Pinzolo, Italy

A ski village in the Dolomiti di Brenta, Pinzolo is well worth jumping off the bus for, not least because it makes a less expensive overnight stop than its sister ski resort of Madonna di Campiglio up the road. Stay at Salvatera, a lovely B&B at Via Marconi 44 with a minimum stay of three days (Tel:0465.501 171; Price: € 50 and under). There are a couple of small campsites too; one of these, Faè della Val Rendena (Tel:0465.507.178; June– Sept & Dec– April), is near Sant'Antonio di Mavignola.

The main sight is the romanesque church of San Vigilio (Tues– Sat 9.30–11.30am & 2.30–5.30pm, Sun 2.30–5.30pm) with its dance macabre fresco. On the south facade, a band of skeletons playing trumpets and bag-pipes accompanies a procession representing the social order of the day – from emperors, cardinals and finely dressed ladies to soldiers, beggars and even a cherubic toddler who has a mini skeleton friend to remind him of his own mortality. Inside is a fine Annunciation from the thirteenth century, attributed to the Tuscan school, and other works by Simone Baschenis, among them the Life of San Vigilio, the young Bishop of Trento.