San Vigilio di Marebbe, Al Plan in Ladin, is a Val Badia resort at about 1,200 metres that has held on to a real, unhurried feel. People still speak Ladin every day, the old crafts and customs carry on, and the village keeps a human scale well away from the louder side of Dolomite tourism. It pays off if you want the mountains straight, with no frills.
Its great strength is location. San Vigilio is the southern gateway to the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park: over 25,000 hectares of Dolomite walls, karst plateaux, and alpine lakes, one of the wildest and most quietly beautiful places in the whole range. Trails head out from here to the Fanes plateau and its lakes, to the Ciastlins waterfalls along the water trail, and onto the long high routes into the heart of the park.
The Fanes plateau is also the home ground of Ladin legend. This is where the myth of the Kingdom of the Fanes is set, one of the great sagas of the Dolomite oral tradition, full of princesses, marmots, and vanished peoples. The themed Legends of Fanes trail walks you through that mix of wild nature and old story. In winter, meanwhile, San Vigilio links to the big Plan de Corones ski area, with its wide slopes and a solid cross-country tradition.
When it is worth coming to San Vigilio di Marebbe e Fanes, month by month: When to Go to the Dolomites: A Month-by-Month Guide.
