The Alpe di Siusi, at 56 square kilometres, is Europe's largest high-altitude Alpine meadow. It stretches between 1,680 and 2,350 metres, framed by the Sciliar (Schlern) to the south-west and the Sassolungo (Langkofel) group to the south-east. Part of it lies in the Sciliar-Catinaccio Nature Park.

The key to the quiet is a rule: between 9am and 5pm, access is closed to private cars. Guests staying up top may drive to the hotel at set times; everyone else takes the gondola from Siusi am Schlern. During the day you hear pastures, cowbells and the wind — no traffic. That character carries over into the hotels: many operate in adults-only mode or with a limit on the number of guests, so that even the spa areas stay quiet.

For the body, the altitude makes the difference. At 1,800 to 2,000 metres, the air is dry, cool and low in pollen — for allergy sufferers often noticeably more pleasant than in the valley. There are only a few hotels on the meadow, correspondingly quietly located; the larger cluster sits down in the valley in Castelrotto (Kastelruth), Siusi (Seis) and Fiè allo Sciliar (Völs), from where the gondola takes you up in just a few minutes.