The old pilgrimage trail from Laives up to the world-famous pilgrimage church is a special hiking highlight
Image gallery: Hike on the pilgrimage path to Pietralba
From the parish church of Laives, the road to Pietralba leads into the Vallarsa valley. Here, the path continues to the bridge near the Emmaus house. This is where the actual pilgrimage path to Pietralba (Maria Weissenstein) begins. It leads uphill, takes more than four hours to complete, and is classified as difficult. The first section through the forest up to Monte Francesco is quite rough.
Afterwards, the route follows a concrete road for a while until it reaches the little church of San Pietro in Monte, that's to say St. Peter on the Hill. This "Peterköfele" is the landmark of Laives. From here, the partly paved path leads past the Stations of the Cross up the Monte Francesco.
It continues to the former Halbweg inn at an altitude of almost 1,000 metres. We have now completed the majority of the ascent. On the slopes of the Vallarsa valley, we hike to the Dreiviertelweg (Munter) pilgrimage inn. This is where the road to Nova Ponente begins. We cross it to climb the final section to Monte San Pietro and the Madonna di Pietralba Pilgrimage Site.
Following an old custom, pilgrims have piled up stones along the path. They carried these stones up from the valley with great effort as a form of penance. As we emerge from the forest, the snow-white baroque monastery complex suddenly appears before us. After visiting the church and enjoying some refreshments at the inn, we also explore the hermitage of St. Leonhard.
This is a 15-minute walk away. In the middle of the forest, there are huts and a chapel that date back to the founder of the monastery, the farmer Leonhard Weissensteiner. The Virgin Mary appeared to him here in 1553. We choose to take the bus for the return journey.
Author: AT
Experienced: May 2011
Last updated: 2026
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- Starting point:
- parish church in the centre of Laives (254 m a.s.l.)
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- Overall time:
- 04:20 h
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- Total route length:
- 10,7 km
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- Altitude:
- from 254 m to 1.521 m
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- Altitude difference (uphill | downhill):
- +1299 m | -29 m
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- Signposts:
- Via Pietralba road, no. 1
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- Destination:
- Madonna di Pietralba Pilgrimage Site (1,521 m a.s.l.)
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- Resting points:
- Dreiviertelweg pilgrims' tavern, Pietralba tavern
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- Recommended time of year:
- Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
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- Download GPX track:
- Hike on the pilgrimage path to Pietralba
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- More information:
- The overall time shown above refers to the walking time only, not including breaks or stops. The dates apply to the hike from Laives to Pietralba - the return journey is by bus no. 142/140/120 (changing at Montagna and Ora, total journey time 57 minutes).
If you want to undertake this hike, we recommend checking the weather and trail conditions in advance and on site before starting this hike!
