Val Gardena (Gröden in German) comprises three villages: Ortisei (St. Ulrich) at 1,236 metres, Santa Cristina Val Gardena, and Selva di Val Gardena (Wolkenstein) at 1,563 metres. They line up one after the other along the same valley. The official languages are Ladin, German and Italian — the majority of residents speak Ladin as their first language.

On both sides of the valley, cable cars climb to the heights. From Ortisei, the Seceda gondola lifts you in around four minutes to about 2,450 metres, straight to the most iconic ridge in the Dolomites, with views onto the Odle (Geisler) group. On the opposite side, the Mont Sëuc gondola runs onto the Alpe di Siusi — the largest high-altitude Alpine meadow in Europe. Two very different mountains, both a quarter of an hour from the villages.

Down in the valley, craft shapes daily life. For two centuries, Ortisei was an international centre of woodcarving; workshops, a school of applied arts and the Museum Gherdëina — with pieces from the Middle Ages to the present day — are still there. Ladin culture is present everywhere: in the language, in cuisine such as Schlutzkrapfen and Cajincí, and in the traditional Gardeneser costumes worn at the Ladin Feast Days.