Free Walking Tour Trento: Castle, Hill and MUSE

Your Trento Walking Tour, Stop by Stop from the Duomo

1. 1

   Trento Cathedral and Piazza Duomo

   

   You start at the heart of Trento, where the long flank of the Cattedrale di San Vigilio closes off the southern side of Piazza Duomo. Locals call it simply the Dòm in dialect. Before you go in, look for the two rose windows, one on the façade and one on the north end of the transept, and the grand porch on the north side, the part of the church that faces the square. Near the choir, the building is joined directly to the Palazzo Pretorio.

   The church began in the 4th century as a cemetery basilica, founded by St Vigilius to receive the bodies of the martyrs of Anaunia. What you see today largely goes back to Prince-Bishop Federico Vanga, who had it completely rebuilt from the early 1200s. The work dragged on into the 1500s, which is why the cathedral mixes Romanesque and Gothic forms. Pope Pius X raised it to a minor basilica on 18 March 1913, and in 1940 it was declared an Italian national monument.

   Going inside is free and worth it for everyone. Look out for the monumental tombs, the Baroque high altar and the Baroque Chapel of the Crucifix, and the fragments of 13th and 14th century frescoes, among them a cycle on the life of St Julian the Hospitaller. Beneath the present floor lie the remains of the early Christian basilica, preserved as a museum area: the Trento of St Vigilius is literally under your feet.

   From the square, Via Belenzani is just 270 m and 4 minutes away, past the Civic Gallery of Trento.

   Local name

   Cattedrale di San Vigilio

   Hours

   Daily 06:30–12:00, 14:30–20:00.

   Price

   Free

   Website

   cattedralesanvigilio.it ↗

   Location

   Trento Cathedral and Piazza Duomo on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Via Belenzani

   

   Via Belenzani runs from Piazza Duomo to Via Roma and ends right opposite the church of San Francesco Saverio. One small oddity: the house numbers run the other way, counting up from the Via Roma end. This is one of Trento's most important streets, lined with the palaces of the families who ran the city.

   Its names tell the story. The oldest was contrada degli Scudai, the shieldmakers' street. By 1372 it was called after the Belenzani family, who lived in what is now the Old Town Hall. In the 15th century the narrow, winding lane was widened, and from 1463 it was known as contrada Larga, the wide street, a name that lasted until at least 1911. Today's name, found on a map of 1915, honours Rodolfo Belenzani, the member of the family who led the popular revolts of the early 1400s.

   Number 19 is Palazzo Thun, owned by the Thun family for four centuries from 1454. Look for the traces of frescoed fake rustication on its façade. It was renovated in the mid-1500s and absorbed the neighbouring buildings; in 1873 the city bought it and moved the town hall in. Part of the complex is the Torre Mirana at numbers 5 and 7, once called the tower of Marcolino. Casa Maffei carries a plaque to Gian Domenico Romagnosi, and in the basement of Casa Terlago at number 37, part of a Roman house and the cardo maximus, the main street of ancient Tridentum, were found.

   From here it is 760 m and 11 minutes to the castle, through the San Martino district with its street art.

   Local name

   Via Rodolfo Belenzani

   Hours

   24/7

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Via Belenzani on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Buonconsiglio Castle

   

   The Castello del Buonconsiglio is not one building but a cluster from different centuries, ringed by walls in a slightly raised position above the town. It grew from a fortified building put up in the 13th century next to the city walls. That first core, the Castelvecchio or old castle, is still the oldest and most commanding part, and it was the seat of the bishops of Trent until the end of the 18th century.

   Each prince-bishop left his mark. George of Liechtenstein enlarged it in the late 14th century into a proper residence. Johannes Hinderbach added the Gothic entrance gate with its double loggia. In the early 1500s Cardinal Bernardo Clesio built the Magno Palazzo, a Renaissance palace beside the old castle, and in 1686 Francesco Alberti Poja joined the two with the so-called Giunta Albertiana. At the southern end stands the Eagle Tower, home of the Cycle of the Months, one of the most fascinating secular painting cycles of the late Middle Ages.

   The bishops ruled from here until 1803. Under the Austrians the castle served as barracks and later as a prison and fell into decay; after Trento returned to Italy in the 1920s it was restored as a national museum, and since 1992 it has also housed the Provincial Gallery of Art. Legend says a secret tunnel linked it to the cathedral so the prince-bishops could move between them unseen. The castle charges admission, and if you have any interest in art or in the bishops' world, it is the one paid visit on this route not to skip.

   Next comes the longest leg: 2,410 m and 37 minutes to Doss Trento, passing the Piazza XXV Aprile Farmers' Market on the way.

   Hours

   Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00 (May 1 – Nov 1); Tue–Sun 09:30–17:00 (Nov 2 – Apr 30); Mon closed

   Price

   10 EUR full, 8 EUR senior (over 65) / groups (15+), 6 EUR youth (15-26)

   Website

   buonconsiglio.it ↗

   Location

   Buonconsiglio Castle on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Doss Trento

   

   Doss Trento, Dòs Trènt in dialect, is a small hill on the right bank of the Adige in the Piedicastello district. Its highest point reaches 307 m above sea level, more than 100 metres over the valley floor, and it is covered by 8 hectares of forest. Together with the Dosso di San Rocco and the Dosso Sant'Agata it forms the three teeth of Roman Tridentum, the image often linked to the city's ancient name.

   The Romans called it Monte Verruca, the wart, because from above that is exactly what it looks like. They probably named it after seeing it from Sardagna, where the odd shape of the hill is clearly visible. A letter that Cassiodorus wrote on behalf of Theodoric the Great mentions a Verruca castellum on the Adige, generally taken to mean this hill, though there is no conclusive proof. Paul the Deacon, in his History of the Lombards, tells of the citizens of Trento being besieged at Ferruge, a garbled form of the same name.

   Over the centuries the fortifications here appear as Castrum Tridentinum, Castel Trento and many variations, and in 1495 Albrecht Dürer painted the hill in his watercolour Trintperg. The shape you see was carved by the glaciers of the last ice age as they scoured the Adige valley. Entry is free, and it is the place on the route for a breather among trees.

   From the hill it is 2,330 m and 33 minutes to MUSE, past the National Museum of the Alpine Troops and the Sardagna Cable Car.

   Hours

   Daily 07:30–19:30

   Price

   Free

   Website

   comune.trento.it ↗

   Location

   Doss Trento on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   MUSE - Science Museum

   

   MUSE, Trento's science museum, stands in the Le Albere residential district, south of the historic Palazzo delle Albere. Both the museum building and the district were designed by Renzo Piano, and they rose on the disused industrial site where the Michelin factory once stood. The new museum opened on 27 and 28 July 2013 in front of a large crowd.

   Its roots go back to 1846, when the Museo Civico, soon called Museo Trentino, was founded in Palazzo Salvadori. In 1964 the Museo tridentino di scienze naturali was set up, and from 1982 it was housed in Palazzo Sardagna. From the 1990s it modernised with interactive exhibitions and built a network of sites across the province, from an alpine botanical garden to a pile-dwelling museum at Lake Ledro. In 2006 it even founded an ecological monitoring and education centre in Tanzania's Udzungwa Mountains National Park. That same year the province approved a new home, because the old building had grown too crowded.

   The move paid off: on 26 June 2014, less than eleven months after opening, MUSE welcomed its 500,000th paying visitor, making it one of the most visited museums in Italy. The museum charges admission. Go in if you are travelling with children or love natural science; if old towns are what drew you to Trento, the building from outside may be enough.

   The final leg to Piazza Fiera is 940 m and 13 minutes.

   Hours

   Tue–Fri 10:00–18:00, Sat–Sun and holidays 10:00–19:00, Mon closed (except August: open daily)

   Price

   11 EUR full, 9 EUR reduced

   Website

   muse.it ↗

   Location

   MUSE - Science Museum on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   Piazza Fiera

   

   The walk ends on Piazza Fiera, a four-sided square that was once Trento's main fairground, above all for livestock fairs. Take a moment to read its edges: the Palazzo Vescovile closes the east side, the Torrione stands on the west, and the north side is formed by the Vanga walls, the medieval city walls.

   Today the square hosts many events, among them Trento's Christmas markets. It is free and open, a calm place to finish after the castle, the hill and the museum. If you want to get back to the cathedral, the GPS navigation can lead you there.

   Hours

   24/7

   Price

   Free

   Website

   comune.trento.it ↗

   Location

   Piazza Fiera on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways to Walk Trento

The full route links the old town, a hill and a modern museum district. If your time or energy is limited, these cuts follow the same order and keep the walking short.

Old town and castle

Stops: 1, 2, 3

For a half day focused on the prince-bishops' city: cathedral, Via Belenzani and Buonconsiglio Castle. Only 1,030 m and 15 minutes of walking, so nearly all your time goes into looking. The castle is the only stop with admission.

Hill, science and the old fairground

Stops: 4, 5, 6

For families and anyone who prefers forest and science to frescoes: Doss Trento, MUSE and Piazza Fiera. 3,270 m and 46 minutes of walking; MUSE is the only stop that charges entry.

The whole route, outside only

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

For a tight budget: walk all six stops, step into the free cathedral, and see the castle and MUSE from outside. 1 h 37 min of walking and no admission at all.

How Long Does This Trento Tour Take with Castle and MUSE?

The order follows Trento's story: the bishop's church and the merchants' street first, then the castle the prince-bishops ruled from, then the hill the Romans fortified, and finally the new district where the city's science museum stands on old factory ground. The pure walking time is 1 h 37 min, and most of it falls on the two legs out to Doss Trento and back to MUSE.

With short visits at each stop, the walk fills about three and a half hours. If you go inside Buonconsiglio Castle (allow about one and a half hours) and MUSE (allow about two hours), it becomes a full day of roughly six and a half hours. The old town and castle cut takes about two and a half hours with the castle interior; the hill, science and fairground cut takes about three and a half hours with MUSE inside.

Before You Set Off in Trento

• Start: The recommended start is Trento Cathedral and Piazza Duomo, but you can join the route at any stop and pick up the GPS navigation from there.
• Finish: The walk ends at Piazza Fiera, not where it began. If you want to return to the cathedral, the GPS navigation in your browser can lead you back.
• Time of day: If you plan to go inside both the castle and MUSE, start in the morning so that neither visit has to be rushed.
• Admission: Buonconsiglio Castle and MUSE charge entry, payable at their ticket desks. The cathedral, Via Belenzani, Doss Trento and Piazza Fiera are free.

Common Questions about Walking Trento