Alto Adige: the famous places now take reservations

The two most photographed places in Alto Adige now run on a booking system: Lago di Braies needs a paid parking reservation in summer daytime hours, and the road up to the Alpe di Siusi is shut to private cars from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm every day.

Lago di Braies: €44, and only if you drive

Between July 1 and September 15, 2026, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, reaching Lago di Braies by car requires an online parking booking at €44, or €49 for vehicles over 2.2 meters tall, or a transit permit.

The ticket is not an entrance fee. It buys the transit permit, a guaranteed parking space, a shuttle if one is needed, and a €22 voucher to spend in the area if you book in advance. The lake itself is free.

Outside those hours and outside that period, the road is open as usual. Walkers and cyclists are never restricted, and the buses, line 442¹ from Dobbiaco and Villabassa and line 439¹ from Monguelfo, cost €7 to €13 for adults with compulsory online booking in the regulated period.

One inconsistency to know about: the provincial press release describes the scheme with a 9:30 am to 4:00 pm window, while the 2026 operating portal shows 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and the current prices. The portal is updated annually and is the one to follow.

Alpe di Siusi: cars out for eight hours a day

The road up to the Alpe di Siusi is closed to private cars every day from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, and during those hours the plateau is reached only by cable car or by bus. Guests of the accommodation on the Alpe and holders of a European Disability Card are exempt.

Since June 29, 2026 the two car parks must also be booked online: P1 Spitzbuhl at €15 a day, €10 for motorcycles, and P2 Compatsch at €30, €15 for motorcycles and €160² for a coach. Overnight parking is banned from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am.

There is a window when none of this applies. In the shoulder seasons, roughly mid April to mid May and early November to early December, the restriction lifts, because the cable car is not running either.

The free alternative sits at the bottom: the Alpe di Siusi cable car from Siusi has free parking at its valley station.

Stelvio: 2,758 meters and 88 hairpins

The Stelvio pass reaches 2,758⁴ meters and is the highest road pass in Italy, with 88 hairpin bends on the climb, 48 on the Alto Adige side and 40 on the Lombard side. The road closes seasonally between November and May.

Summer skiing survives here on the Livrio glacier, the last entirely Italian glacier still skiable in summer. That is a status that changes with the ice, not a permanent feature.

Exact opening and closing dates move every year and are published by the road authority and the province. This page gives the season, not a date, for that reason.

One park, three administrations

Stelvio National Park covers over 130,000³ hectares across Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige, around the Ortles-Cevedale massif, and it is administered by three separate territorial bodies with distinct offices and contacts.

That structure is a practical matter, not a bureaucratic footnote. Rules, opening information and contact points differ depending on which side of the park you are standing in.

The park's home page does not publish its year of establishment or the altitude of the Ortles, and the history subpages were unreachable, so neither figure appears here. More in Alto Adige, the Dolomites and national parks.

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