Lake Vernago

Lake Vernago is an artificial lake in the village of the same name, situated in the heart of the Val Senales, west of Merano. The lake is fed by the Rio Senales. It sits at 1,689 m above sea level and has an area of about 100 hectares. Several mountain trails start from the lake, including the one leading to the Senales glacier, where the mummy "Ötzi" was found. Not far away there's also the cable car that leads to the Senales ski area. The trail that goes around the lake lets you take in wonderful panoramas, with Tibetan bridges and even a couple of llamas. A full circuit is estimated to take an hour and a half, but going slowly with a few photo stops takes much longer, also because the path isn't always flat. We stayed one night at the Hotel Interski, right beside the lake, half board at 49.00 € per person, with an excellent and abundant dinner.