.
Ortler is, at 3,905 m (12,812 ft) above sea level, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It is the main peak of the Ortler Range. It is the highest point of the Southern Limestone Alps, of South Tyrol in Italy, of Tyrol overall, and, until 1919, of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. In German the mountain is commonly referred to as "König Ortler", like in the unofficial hymn of South Tyrol, the Bozner Bergsteigerlied.
The Dom is a mountain of the Pennine Alps, located between Randa and Saas-Fee in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. With a height of 4,545 m (14,911 ft), it is the seventh highest summit in the Alps, overall. Based on prominence, it can be regarded as the third highest mountain in the Alps, and the second highest in Switzerland, after Monte Rosa. The Dom is the main summit of the Mischabel group, which is the highest massif lying entirely in Switzerland.
The Tre Cime di Lavaredo, also called the Drei Zinnen ; pronounced[ˌdʁaɪˈtsɪnən] ), are three distinctive battlement-like peaks, in the Sexten Dolomites of northeastern Italy. They are probably one of the best-known mountain groups in the Alps. The three peaks, from east to west, are:
Pollux is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Valais, Switzerland and the Aosta Valley in Italy. It is the lower of a pair of twin peaks, the other being Castor, named after the Gemini twins of Roman mythology. Pollux' peak is at an elevation of 4,092 m (13,425 ft). It is separated from Castor by a pass at 3,847 m (12,621 ft), named Passo di Verra in Italian, Col de Verra in French and Zwillingsjoch in German.
Cavalier Angelo Donati was an Italian banker and philanthropist, and a diplomat of the San Marino Republic in Paris.
The Grande Traversata delle Alpi (GTA) is a long-distance hiking trail in the Italian region of Piedmont. In about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) and 55 day hikes, it runs through the arc formed by the western Alps from the Pennine Alps through the Graian and Cottian Alps to the Maritime and Ligurian Alps. There are a number of transverse valleys along the route. Day hikes typically connect high-lying valley communities with each other via historic pass routes.
The Bregenz Forest Mountains, also the Bregenzerwald Mountains, are a range of the Northern Limestone Alps and Eastern Alps, named after the town of Bregenz. The Bregenz Forest Mountains are located entirely in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg.
The Langkofel Group is a massif in the (western) Dolomites of the Italian Alps. It separates Gröden and the Fassa valley, as well as the Sella massif and the Rosengarten. Northwest of the Langkofel is the Seiser Alm. The highest point in the range is the eponymous Langkofel with a height of 3,181 metres. Taken together, the summits of the Langkofel form an arc which is only open towards the northwest. Within this arc there is only one small mountain, the Langkofelkarspitze, so that the group surrounds a kind of "inner courtyard".
The Slovenian Mountain Hiking Trail, sometimes also called Transverzala, is a route from Maribor to Ankaran. It covers most of the Slovenian mountain areas including Pohorje, the Julian Alps, the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, the Karawanks, and the southwestern part of Slovenia. It is the oldest hiking track in Europe.
Val Vogna is a lateral valley of Valsesia, inside the municipality of Riva Valdobbia, Italy.
Col Visentin is a mountain in the Bellunes Alps, in the Veneto region of Italy, which marks a geographical border point between the province of Belluno and the province of Treviso.
The Campo Moro dams are a pair of hydroelectric-gravity dams situated in Lanzada, in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy. The two dams are called Alpe Gera dam and Campo Moro dam. Alpe Gera, the largest of the pair, was constructed with approximately 1,800,000 m³ of concrete to create the Alpe Gera reservoir. The lower dam, Campo Moro, was created to form the Campo Moro reservoir.