Almost 2,000 years ago, the Via Clau­dia Augus­ta was the first Alpi­ne road to con­nect the Roman Empire from the Adria­tic port of Alti­num to the Danu­be. Today, it is one of the most beau­tiful his­to­ri­cal long-distance rou­tes in Euro­pe — a rou­te that com­bi­nes histo­ry, cul­tu­re and natu­re to crea­te a uni­que expe­ri­ence. On your hiking week bet­ween Lake Reschen and Meran, you will dis­co­ver a par­ti­cu­lar­ly char­ming sec­tion of this anci­ent Roman road. The jour­ney beg­ins impres­si­ve­ly at Lake Reschen, framed by the snow-cover­ed Ort­ler mas­sif, with a view of the famous sun­ken church tower of Graun. The trail leads along pan­o­r­amic high-alti­tu­de paths through the sun-dren­ched Vinsch­gau Val­ley — past apple orchards, wine ter­races and cast­les. A cul­tu­ral high­light is the Mess­ner Moun­tain Muse­um at Juval Cast­le, loca­ted direct­ly on the rou­te. Your desti­na­ti­on is the Medi­ter­ra­ne­an spa town of Merano/Meran, whe­re you can relax in the ther­mal springs and round off your hiking week in style.