Where culture and landscape collide

Spend more than five minutes in the city of Trento, and you’ll quickly understand that ours is a region with a rich artistic and cultural life. Here, Renaissance palazzi rub shoulders with elegant churches, and several of our most famous buildings are home to beautiful frescoes.

There are more modern monuments to be admired, too: notably MUSE, which is much a piece of contemporary sculpture as it as state-of-the-art science museum. Designed by Renzo Piano – architect of London’s Shard - it examines the impact of altitude on ecology, from mountain peaks and glaciers all the way down to the rainforests.

But what’s really striking about our cultural scene is the way that some of the most cutting-edge events and institutions can be found outside the city. In Rovereto, MART has flown the flag for modern art since the 1980s, with the help of works by Morandi, de Chirico, Picasso, Klee and Kandinsky. And – increasingly - you’ll find important work being done in the mountains too.

Take Sounds of the Dolomites, for example. Each summer, this ground-breaking festival gathers leading international musicians for a series of open-air concerts in stunning mountain settings. We’re also home to a growing number of outdoor sculpture parks. Arte Sella in the Val di Sella is the most celebrated, but art lovers should also check out the land art at Il RespirodegliAlberi in AlpeCimbra, and RespirArt beneath the peaks of Latemar.

Add a few castles into the mix – such as the Castel Thun, which is loaded with the art and artifacts of the Thun family – and perhaps the odd wine-tasting or Michelin-starred dinner, and you’ve got the makings of stimulating tour.