Trentino-Alto Adige or Trentino-South Tyrol is an autonomous region in Northern Italy. It is bordered by Austria to the north and by the Italian regions of Lombardy to the west and Veneto to the south. In many ways, the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy is the least Italian of them all. Its northern frontier is high in the Alps and Dolomite mountains, bordering Switzerland and Austria. This area is the Alto-Adige or the province of Balzano and is essentially the Italian side of the Austrian Tyrol region. The hardy mountain people of this portion of the region are firmly entrenched in their German heritage and Italian is often the second language. Moving south toward the province of Trentino, life is more Italian as one gets closer to the neighboring regions of the Veneto, Lombardy and the northern shores of Lake Garda. It is extremely mountainous, covering a large part of the Dolomites and the southern Alps. The lowest pass across the Alps, the Brenner Pass, is located at the far north of the region on the border with Austria. This sparsely populated region is home to one of the few linguistic minorities left in Europe as the Alto Adige harbors the last speakers of the Ladin language. Ladin is Romanized version of the Germanic dialects that were once spoken here and today the language clings to existence with fewer than 100,000 speakers left.

The tourist who visit this region for first time will be amazed with some of the local specialties, which share from both German and northern Italian traditions. The mild climate allows for abundant fruit and vegetable growing areas, especially apples, chestnuts and asparagus. Mushrooms, both wild and cultivated are very popular and the rivers provide the whole region with fresh trout. In the south there are corn fields for polenta, which is a staple in the Trentino part of the region. The Alto Adige favors a menu that resembles Bavarian and Austrian cuisine including dumplings and sauerkraut. However there has been some crossover as the bacon-like Salumi known as Speck can now be found all over Italy. The most popular cheeses include the fresh Tosela, Spressa delle Giudicarie and Puzzone di Moena. The moderate climate also favors the production of some very good wines.

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