A weekend in San Lorenzo in Banale

Perhaps it is its location in the Comano UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, or maybe the secret lies in the quiet lanes and the stone and wooden homes that seem to encourage visitors to slow down and enjoy the little things in life. Whatever it is, San Lorenzo in Banale seems to have the capacity to revitalize people and many professional well-being experts have decided to work in and around the village.

For example, Il Ritorno is a farm that offers reiki sessions and Breuss treatment outdoors, among the woodland breeze and the aromas of medicinal herbs. Afterwards, you can enjoy one of their “agrisnacks”, with vegetables from biodynamic plots, cured meats and cheeses that are made locally.

In addition, no wellness-oriented stay in Trentino would be complete without a trip to the spa in the Grand Hotel Terme di Comano, which is just a short distance from San Lorenzo in Banale.

If you visit the village during the week, make sure you also look into the sensory activities organized by Mattia Cornella and Alissa Shiraishi.

Now that your body and mind are feeling reinvigorated, you can treat yourself to a walk among the wildlife of the Lake Nembia WWF Nature Reserve, at the foot of the Brenta Dolomites. It takes about an hour and the route is flat, so it is an ideal way to relax and breathe in the clean mountain air. While you are there, you can stop for lunch at the Ristorante Nembia.

We recommend that you start walking through the village without heading anywhere in particular and get lost among the narrow streets, the vaults and the stone fountains, where the women once gathered to do the laundry while the men worked in the fields.

Once you have done that, seek out the Church of Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch, with its beautiful frescos by the Baschenis family of 16th century artists. 

If you want to take some souvenirs home from your short break, in the village you will find the workshop of Claudia Bosetti, who makes Stone pine wooden items by hand, and the studio of Valentina Franchi, an artist who creates magnificent paintings on a number of materials, including bent tiles.

San Lorenzo in Banale is famous for its ciuìga pork sausages, which are flavoured with cooked, finely chopped turnips and are now protected under the Slow Food Presidia scheme. They were invented in the late 19th century by a butcher from the village who needed to reuse meat scraps and added white turnips for extra substance.

The original recipe has developed over the years and ciuìga is now made with superior pork and just a small amount of turnips. Between late October and November every year, visitors from all over Trentino fill the narrow streets of San Lorenzo in Banale during a festival known as the “Sagra della ciuìga”.

If all this talk of ciuìga has made you work up an appetite, we can recommend three different places that serve traditional dinners. Ristoro Dolomiti di Brenta is at the entrance of the Val d’Ambiez. Alternatively, in San Lorenzo in Banale you can choose between the Ristorante Pizzeria Erica and the restaurant Alpenrose.

To bring your weekend of well-being in the great outdoors to a wonderful conclusion, you can choose between two walks among the woods and pastures of the Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta (nature park).

The first leads you through the “seven villas”: the seven areas that make up the village of San Lorenzo, each of which has its own church and identity. The walk takes approximately one hour and we recommend that you take it easy so that you can savour every moment.

The second is the "La Bella Terra" route. A pleasant circular itinerary of about 4 hours, to be done on foot or by bicycle, which takes you to discover the villages of San Lorenzo, Dorsino and Andogno, also skirting "La Falesia Dimenticata" (the Forgotten Cliff), the rock gym now recovered as a community asset