A beautiful morning at Karersee and a great lunch at Colle – The Delightful Dolomites, Part 4

This post is the continuation of a series documenting our travels through a small part of the beautiful Dolomites in Italy in the European summer of 2023. We were based in Bolzano for the first half of our time in the Dolomites and had spent the first 2 days seeing the Runkelstein castle ( A walk to Runkelstein Castle on a beautiful evening in Bolzano – The Delightful Dolomites, Part 2 ) and spent an entire day up in Soprabolzano / Oberbozen where we had hiked some of the incredible trails on offer ( A day spent hiking in Soprabolzano – The Delightful Dolomites, Part 3 ). On our last full day in Bolzano we wanted to see one of the famous lakes of the region the Lake Carezza or Karersee.

While planning our trip to the region we had come across photos of some very beautiful lakes. We had shortlisted 2 of the many lakes in the region – Lago di Braies / Prager Wildsee which is the most famous lake & Lago di Carezza / Karersee which was most conveniently located to us from Bolzano. We wanted to get to a lake early in the day as summer was peak season & these lakes could get uncomfortably crowded. We don’t drive so our ability to reach a place early depends on the bus schedule. Taking that into consideration we settled on Carezza as it was a shorter direct bus ride there from Bolzano and we could have some time with less people at the lake.

We got up early in the morning and got ready on yet another relatively clear morning in Bolzano. The weather gods had been kind yet again and we said a quiet “thank you!” before getting ready and reaching the breakfast room as they were setting up breakfast. We filled up our tummies with the fresh breakfast on offer at the Goldenstern townhouse and then set off for the bus station which was right outside the train station in Bolzano. As in most European small towns the streets were almost deserted and we had a nice walk to the bus station.

The empty streets of Bolzano early in the morning

I had researched about the bus number that we had to take to reach Karersee and knew the time that the bus would leave. We reach the bus station well before time as we are used to doing and waited at the bus station for our bus to arrive.

Waiting at the Bolzano bus station for our bus to Lago di Carezza

The bus arrived perfectly on time and was relatively empty when it left Bolzano, we knew that we had made the right decision. A short 50 minute bus ride down narrow winding roads we were at the bus stop for Lake Carezza. The lake itself is visible from the road and that’s what makes it very crowded later in the day as it is very convenient to get to.

We crossed the road and were dumbstruck by the sheer beauty of this small lake. Having been to a lot of lakes big and small across the Alps and even one in the Tatra Mountains in Poland ( Zakopane , Part 1 – The hike to Morskie Oko on a rare non rainy day in the Tatras ) I have to say that the smaller lakes win the beauty contest. This lake was a puddle compared to huge lakes like Lake Geneva or Lake Como but the still green waters, the perfect backdrop of the conifers and the typical peaks of the dolomites beyond made it a thing of sheer beauty.

The beauty of Lago di Carezza / Karersee in the Dolomites

We first went to the wooden platform built at the near end of the lake and got a nice fellow tourist to take our photo ( And reciprocating the favour for them !) before it got flooded by tourists as the day went on.

Getting our photo clicked at Karersee

The view of the lake from the wooden platform

The better half poses in front of the beautiful Lake Carezza

There is a path that goes fully around the lake and we waited for a few minutes at the platform and just enjoyed the view before starting our walk around the lake. While admittedly the best view of the lake is just from the start of the path where you get the iconic view of the lake with the reflection of the mountains behind, the walk around the lake is fully worth it. The thing that makes the walk around the lake a must do is that only a fraction of the tourists that come to the lake venture beyond the wooden platform or few metres on the trail. For most of the trail there are very few people on the far side of the lake on the path that winds through the conifers. If you rush through then you can circle the lake in well under an hour, we however meandered on slowly. Stopping to take in a different perspective on the lake. Enjoying the beautiful sunny morning at such a beautiful place, couldn’t get any better!

The path around the Lake Carezza

Wild flowers blooming on the edge of the lake

The boulder in the lake makes the scene even more dramatic

A mandatory selfie at the far side of the lake

The path through the conifers almost free of crowds

A view of the lake through the confers with a different set of mountains behind

Getting our photo clicked courtesy another kind tourist

The path through the forest on the other side

Lago di Carezza – Beautiful from all angles

No other person in site as the path winds around the far side of the lake

Happy at having circled the lake

Almost back to where we started

When we reached the platform back again a good hour and a half later we had left it was full of tourists that had come in from the towns all around to enjoy this beautiful little lake on a summer morning. We were glad that we had taken our photos on the platform in the morning itself and just stood at the platform and enjoyed the view before saying goodbye to Karersee.

A perfect morning spent at Lake Carezza

When we returned to the bus station we saw that the parking at the lake was full and there was actually a traffic jam of people trying to get in. They were shooed away by an increasingly irritated traffic attendant who was standing in the middle of the parking entrance and turning people away.

Vindicated at our decision to start early and still having some time for the bus back to Bolzano to arrive we went to the small cafe behind the bus station and had a celebratory drink before taking the bus back to Bolzano.

Enjoying a celebratory drink after a great morning walk around Lago di Carezza

The bus ride back took a longer time due to traffic jam of people trying to find parking around the lake. So if you are driving to Carezza do get there early or you might have to park at a town miles away and take the bus here anyway!

Once we were back at Bolzano we decided to take the less popular cable car from the other side of town to the hamlet of Colle / Kohlern up in the hills. This cable car (an earlier version ) was the first passenger cable car in the world. Although the one we went up in was modernised in 2006 the first iteration of this cable car went up the hill in 1908! This cable car ride was included in the 7 day travel pass and we decided to take the opportunity to use it even more and have lunch up in Colle.

The Cable car station is an unmanned one (at least there was no one there when we went!) and you just scanned your travel pass to get through the turnstiles and waited for the cable car. A short wait later we were travelling up the hill in the Funivia del Colle!

Travelling up the mountains in the Funivia del Colle

We reached the station on top and it was actually manned, what a relief! They scanned our tickets again to make sure we hadn’t just jumped the turnstiles down below. We got out of the cable car station and walked through the small hamlet of Colle.

The cable car station in Colle

We had read about a tower there which could be climbed for views over the valley and Bolzano below so we walked in the direction of the tower. We reached the tower to find the entrance locked with no explanation in site. We assumed it must be under maintenance and took some photos with the bear sculpture under it before moving on. No tower climb for us today!

The under maintenance tower at Colle

Taking photos with the bear sculpture below the tower in Colle

We then walked through the one lane town and towards the Kohlern Inn.  I had zeroed in on the restaurant attached to the Kohlern inn as it had great reviews, had vegetarian options for the better half and most importantly it had a summer patio which had views into the valley below.

Walking through the small town of Colle above Bolzano

We hadn’t done any reservations (which are always advisable in the peak summer months) but were lucky enough to get a table on the patio. So we got seated and ordered our lunch which turned out to be excellent. The better half had what she still calls the best trio of dumplings of the trip, while I enjoyed a huge Wienerschnitzel with a side of tasty pan fried potatoes. We also ordered the usual lemonade and beer and enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Colle.

The better half enjoys her trio of dumplings at the restaurant Kohlern

Tasty food in a great setting – A perfect lunch at Kohlern

Enjoying a cold beer on the summer patio on a warm afternoon in Kohlern

After what turned out to be our best meal in Bolzano we walked back through the town stopping to take photos of the valley below on either side. There were very few tourists here and when a family asked me to take a photo for them with the valley beyond I gladly agreed and of course they reciprocated!

Stopping to take photos of the valley on either side of Colle

We would be much closer to the mountains in the distance in the next 3 days

We then walked back to the cable car station and took the next cable car station down, this time remembering to take photos of the town below from the cable car.

Views of  Bolzano from the Funivia del Colle

We were lucky enough to reach the station below just in time for a bus to Bolzano station which saved us the long walk back. It had been a great day spent in two very different places – a lake that everybody wants to visit and a pretty little hamlet that most people ignore.

We would return to our hotel to rest for sometime before setting off again late in the evening to see if Bolzano had any pretty lights in and around the Cathedral and the main square Piazza Walther. It was our last night in Bolzano and I wanted to experience the town lit up before we set of for Laion the next morning.

But that is the story for another post some other time, some other place.

Till then,

Ciao!

In front of the extremely popular lake Carezza

Lunch at the spectacular Restaurant Kohlern