You have all seen this one on Instagram!
Lago di Braies, mountain lake located in the heart of Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy is certainly a bucket-list destination for a reason.
Picture perfect Instagram posts have made this even a more desirable location, escalating the number of tourists visiting each summer.
Lago di Braies is attracting large crowds of travelers that don’t use Guide Books;
rather consume their information from their smartphones and form their decision
on where to holiday from their social media feeds.
Perhaps unfortunate to admit, but the truth is that today travel routes and holiday destinations are influenced by photo opportunities. Travel influencers, who go out of their way to get a perfect photo (and have incredible editing skills), makes any destination admirable.
As much as I want to separate myself from the regular tourist, and be a more authentic traveler, I sometimes find myself to be a victim of that same ‘pilgrimage’ and seeing
Lago Di Braies was a dream of mine for quite a while.
I was very fortunate to travel there on my Birthday, June 22!
I want to be honest, as always, in sharing my travel experiences, and I can’t talk about this location without sharing the downsides of what it means to be ‘insta famous’ location!
There is an incredible amount of expectations around one place that you’ve seen pictured so many times – there is no space left for imagination or surprise – it either has to live up to those expectations of the perfectly edited Instagram photos or it will leave you slightly disappointed.
There is a sense of ‘pinch me’ is this real? Am I finally here?
And there is a sense ‘is this it?!’
The other thing that comes with the ‘intagram fame’ for a picture-perfect location
is a lot of tourists who, too, want to see it with their own eyes,
so unless you are not willing to have your alarm go off at 5am and get there before sunrise, you’ll realize that crowded places with desperate intentions of ‘getting the right photo’ takes away from the magic..
Arguably, the most incredible travel moments are the ones that you come across almost accidentally, when you find yourself all on your own, in awe, surprised. It’s a brief moment in time that you didn’t anticipate and it’s not something that is in guide books or your friends Instagram feed..
But we can’t shy away from the beauty of the World Wonders. Places that takes your breath away and makes you really admire the beautiful World we live in!!
Social media might have escalated tourism in some ways, but this place
was always stunning, even when printed in the Guide Books.
Lago di Braies is Recognized as UNESCOs world heritage site and is referred to as the Pearl Of The Dolomites. It’s absolutely breath-taking! The clear, still water forms a mirror effect that reflects the surrounding mountains and green forest bringing to life colors in all shades of green and blue. It’s a true artwork!
You can rent a boat – that makes for a great photo opportunity and a good upper body workout for your Instagram husband..
More importantly, when you’re on the lake, you can get away from the crowds and find a moment of quite. Stay still for a while, look around and take it in. It really does feel so surreal.
I would recommend to bring with you a small bottle of champagne and pop it open right there, on the middle of the lake! What a place to raise a glass and toast your beautiful life!
After the boat ride get your comfortable shoes on and hike around the lake. There is an easy hiking trail that circles the lake (takes around 60-90 min) and there are additional hiking trails heading up into the mountains if you are up for a more challenging track.
There are also a couple of spots to sit down for a lovely picnic – it’s hard to beat that lunch location!
It was my Birthday, so there were a couple of more things on the ‘to do list’ but if you are more flexible on time I would recommend visiting very early in the morning or before sunset because I imagine that the rising or setting light of the sun would highlight the colors of the surrounding mountains trees and beautiful lake water- making it even more beautiful!
I couldn’t stop taking photos, trying to capture the perfect picture that I was seeing with my own eyes!
If you have travelled to Dolomites, it’s most likely by car, so hop in (contact me) and I will take you on a tour to some of the other incredible locations in the nearby area!
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