We’ve lived in Italy for a little more than four years now and we still have so much of it to discover. While admittedly we’re a little worn out on just walking around old cities, we’ve turned our focus to much more adventure travel around Italy like exploring Italy’s many caves, camping, and long distance hiking in the Dolomites. So when we spotted a post about the Top 5 Eco Attractions in Northern Italy by our friends at Green Global Travel, we had to check it out. Always suckers for a beautiful waterfall, Cascate del Serio (or the Serio Falls) caught our attention.
The first mentions of Italy’s highest waterfall was back in the 16th century in travel narratives, like that of Giovanni Maironi da Ponte, who characterized them as “a place to recover from the bitterness of life”. And as with many things in Italy, there is of course a legend associated with Cascate del Serio. As it goes, a woman fell in love with a shepherd who was already engaged to be married. The woman was so jealous that she kidnapped the shepherd’s fiancé and locked her away in a castle above the falls. Cascate del Serio was her tears as she cried for her beloved.
The 315 meter high falls ran down the south side of the Barbellino Plateau. In the early 1900s, the textile industry was flourishing in this part of Italy and a dam was built in 1931 to supply hydroelectric power to the Seriana Valley, cutting off the water supply from the Serio River to the falls. The dam created the Lago del Barbellino, the largest artificial lake in the province of Bergamo.
First glimpse of Cascate del Serio from the trail
In 1969, an agreement between the comune of Valbondione and ENEL, the National Electric Energy Corporation, was made that the dam would be released just once each year for the people to enjoy their power and beauty. Today, the dam is released five times each year. The dates of the releases are set in advance and usually take place between June and October.
Seeing the thunderous water come crashing down the mountainside as the dam is released involves hiking. The easiest and shortest option is to park in the village of Valbondione. Follow the road through the village following the signs to the trail head for Cascate del Serio. It’s easy to find because so many people come from around Italy to see the falls unleashed. As soon as we hit the trail head, the crowd thinned as everyone hiked at their own pace.
There are some little waterfalls along the hike
The trail is about 2 miles one-way to the lookout point directly across from the falls. It is mostly shaded along a dirt path and should take around 1 hour each way.
Know Before You Go
- Cascate del Serio is opened 5 times each year. 2014 opening dates are: June 22, August 17, September 14 at 11am and July 19 at 10pm. Check the next year’s opening times here and we will also update once they are published.
- The falls are unleashed for about 30 minutes, though they were open for 1 hour during our visit.
- Parking is available in the village of Valbondione and all cars entering need to pay a €5 fee. We walked an additional 1 mile each way from the car to the trail head.
- Bring plenty of water and wear appropriate trail runners or hiking boots.
- Valbondione is easily reached by car; the closest airport and train station is Bergamo in Lombardy.
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Muza-chan says
So beautiful…
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Agreed! This was a beautiful spot to hike to.
Heather says
What an incredible reward at the end of a long hike!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It really was! We weren’t entirely sure that it would be worth it. It’s about a 4 hour drive from our house and there aren’t really any hotels nearby, so we spent the night at an agriturismo about halfway the night before. It still meant a pretty early start on Sunday. I’d totally recommend doing the hike for one of the openings though!
Laurel says
I’m a sucker for anything that’s the “tallest” or “biggest” as well. Looks lovely.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
You’d love the waterfall, Laurel! You can go a much longer route and stay at a refugio. We had Emma with us though, so opted for the shorter hike that we could start that morning. A sub-trail also takes you down to the boulders at the foot of the falls, but we didn’t think that looking straight up and into the sun would be the best view.
Amy | Club Narwhal says
This waterfall is absolutely stunning! I had no idea this was in Italy (and you guys are such lucky ducks to be living there and discovering all these gems). It really does look like the perfect place to “recover from the bitterness of life.” Italy as a whole probably has a way of doing that 🙂
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Sadly, there are parts of Italy that are over touristy. But living here allows us to discover a lot of hidden gems probably not ever seen by most tourists. We hope by writing about them that more people we get off-the-beaten-path and want to see more than Rome, Florence, and Venice.
Dana Carmel @ Time Travel Plans says
The story behind the waterfall and the yearly dam releases are intriguing. This definitely looks like an ideal place to reconnect with nature!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Definitely Dana! We learned about some caves in the area we’re going to go back to explore another time. It’s a really beautiful part of Italy!
Marina K. Villatoro says
For some reason, I never thought of waterfalls when I think of Italy,
It’s gorgeous!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
With pizza, pasta, vespas, and the Colosseum, it’s easy to forget that Italy is a fantastic country for nature and adventure travel.
Roberta Loufek says
It’s adds so much that you include some history with your post and the story that goes with it – and such lovely photos. This is one of those gems that I’d never have heard about except for you. Wonderful!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thanks, Roberta! It’s so nice to hear that you are enjoying our style of story telling. 🙂 We just recently learned of the waterfall ourselves from another travel blogger. That’s why we think blogs are great – you won’t find these kinds of things in a guidebook!
noel says
Pretty special when this only happens so few times during the year, looks like it was definitely worth the hike.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Totally worth it! It is pretty special. And after the waterfall was turned “off”, I could hardly spot where it had been exactly. It was really cool to see!
Kenin Bassart says
I’m a sucker for waterfalls, we make it a point to visit them as often as possible when we travel. Looks like the hike was totally worth it. Nice pics!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Definitely! And we got our exercise in for the day too!
Sand In My Suitcase says
Very nice story (And how lucky to be living in Italy for 4+ years!)
Sand In My Suitcase says
Sounds like a great hike!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It was a nice, relatively easy hike and a great way to spend a day!
Ruth says
What a magnificent water fall!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It was beautiful and I’m glad we made it to see it!
Mike says
That waterfall is amazing Jennifer and stunning pictures as always from you! 🙂
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thanks, Mike! Tim gets the photo credit. He lugged the heavy camera up on the hike and did all of the photos.
YJ @ thefancyvoyager says
Love the first photo!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thanks, YJ! It was really something to see!
Ali says
I love waterfalls! Looks like a good one!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It was beautiful! Kind of awesome to see something you can’t just see every day too.
Marcia says
Very interesting story. This is definitely worth seeing, especially for people (like me) who just love looking at waterfalls, natural or man made. The hike sounds doable as well.
This is certainly a beautiful and rugged part of Italy.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It really is a doable hike, Marcia. Even in the heat we’ve been having, it wasn’t bad since the trail is mostly shaded.
Bret @ GGT says
Hey Jennifer, thanks so much for the gracious plug of our story. Really glad to hear that it inspired you to visit the falls. Looks like a gorgeous hike! If/when we get back to Italy, it’s definitely the sort of place we’ll want to check out for ourselves, since I personally did a lot more of the “walking around old cities” thing on my previous visit. 😉
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thanks again for this excellent find, Brett! We hadn’t heard of the waterfall until your post and had a wonderful weekend (except for a dead car battery when we accidentally left our headlights on) exploring the area.
Jennifer says
We enjoy it.
Annie@GreenGlobalTravel says
Stunning! But since they are “turned on” so few times during each year, are the trails and viewpoints packed with people?
mike johnson says
Speaking just English. I assumed you could drive all the way up. I asked a local he pointed up in Italian.DO not attempt to drive up the trail. I learned the hard way. Very narrow, rough, No way to get around another car if you meet. A very scary drive. Park below and walk.