Castles, Dolomites, great Cheeses and Speck - whats not to like!

About Vipiteno Italy...

Another day trip about two hours away is Vipiteno. Nestled in the Sud-Tirol just ten minutes down from Brenner Pass, this is a quaint town at the confluence of the Isarco and Mareta Rivers. A ski resort area in the Winter and hiking paradise in the Summer, it is as clean and pretty as any Austrian village. Great shopping at reasonable prices - no Rodeo Drive type stores here. Stopped in a small storefront with kitchen goods and found the shop expanded into 5 other rooms, with a wide variety of specialty kitchen products. Bought a great little simple variable mandolin slider for less than 10 €s. There are 2 castles nearby - Tasso and Sprechenstein - you do think you are still across the border in Austria. The off to the EuroSPAR to stock up on cheese, wine and antipasti. They had a tinned fish sale - check it out below.