Etschtal

The Val d'Adige (Italian Adige Valley or Val d' Adige) is an Italian alpine valley of glacial origin, which is crossed by the Adige.

Term

The term Adige valley can be used in two different ways:

• In a broader sense the Adige Valley comprises the entire course of the Adige to the Alps, from Reschenpass to the confluence with the Po Valley.
• As Adige Valley in the strict sense only the valley portions from Merano to Bolzano and Salorno to the location murazzi at Besenello, between Trento and Rovereto are located, respectively.

The narrower definition of Adige Valley stems from the fact that the rest of the valley portions each have their own name. From the source to the Adige Merano flows through the Vinschgau, Bolzano to Salurn the lowlands. The southernmost section of the course of the Adige river in the Alps on the location murazzi at Besenello to the Po Valley, which begins near Verona, called Vallagarina.

Course

In the Adige Merano leaves the Merano basin in the southwest. In Frangart the Adige river flowing at the foot of Sigmundskroner hill south-east into the lowlands during the glacial river Adige glacier moved directly to the south and today Überetsch called valley with the Great and Little formed Montiggler Lake and Lake Caldaro.

In the northern Trentino, a few kilometers north of Trent, where the Val di Non valley opens out, is the Piana Rotaliana.

Traffic

The Adige Valley is one of the main traffic network in the Alps: A large part of the Brenner motorway runs here, as the Brenner railway. In Bolzano branch highway and rail traffic in northern direction towards the Eisacktal burner from. Between Bolzano and Merano run an expressway and a one-lane rail link which connects to the Vinschgerbahn. The bike traffic is handled by the Reschenpass to Verona on the continuous and mostly well-developed Etschtalradweg.