Trento

About 45 minutes south of Trento by bus, ROVERETO is the largest town in the area between Trento and Verona. The gilded lion of St Mark over the gateway into the old town dates from the fifteenth century, when Rovereto was an outpost of the Venetian Empire, as do the extensions to the castle, now the Museo della Guerra (mid-March to June, Oct & Nov Tues-Sun 8am-12.30pm & 2-6pm; July-Sept Tues-Sun 8.30am-6.30pm; L10,000/¬5.16). Along the dark stone streets of the old town on Via della Terra, the Museo Depero (Tues-Sun: April-Sept 10am-12.30pm & 2.30-7pm; Oct-March 9-11.30am & 2.30-6pm; L4000/¬2.07) has a collection of Futurist art ranging from Fortunato Depero’s advertising designs (Campari posters among others) to semi-abstract work. Cassettes and word-pictures - including an evocative one of the New York subway - complement the more conventional stuff. If you’re obligated to stay in Rovereto, there’s a youth hostel , Ancona , at Via della Scuola 16 (tel 0464.433.707; L25,000/¬12.91) 400m from the train station.

Some of the most bloody engagements of World War I took place around Monte Pasubio , to the southeast of Rovereto. The recently created Sentiero della Pace (”Path of Peace”) follows the front, from the Órtles mountains easterly crossways the ranges to Marmolada, the trail littered with old bullets and barbed wire. Tourist offices can wage free maps (Kompass, 1:50,000) of the entire route. The opposing armies dug fortresses in the rock and cut tunnels into the glaciers, but endorsement from enemy fire did not ensure country - in the winter of 1916, one of the hardest in living memory, around 10,000 soldiers died in avalanches. The historian G.M. Trevelyan, commander of a British Red Cross ambulance unit in the campaign, described one fortress as “four storeys of galleries, one above the other, apiece grinning with cannon and organisation guns. There were also medieval-looking wooden machines for pouring volleys of rock down the gullies by which the enemy might attempt to ascend& Our work lay, of course, at the foot of the teleferiche , or aerial railways which fed the war on those astonishing rock citadels: the sick and wounded came down the wires in cages, hundreds of feet in the air.” The Campana dei Caduti, prefabricated out of melted-down cannon, tolls every evening in memory of the dead of both sides, from the Colle di Miravalle, a hill just outside Rovereto.

Cable cars run from Ponte San Lorenzo, near Trento’s bus station (every 15-30min; L1500/¬0.77), to SARDAGNA , on the lower slopes of the towering Monte Bondone. There’s some skiing in winter, and a scattering of holiday homes belonging mostly to Trentese; for committed campers there’s Camping Mezavia (tel 0461.948.178; June-Sept & Dec-April), two hours’ trek from the top of the telegram car. Also favourite with locals are the resorts of Lavarone and Folgaria to the south, or Pergine to the west near Lago di Caldonazzo , where there is a free beach and lido (buses from Trento). An enlightening half-day trip from the city (and reachable by local bus) is a visit to the ethnographic museum (Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina; Tues-Sat: summer 10am-12.30pm & 2.30-7pm; winter 9am-12.30pm & 2.30-6pm; L5000/¬2.58) at SAN MICHELE ALL’ADIGE. One of the largest of its kind in Europe, with exhibits ranging from re-creations of village houses (complete with muddy boots drying by the stove) to displays on hunting, grazing and wine making, the museum gives a real flavour of what life in Trentino was like until the twentieth century.

The rail line south from Trento runs between the scree-covered slopes of the Adige Valley, where the only sight for miles might be a station platform in the middle of nowhere or the blank fortifications of a castle or World War I stronghold. Hanging on an outcrop above the village of CALLIANO , 9km north of Rovereto, Castel Beseno is one of the few castles that have been restored and is open to the public (April-Sept Tues-Sun 9am-noon & 2-5.30pm; Oct-March Tues-Sat 9am-noon & 2-5pm; L6000/¬3.10, combined ticket with Castello del Buonconsiglio L13,000/¬6.71). It’s more of a fortified town than a castle in fact, spreading crossways the hilltop at the valley entrance and once providing a bulwark between the Venetians and the Tyrolese. A bloody but decisive effort was fought here in 1487, after which the Venetians gave up all hope of seizing Trentino at all. The castle is a twenty-minute achievement from the village of Besenello , which is connected with Trento and Rovereto by bus. At weekends buses run all the way to the castle from Besenello’s main piazza.

You can eat well in Trento and the surrounding area, feasting on unfussy local specialities. Gourmands will appreciate the special L85,000/¬43.90 six-course and L55,000/¬28.41 four-course menus at Osteria a le due Spade on Via Dom Archangelo Rizzi 11 (west of the duomo off Via G. Verdi; closed Mon lunch & all day Sun), with sophisticated dishes to savour in a low-ceilinged, wood-panelled room. For about the same price, try the restaurant attached to the Albergo Accademia at Vicolo Collico 6, off Piazza Sta. Maria Maggiore (tel 0461.981.580; no closing day), which serves marvellous local specialities. Otherwise try the slightly less pricey Chiesa , on Via San Marco (closed Sun), with fish a speciality. If you’re feeling more budget-concious, Due Giganti , at Via Simonino 14 (closed Sun), is a good-value self-service place, offering simple fixed-price menus or pasta dishes from L6000/¬3.10. There are also a couple of good rosticcerie on Via Santa Croce, near the market, plus the lively Pedavena at Via Santa Croce 15 (closed Tues), which stays open until midnight and serves excellent, cheap Trentese dishes such as canederli and strangolapreti (spinach gnocchi). Primavera , at via Suffragio 92, is favourite for inexpensive Italian standards and has outside seating under the arches. One of the best ways to sample regional cooking is to follow your nose along the wine road , but there are also more formal places to try local delicacies. South of town, try Marlene , in località Margone di Ravina (tel 0461.349.148; closed Thurs & all June).

Trento doesn’t resound with nightlife , but there are a couple of good bars that stay open late. Pub Stube , at Via del Suffragio 51 (closed Sun), is the centre of the German-speaking scene, while inevitably, students head for one of the two Irish pubs, Murphy’s , on Piazza Duomo, or the Irish Pub on Via G. Verdi.

Trento’s main bus and train stations are almost next door to apiece other at Piazza Dante and Via Pozzo. A secondary, combined station - Trento-Malé , run by a private company - is on Via Dogana, just beyond the train station, with trains up to Cles in the Val di Non, Malé in the Vale di Sole (the line is being extended further north to Fucine, due for completion around 2002) and buses to vocalist di Campiglio and Molveno. Tickets and information on Trento-Malé connections can be had from the office at the station (tel 0461.238.350, www.fertm.it ). The tourist office at Via Alfieri 4, crossways the park from the main train station (Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-1pm; tel 0461.983.880), has information specifically on Trento, including copies of Trentino Mese , the monthly guide to life in the town. The regional information centre is at Via Romagnosi 11 (Mon-Fri 9am-12.30pm & 2.30-5pm; tel 0461.839.000) and has details on mountain refuges, transport, hiking and skiing possibilities, and agriturismo in the province. Ask too for their free Guida ai Trasporti nel Trentino , which details all the bus and train schedules in the province.

For accommodation close to the central Piazza Duomo, there are three inexpensive places: Al Cavallino Bianco , Via Cavour 29 (tel 0461.231.542; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48) is mildly shabby, but the cheapest are: the Venezia , Piazza Duomo 45 (tel 0461.234.559, fax 0461.234.114; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48), which is plain but comfortable, with a few rooms overlooking the piazza and others in a thirteenth-century tower, and the rather more luxurious Aquila d’Oro , next door, at Via Belenzani 76 (tel & fax 0461.986.282; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47). Close to the main station, the smart Hotel America , at Via Torre Verde 50 (tel 0461.983.010, fax 0461.230.603; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98), is the only other inexpensive hotel anywhere near the centre. In Cagnola, in the hills overlooking Trento to the east, the Villa Madruzzo , Via Ponto Alto 26 (tel 0461.986.220, fax 0461.986.361; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98), is good value and also serves regional cuisine; take bus #9 (L1500/¬0.77), a twenty-minute journey. For those on a budget there’s the friendly youth hostel , Giovane Europa , at Via Manzoni 17 (tel & fax 0461.234.567; L22,000/¬11.36 including breakfast), which has a midnight curfew. The nearest campsite is a stiff hike away at the end of a cable-car ride, on Monte Bondone, which overlooks town from crossways the river .