The Sauris Loop, Between the Lake and the Tabià

There are places that stay hidden by geography, and Sauris is one of them. To climb up you need the will to tackle a narrow road that rises through the gorge of the Lumiei stream, passes beside the dam and arrives on a plateau where they still speak Saurano, a Germanic dialect that came here centuries ago with German-speaking settlers. This difficulty of access is its salvation: those with no time do not arrive, and Sauris remains a community of a few hundred inhabitants where tourism is slow by nature.

The heart of the experience is Lake Sauris, an artificial basin with intensely turquoise water that shifts with the light. A loop connects it to the two settlements, Sauris di Sotto and Sauris di Sopra, spread across the sunny slopes. As you walk you come across the tabià, the traditional wood-and-stone buildings once used as hay barns and stables, today a symbol of the Carnic rural landscape. The walk around the lake is the best way to fall into the rhythm of the place: you walk through fir woods, clearings and glimpses of the water, without demanding climbs.

The lake loop

The slow itinerary usually starts from Sauris di Sotto, home to the church of Sant'Osvaldo and the more intimate village. From here you climb towards Sauris di Sopra, the higher settlement, with its houses of wood blackened by time. Between the two cores wind footpaths and lanes that cross meadows and scattered tabià. Those wanting to go further can head towards the dam area and the viewpoints over the Lumiei, or climb up to the high pastures that fill with blooms in summer.

Flavours of Sauris

Sauris is also a place of taste, and its name is tied to the ham lightly smoked with beech wood, produced here for generations. A visit to the village's historic ham factory is almost a must, as is tasting the craft beer brewed in the valley. These are stops that are as much a part of slow travel as the trails: you pause, you chat, you taste, without hurry.

How to get there

To get there, the only convenient way is by car: from Tolmezzo you climb through Carnia to Ampezzo, then take the road through the Lumiei gorge up to the plateau. It is a slow route, with tunnels and hairpins, to be tackled calmly and carefully. Public transport exists but is limited, so it is best to plan ahead. Once you arrive, you get around on foot: the distances between the villages are short and made to be covered without an engine.

When to go

The best period is the warm but not peak months. June brings meadows in bloom and long days, with the trails still little frequented. July is pleasant at altitude even when the plains swelter, but it remains a low-key destination compared with the more celebrated valleys. September is perhaps the finest moment: the air turns clear, the woods begin to change colour and the summer influx thins out completely. In any case, here the crowd remains an abstract concept: Sauris does not have the numbers of the famous alpine resorts, and this is exactly why it is worth the journey.

It is worth remembering that it was precisely its isolation that allowed Sauris to preserve its language and customs for so long: a small community, used to relying on itself, that today welcomes the visitor without turning itself into a spectacle. Walking among the tabià and listening to the voices in the Saurano dialect, you get the sense of having stumbled into a world apart, suspended and protected by the mountains that surround it. It is a rare feeling, one that in the more touristy alpine valleys has by now been lost almost everywhere.

A practical tip: stay at least one night. Sauris is best savoured in the hours after the day-trippers have gone, when the lake mirrors the sky, still and silent, and the village grows quiet again. Sleeping in an alpine hut or in one of the village's scattered lodgings, you truly enter its slow time, and early in the morning you can walk around the lake with the valley still deserted. Bring comfortable shoes, a jacket even in summer because the evenings are cool, and leave your hurry at home: at Sauris you won't need it.

Practical guides for Como

• Where to stay in Como
• What to see in Como in 2 days
• Where to eat in Como
• How to get to Como