Alpine meadows in flower on the Seiser Alm

What it is

The Seiser Alm, Alpe di Siusi in Italian, is a huge rolling pasture in South Tyrol, between 1,700 and 2,300 metres, with the rock towers of the Dolomites behind it. It is farmed as hay meadow, cut once a year, and that gentle use is what keeps it so rich in flowers. Crocuses come through the melting snow in May. In June and early July the grass fills with gentians, globeflowers, arnica, bellflowers and wild orchids. Then the farmers mow, and the show ends field by field. Easy paths cross the plateau between wooden hay huts.

Before you go

• Go in June or the first days of July, before mowing begins.
• Road access for private cars is restricted in the daytime. Use the cable car from Seis or the buses.
• Do not pick. Many alpine species are protected, and the hay is the farmers' crop.

The flowers you will see

GentianTrumpet-shaped blue and yellow flowers of alpine meadows and temperate regionsMountain arnicaA yellow-flowered herb from Europe's uplands, used in herbal traditionsGlobeflowerA bright yellow wildflower of damp woods and meadows in Europe and western AsiaCrocusSmall corm-grown flowers in white, yellow, orange or purple

More in Italy

🇮🇹 Pienza · Jun to JulSunflower fields of the Val d'OrciaRolling Tuscan farmland south of Siena where sunflower fields open from late June between wheat, cypress and clay hills. 🇮🇹 Castelluccio di Norcia · May to JulThe flowering of the Castelluccio plainA high plain in the Sibillini mountains where lentil fields and their wild flowers colour the ground in bands from late May. 🇮🇹 Rome · All yearMorning flower stalls on Campo de' FioriA daily market square in central Rome whose name means field of flowers, with flower sellers at one end. 🇮🇹 Stresa · Mar to OctThe terraced garden of Isola BellaA Baroque palace garden on a small island in Lake Maggiore, built up in ten terraces like the stern of a ship.