For more than 400 years, people have escaped the summer heat on the Ritten and discovered a way of travelling that feels more relevant today than ever before.
Few travel trends have gained as much attention in recent years as Slow Travel and Coolcation. Both reflect a growing desire to escape increasingly hot summers, slow down and experience travel more consciously.
Yet the idea itself is far from new. On the Ritten, it has been part of life for more than four centuries. This sunny plateau above Bozen is widely regarded as the birthplace of the Sommerfrische – the centuries-old tradition of spending the hottest months of the year in the cool mountain air. What is celebrated today as a modern travel philosophy began here in the early seventeenth century, when Bozen's wealthy merchants and noble families made a remarkably simple yet visionary decision: they moved their summers into the mountains.
When summer moved to the mountains
The Sommerfrische was far more than a holiday. It became an integral part of the annual rhythm of life for many Bozen families.
Every year on 29 June, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the move to the Ritten began. Furniture, clothing and provisions were packed into large wooden chests, while the youngest children travelled in woven wicker baskets known as "Pennen". From that moment on, everyday life simply continued on the mountain plateau. Only 72 days later, around the Feast of the Nativity of Mary in early September, did the families return to Bozen.
The journey uphill was long and demanding. Once people had arrived, they usually remained on the Ritten for the entire summer. It was this unhurried way of life that shaped the unique character of the plateau – a character that can still be felt today.
The greatest luxury was time
The Sommerfrische was never about seeing as much as possible. It was about leaving everyday life behind and embracing a different rhythm. Days began with leisurely breakfasts. Warm afternoons were spent beneath ancient chestnut and larch trees, wandering through the forests or gathering in the gardens of elegant summer residences. Evenings unfolded outdoors, as the altitude ensured pleasantly cool temperatures even in the height of summer.
The Bozen writer Karl Theodor Hoeniger captured the importance of this tradition perfectly. In his famous Eight Beatitudes of Bozen, he wrote that no "true" citizen of Bozen should be without "...a summer house on the airy Ritten."
Few quotations illustrate more clearly what the Ritten meant to generations of Bozen families.
A railway that changed the journey, not the experience
The opening of the Rittner Bahn in 1907 made travelling between Bozen and the plateau considerably easier. Later, the cable car and the Ritten road further improved access.
Yet while the journey became more comfortable, the essence of the Ritten never changed. Historic villas and summer residences in Oberbozen, Maria Himmelfahrt and Klobenstein still tell the story of an era in which the greatest luxury was not speed, but time well spent. Travelling on the historic Rittner Bahn today remains one of the most beautiful ways to experience this remarkable heritage.
The return of the Sommerfrische
For many years, the Sommerfrische seemed like a charming memory from another era. Today, it feels remarkably contemporary. As many parts of Europe experience increasingly hot summers, travellers are once again seeking places with milder temperatures, fresh mountain air and a slower pace of life. International media call it Coolcation, while travel experts speak of Slow Travel.
On the Ritten, however, there has always been another word for it. For more than 400 years, it has simply been called Sommerfrische.
Sommerfrische today – at Bella Posta
When Bella Posta reopened in spring 2026, our aim was to reinterpret this unique way of spending summer. Not as nostalgia. Not as a museum piece. But as a contemporary way of enjoying life.
A leisurely breakfast until 11 a.m. A walk through the forests of the Ritten. An afternoon by the pool or a ride on the historic Rittner Bahn. A trip down to Bozen, just minutes away by cable car, before returning for an aperitivo and a relaxed dinner.
The Sommerfrische may no longer last 72 days, and nobody carries household belongings up the mountain in wooden chests anymore.
Its essence, however, has remained exactly the same: not to fill every moment of a holiday, but to savour it. Perhaps that is the true secret of the Ritten. Some travel ideas never need reinventing. Sometimes, all it takes is returning to the place where they first began.
Sommerfrische on the Ritten: Where Coolcation Was BornFor more than 400 years, people have escaped the summer heat on the Ritten and discovered a way of travelling that feels more relevant today than ever before.Read more