Snowshoe Tour: Over the Vigiljoch

5 hours of walking time / 10km / 300 meters of altitude difference
Nature lovers take note: In the car-free hiking area around Lana's local mountain, you are greeted by a magnificent quiet backdrop, which is only underlaid with the energizing sounds of nature.

Breathe deeply and feel the difference in air quality. On a snowshoe hike over the Vigiljoch, you can renounce everyday life and completely drift into the idyll of the Merano region.

Board the second oldest aerial cableway in Europe, which at the time had caused a great sensation nationwide. Of course, the cableway has been technically updated to the latest standard and takes you safely to the mountain station at 1,500 meters in just 8 minutes.

Here you then have to change to the chairlift, at whose mountain station (over 1,800 meters) our hike actually begins. Particularly active people can of course also manage this section with snowshoes. From the end of the lift, a slightly downhill path leads you westward to the Jocher inn and to the St. Vigilius little church, which has already stretched its stone tower into the sky from many a postcard.

If you now look between the inn and the church, you will see the red-white marked hiking trail that leads you in a consistently gentle ascent along the mountain ridge and through sections of spruce forest to the southwest.

Follow the markings with the number 9 further towards Hochwart. Soon you will approach the forest border and through the thinning tree landscape you can, having reached a clearing, already recognize the Rauhen Bühel, from which you have a breathtakingly beautiful view over the valley.

You can now descend directly northwest to the Naturnser Alm (1,922 meters). Attention: No winter operation! But a unique view of the Adige Valley, Bolzano, and the Dolomites. From the Alm, follow the northeast path with the number 30. It will later take you back to the beginning via path number 9.

With approximately 5 hours of walking time, this tour is relatively long, but does not present difficult challenges over 10 kilometers. The entire route with a rounded 300 meters of altitude difference can be covered comfortably.

Those who have arrived without snowshoes can rent some at the Vigiljoch cable car.