South Tyrol

South Tyrolean hospitals and health service are among the top ranked in Italy and for emergencies call 118. There are no dangers for your health.

Tap water is of exceptional quality and safe to drink in 100% all over South Tyrol.

South Tyrol is one of the safest regions in Italy and in Europe. There are practically no violent crimes. The only things you have to pay attention are pickpockets in places full of people.

Racism can be problem and the increasing of neonazi groups in both Italian and German ethnicities is a problem also for local politicians, but no violent episodes against tourist have been attested.

However South Tyrol is a very safe region and the small local problems involve hardly even the South Tyroleans.

The only place in which you have really to pay attention is on the mountains. If you are not an expert hiker don't go without an expert alpine guide. There is an high number of injured and death people every year. Also skiing and snowboarding can be dangerous if you don't pay attention.

If you need the police you have to call 113.

cell phones

South Tyrol has a perfect GSM and 3G UMTS network coverage of nearly 100% in the valleys, in remote mountainous areas you might have problems.

In Italy there are not so much cell network providers which are only four: TIM, Vodafone, Wind and Tre 3G. There is no big difference between them and they are all expensive related to other European countries. In Italy there was a fee for prepaid cards - after a consumer fight this was declared outlaw.

major towns and villages

Bolzano/Bozen — the capital and the largest city of South Tyrol - culture, business, shopping and nature

Meran — the former capital of the County of Tyrol 1418-1848 and health resort since centuries

Brixen — until 1803 capital of the Bishopric of Brixen - one of the most culturally interesting towns in former Tyrol

Bruneck — the easternmost town in South Tyrol with an important medieval castle.

Sterzing — very important town near to the Brenner Pass - its historical centre is included in the list of the Most beautiful Italian small towns

Glurns — It's considered as the smallest town place with Stadtrecht, right of city in Italy and one of the smallest in Europe - with its 800 inhabitants

Klausen — picturesque town of artists located between Bolzano and Brixen - also included in the list of the Most beautiful Italian small towns

Neumarkt — the most important cultural centre in Unterland

talk

The official languages in South Tyrol are German and Italian. In general, everyone younger can speak and is taught Italian. One could say that most Ladin people can speak German as well but only a few Italian south tyrolians can speak German depending on where they live. If they live in big cities they are unlikely to speak German. Really to get around outside of Bolzano or Merano one should speak German. All road signs and services to the public have to be provided in both languages. In the regional parliament deputies can speak their mother tongue and laws have to be published bilingual. In addition to German and Italian in South Tyrol there is a third semi-officially recognized language - Ladin. This ancient language originated after the invasion of the Ancient Romans in the Alpine region is spoken in the Gardena and Badia valleys - and also in the Fassa Valley in Trentino and Cortina d'Ampezzo area in Veneto. Ladin has a fully official status in the valleys in which it's spoken and also in the capital is common to see trilingual signs - but not road signs. It is a sister language of Romansh still spoken in eastern Switzerland and Fruali spoken in north-eastern Italy.

Every 10 years during the census South Tyrolean have to declare their ethnic affiliation in order to decide the percentage which has to be given at working places to German-, Italian- or Ladin-speakers. In the last census 69.15% declared to be German-speaking, 27.65% is Italian-speaking and 4.37% is Ladin-speaking.

Italian-speaking South Tyroleans live mostly in Bolzano - about 55% of the whole Italian-speaking population, and they are a majority in 4 other municipalities: its metropolitan area - the three metropolitan municipalities of Laives, Bronzolo and Vadena, and in the village of Salorno which borders Italian-speaking Trentino to the south. Other big Italian-speaking communities are located in the most important towns such as Meran, Brixen, Sterzing and generally in the Wipp Valley. Ladin-speaking people are a majority in 8 municipalities and there are small minorities in Bolzano 0.71%, Brixen and Bruneck. German-speaking South Tyrolean are the dominant group in 103 of 116 municipalities - the most German-speaking village is Sankt Pankraz with a 99.81% german-speaking population. In general the more rural, the more likely the inhabitants speak German.

In everyday life most of German-speaking South Tyroleans speak their local dialect, generally called Südtirolerisch but this has a lot of varieties from location to location. The South Tyrolean German dialect is related to the Bavarian dialects spoken in Austria and Bavaria. Some loan words have been taken from Italian - especially bad words, though! A local Italian dialect exists only in the area of Laives in the Bolzano metropolitan area - here Italian-speakers of ancestors from Trentino speak a dialect of central Trentino mixed with local German dialect this dialect is commonly called Laivesòt. Only old Italian-speakers can speak the dialect mostly Venetian of origin being the others born in South Tyrol where the literary standard was the solution in order to communicate - however in local Italian there is a regional Venetian substrate as well as German influences. Ladin has no officially recognized literary standard - but it exists - and Ladins speak in South Tyrol two different dialects: Gherdeina and Badiot.

So, if you're going to go to South Tyrol it would be better to know some words of German instead of Italian, especially if you decide to visit villages and the mountains - in some valleys some local populations could have problems understanding foreigners speaking Italian, which is for them a foreign language too particular if they are older.

English is spreading fast and especially younger people can speak it - but this depends on their education level. English is a compulsory subject in South Tyrolean schools. In hotels, tourist offices and tourist places English is well known. In other places it would be better if you know some words of German or Italian.French is not so popular but especially in Bolzano and other towns some young people can speak a little French.

calling south tyrol

International code for Italy is +39 while the code for South Tyrol is 047. The final number is 1 for the Bolzano area 0471, 2 for the Brixen area 0472, 3 for the Meran area 0473 and 4 for the Bruneck area 0474. Also calling from abroad you have to put the 0 of the local code.

etiquette

In South Tyrol there is an Austrian-style mixed with Italian etiquette: for example when entering and leaving public places South Tyrolean always say Grüß Gott or Buongiorno when arriving Auf Wiederschauen or Arrivederci when leaving. Don't say ciao or hallo to people you don't know. It's very impolite. Don't raise your voice or shout in public, especially on public transportation, it's considered extremely impolite and aggressive. Eye contact is very important if introduced to someone or toasting just like in Austria. When toasting say prost in German or cin cin in Italian - normally also Italian-speakers use both.

Complete nudity is forbidden in public especially if there are children, but it's common to see topless women in beaches and recreational areas.

When eating pay attention if you are eating knödels: they should be tender and if you use a knife for eating them you are saying to the cook that the knödels he/she cooked are not good.

If you are walking in the mountains it is common to greet the people you meet.

phones

Public phones are available in the offices of telecom. Phone boxes are to be found on street and from phone boxes you can also send SMSs. Phone boxes usually operate with prepaid cards which can be obtained from kiosks and tobacco/newspaper stores German:Trafik, Italian and local German dialect: Tabacchino.

Phone numbers have an area code followed by the phone number itself. Mobile phone numbers use the prefix prefix without 0 and the first two digits being 32..., 33.., 34.., 38... Toll-free numbers are denoted by 800, numbers starting with 166 or 899 are usually expensive lines.

In the tabacchini you can buy also prepaid cards for calling outside Italy. Expecially in Bolzano there are a lot of phone centers run by immigrants where you can phone.