Collalbo: hiking haven, charming village centre, and home of the Ritten Arena
Collalbo (Klobenstein) is located on the Renon high plateau, where the roads to Vanga and the Sarentino Valley, as well as to Longostagno and the Isarco Valley, branch off. This holiday destination is popular with active holidaymakers all year round. Top athletes also know Collalbo because of the Ritten Arena. The ice stadium, with the fastest open-air track in the world, is home to the "Rittner Buam", the ice hockey team that plays in the Alps Hockey League. In summer, the arena transforms into the venue for the multi-day open-air festival "Rock im Ring".
The Renon Railway brought tourism to the place over a hundred years ago. It once connected the central Piazza Walther square in Bolzano with the high plateau. Today, the small train called "Bahnl" runs between Soprabolzano, where the Renon Cable Car terminates, and Collalbo. The railway opened in 1907, when summer holidays for wealthy merchants became fashionable and attracted many guests to the Renon plateau - whether they came from Bolzano or distant Vienna.
One of these guests was Sigmund Freud, commemorated today by the idyllic Freud Promenade in the forest. Here on the high plateau, he wrote his famous work "Totem and Taboo". Another hike leads you to the Earth Pyramids, the Maria Saal Pilgrimage Church, and the historic "Bad Siess".
Collalbo also includes the small hamlet of Caminata (Kematen) and Pemmern, where the valley station of the Corno del Renon Cable Car is located. In addition to ski slopes, Mt. Corno del Renon offers winter hiking trails, a panoramic cross-country ski trail, and a toboggan run. In summer, when green alpine meadows replace the snow on the highest elevation of the plateau, Toni the eagle shows children his fascinating world on his adventure trail.
