A private dinner at Baita Marie on the Alpe di Siusi

Baita Marie

Baita Marie is a small alpine hut at around 1,900 metres on the Alpe di Siusi, Europe’s largest high alpine pasture. Meadows outside the door, Sassolungo and Sassopiatto on the horizon. It is not a restaurant open to passers-by: the hut specialises in private, tailor-made dining experiences. When you are there, the evening is yours.

The table goes wherever you want to sit: on the meadow with an open view across the pasture, or in the parlour if the weather turns. Away from the trails and with no other tables around, an evening here feels like a small celebration of your own.

Food and options

The cooking is regional and fresh, partly prepared on the stone oven grill. Every course is made inside the hut, a few steps from your table. There are two options:

• Solo Chef: an aperitif and a refined four-course menu.
• Chef d’OR: adds live music, a sommelier and a horse-drawn carriage ride across the Alpe di Siusi.

A shuttle for the way up and back is available on request. On the Alpe di Siusi that is more than a convenience: in season the road is closed to private traffic during the day.

What Baita Marie is perfect for

• A proposal: the table is ready and you pass by as if by chance. The photos in this guide were made exactly like that.
• An elopement: a symbolic ceremony for two on the meadow, then dinner instead of a big party.
• A small wedding: with your closest people, calm and without a programme.
• An anniversary or vow renewal: the same setting, a different occasion.

In Italy you marry legally only at the registry office or in church. What that means for a celebration in the mountains is explained in Getting married in South Tyrol.

A possible evening

1. Pick-up by shuttle in the valley or at your hotel.
2. Arrival at the hut, a few minutes alone on the meadow.
3. The proposal, your ceremony or simply a glass of bubbles facing Sassolungo.
4. Couple portraits in the evening light around the hut.
5. Aperitif and dinner at the table on the meadow, or in the parlour if the weather turns.
6. With Chef d’OR: music, wine pairing and the carriage ride across the pasture.
7. Shuttle back down.

Planning

The proposal in this guide was organised by the wedding planners at SI Events: table, styling, timing and coordination with the hut and kitchen. If you would rather not plan the evening yourselves, they are a great choice. More about their work in Wedding planning in the Dolomites with SI Events.

What I photograph

During a proposal I first stay in the background with a long lens, so the moment stays real. Afterwards we take time for couple portraits on the pasture while the light is good. And I photograph what makes the evening: the table, the hut, the food and the people who make it all happen. Those are the pictures that later tell you how the evening felt.

When the Alpe di Siusi is at its best

In June and July the meadows are green and full of flowers, in September and October golden and quieter. The best light comes in the evening, when the sun is low and Sassolungo and Sassopiatto glow warm. In summer, expect afternoon thunderstorms and keep a backup date or the parlour as plan B.

If you would rather stand on a ridge at sunrise, Seceda in Val Gardena is an alternative, with its own rules since 2026: Eloping on Seceda.