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Lakes, Mine and the Holy Mountain — Tarvisio

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Lakes, Mine and the Holy Mountain

STARTING FROM · Tarvisio · 1 day

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QUICK INFORMATION

DURATION
1 day
COUNTRY
Italy
REGION
Tarvisio · Friuli-Venezia Giulia
CATEGORY
Mountains

ABOUT THIS ITINERARY

A day that collects everything Tarvisio is: glacial lakes under Mangart, the Roman mine of Cave del Predil, and the Madonna’s mountain at dusk.

OVERVIEW

The route at a glance

About 45 km driving. Morning lake loop at Fusine, the Predil lake with swimming and the mining museum after lunch, then the gondola (or Pilgrim’s Path for the fit) up to Lussari for the sanctuary and a summit dinner.

THE SCHEDULE

Day by day

Day 1

Water, ore, sky

  1. 08:30

    Laghi di Fusine

    2 h

    The double lake loop with Mangart reflections; coffee at Capanna Edelweiss on the western shore.

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  2. 11:00

    Lago del Predil

    2.5 h

    Beach time, kayak rental or the windsurf school beneath the Cinque Punte.

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  3. 13:45

    Mining Museum, Cave del Predil

    1.5 h

    The galleries where Romans first dug — lead, zinc and the miners’ world since antiquity.

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  4. 15:45

    Cable car to Monte Lussari

    3 h

    Up to the sanctuary, the Kralj frescoes and the Carinthian hamlet — sunset over three countries.

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  5. 19:00

    Dinner at Locanda al Convento

    2 h

    Friulian-Austrian-Slovenian kitchen at 1,790 m, then the gondola down under the stars.

THE ROUTE ON THE MAP

Stops on the map

ATTRACTIONS ON THIS ROUTE

Sights on the way

The Upper Fusine Lake beneath the north face of Mangart
Nature Reserve & Lakes

Laghi di Fusine

Two glacial lakes in a 45-hectare nature park are perhaps the most photographed landscape in Friuli-Venezia Giulia: the Superiore and Inferiore sit under Mangart’s sheer north face (2,677 m), fed by artesian springs and ringed by spruce forest of the thousand-year Tarvisio forest. An easy path loops both lakes past erratic boulders — including the 30,000 m³ Piroma, one of the Alps’ largest — and the Rifugio Zacchi trail climbs into the amphitheatre of the Ponze peaks.

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The green-blue Lago del Predil beneath the Cinque Punte peaks
Lake & Mining History

Lago del Predil & Cave del Predil Mine

Ten kilometres south of Tarvisio, the second-largest lake of Friuli-Venezia Giulia fills a deep glacial basin at 969 m — cold, green-blue and ringed by the Cinque Punte and Cima del Lago. A tiny island is the wreck of the moraine arch of legend, which drowned a hard-hearted village and spared the one hospitable house. Above it, the village of Cave del Predil lived for its lead and zinc mine — worked since Roman times, closed in 1991 — now a mining museum with walkable galleries.

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The pilgrimage sanctuary on Monte Santo di Lussari with the Julian Alps behind
Sanctuary & Mountain Village

Monte Lussari Sanctuary

On the 1,789 m summit of Monte Lussari stands Italy’s most multilingual sanctuary: since a shepherd found a statuette of the Madonna here in 1360 — and it kept returning to the mountain — pilgrims have climbed from Italy, Carinthia and Slovenia. The church burned in the First World War and was rebuilt in 1924 with a hull-shaped wooden ceiling; the painter Tone Kralj frescoed the presbytery in the 1930s. A Carinthian-style hamlet of inns and souvenir shops surrounds it, and the Di Prampero ski piste drops 4 km from the door.

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MORE ITINERARIES

Other routes from Tarvisio

Three Countries Day — Tarvisio1 day

Three Countries Day

Italy, Slovenia and Austria in one loop — lakes, a ski-jump and a Carinthian lake town in a single day.

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FOOD & DRINK

Where to eat nearby

01

Alte Hütte (Camporosso) — the all-wood institution for goulash, barley soup, frico and venison; reserve ahead

02

Osteria Hladik (Tarvisio) — frico, venison tagliolini and plum dumplings in a beloved town osteria

03

Capanna Edelweiss (Fusine lakes) — strudel, polenta and goulash on the western shore of the lake

04

Rifugio Locanda al Convento (Monte Lussari, 1,790 m) — Friulian-Austrian-Slovenian kitchen with a huge Alps-view terrace

05

Agriturismo Prati Oitzinger (Valbruna) — farm gnocchi, frico and strudel from their own cured meats

06

Ai Confini del Golf Club Senza Confini (Tarvisio) — the region’s gourmet table: venison fillet, cirmolo pasta, serious wine list

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HOTELS & STAYS

Where to stay nearby

01

Rifugio Locanda al Convento (Monte Lussari) — sleep at 1,790 m steps from the sanctuary

02

Hotel Sparviere (Tarvisio) — modern alpine hotel in the town centre

03

Albergo Ristorante Spartiacque (Camporosso) — family-run 30-year institution at the gondola base

04

Hotel Valbruna Inn (Valbruna) — small hotel on the village main street, hiking base

05

Hotel Haberl (Tarvisio) — traditional inn with the valley’s best-known breakfast

06

Camping village sites at the forest edge — caravans, tents and cabins minutes from the lakes

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NEARBY DESTINATIONS

Continue the journey

Kranjska Gora

Kranjska Gora

Alpine Slovenia

Villach & Faaker See

Villach & Faaker See

Carinthia

Trieste

Trieste

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Bad Kleinkirchheim

Bad Kleinkirchheim

Carinthia

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