BRUNICO BRUNECK

 
 
 
An influx of people from the surrounding villages arrives daily in the otherwise sleepy market town of BRUNICO (BRUNECK), which is also the transport centre of the region, with buses along the valley and to most of the small places higher up in the hills. Brunico was home of painter and sculptor Michael Pacher (c1435-98): if you have some time to kill, go and look at his Vine Madonna in the parish church of the village of San Lorenzo, 4km southwest of town. Pacher is probably the most famous Tyrolean painter and woodcarver, straddling German Gothic and the more spare, Italian styles; there's something vaguely unsavoury about this particular Madonna and her pudgy child, gripping a bunch of black grapes, but it's refreshing to see work in its original setting rather than in a museum.

The Brunico tourist office , opposite the bus station in Via Europa (Mon-Fri 9am-12.30pm & 3-6pm, Sat 9am-noon; tel 0474.555.722), has details of places to stay . The central Blitzburg , Via Europa 10 (tel 0474.555.837; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98), and Corona ( Krone ) at Via Ragen di Sopra 8 (tel 0474.411.108; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98) are reasonable options. For campers there's the Camping Scheisstand , Via Dobbiaco 4 (tel 0474.401.326; May-Sept). A stopping train makes the journey along the Val Pusteria from here to the end of the line at Dobbiaco; buses from Brunico to Cortina d'Ampezzo also go through Dobbiaco .