Do you love quirky museums? Highlighting the evolution of mountaineering photography, the Lumen Mountain Photography Museum is a stunning example of what every museum should be, and no matter what…put it on your Dolomite itinerary.
It was our last day in the Dolomites, Day 5 of our road trip. We’d hiked, drove spectacular roads, rowed a boat, and eaten some amazing food. Now it was a day for museums.
If you missed Day 4 check it out here.
Visiting the Lumen Mountain Photography Museum was a bonus. I’d had it on my list of “maybes” when planning my Dolomite road trip, but to be honest, it wasn’t high on the list. I like to put more on my list than I actually think I’ll have time to do because if I do end up with extra time, bad weather, or in this case, both…I’m all set.
I had really no idea what to expect, but when my Tre Cime day didn’t go as planned, and we added Lago di Braies, it left me with an extra day. Of course, it also meant that something didn’t get done, and as you’ve read, it was our hike to the Tre Cime peak viewpoint, and we couldn’t just swap days, because the weather was atrocious.
Instead we decided to take the gondola up the Kronplatz (Coron). Even though it was far from winter, it was raining, snowing, wet, and downright miserable. It was not a day to be outside.
Upon arriving at the gondola, we were a little miffed because we thought the price to ride the gondola to the top of the mountain on this less-than-pretty day was, let’s be honest, a bit steep. We didn’t have any other plans, though, and we were heading out of the Dolomites the following day, so a day visiting museums on the top of a mountain sounded great.
As we disembarked off the gondola, it seemed to be the absolute worst weather that we could have imagined. We couldn’t wait to get inside, and on the way, we got a bit wet.
We took the elevator down to the level of the Lumen museum entrance with one other couple who spoke German. Luckily, we let them get to the ticket desk before us. The salesperson asked them if they had their gondola ticket, which they did, and he promptly let them into the museum for free!
We then obtained our free tickets, learning that the Messner Museum, up the hill a bit, was also going to be free. So that made me a little happier with the gondola price after all.
In the rain and snow, the museum didn’t look that cool from the outside, but we did notice that part of it was all glass hanging over the edge. That was the restaurant and café, so we knew right then that we were going to eat something on the way out.
Our Dolomite Road Trip Looked like this:
- Drove from Ramstein area in Germany
- Overnighted in the Brenner Pass
- Day 1 – Vipiteno, Bolzano, and Selva Val Gardena (volksmarch)
- Day 2 – Siusi, Seiser Alm, Compatsch and Kastelruth – Cow festivals
- Day 3 – Völs am Schern, Tiers Cow Festival, Via Coller, St. Magdalena Bacon Festival
- Day 4 – Tre-Cime and Lago di Braies
- Day 5 – Kronplatz Peak, The Lumen Mountain Photography Museum and the Messner Mountain Climbing Museum
- Day 6 – 9 – Back to Bolzano, Bergamo, Annecy and the Retours des Alpages
Download a snapshot pdf of our Dolomite road trip for further planning.
Our Visit to the Lumen Mountain Photography Museum
The Lumen Mountain Photography Museum is state-of-the-art! Not only are there amazing photographs, but the exhibits were hands-on and revealed tons of surprises.
One of the most impressive exhibits was a video shown through a makeshift lens, with the aperture opening and closing. When the video wasn’t running, it showed a view of the outside. It was definitely one of my favorite things. I watched it a couple of times.
Another interactive and fun exhibit was a pulley system showing different photos as you pulled it up and down. It would be a unique way to show off my photography wall in the house, too, I think.
The most fun part of the museum was a mirrored video room. The visitor becomes part of the landscape, and like in many mirror rooms, it is a 360-degree experience with you at the center. I would say anybody, even kids, would enjoy it. It was hard to leave, because the whole room kept on changing. So fun.
The Lumen Restaurant and Café
As I said, the café view was so beautiful that we knew we were going to go there when we finished exploring the museum no matter what. As a general idea, I do like checking out museum restaurants, but honestly, many of them fall short. I really despise the ones that only serve packaged foods. What a waste!
Without a doubt, this was not the case. The restaurant was high-end, and it looked amazing. There were not many people there around noon, but enough, all locals. It’s definitely a go-to place for them, especially for a special event or taking someone to impress them.
We weren’t that hungry, and even though it took a lot of willpower on my side, we opted just to get a hot chocolate from the café side. It was relaxing looking at the rain and the mountains out of the window. I practically had to drag Jim out of there so we could head to the Messner Museum.
I mean, what is better than a hot drink with a view!?
Information for Visiting the Lumen Mountain Photography Museum
The Lumen Museum is located on top of the Kronplatz, so to get there, you need to hike up or take the gondola. Depending on the season and, especially, the weather, walking would certainly be cheaper, but the gondola keeps you dry.
The Kronplatz gondola costs about 50 Euros per adult (check out prices here), but once you get up there, the museum is free, so it evens out. And you can easily spend the whole day at the top.
The address to put in your GPS is: 39030 Mareo, Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, Italy
Our Rating
I cannot go into every detail of what there was to do and see in the museum, but I gave it five full 5 stars, because it was so much better than I was expecting. And the restaurant or café could be destinations all by themselves. The Lumen Mountain Photography Museum is someplace I would go to again and again.
I loved it!
Conclusion
Don’t miss the Lumen Mountain Photography Museum; it’s just so darn cool! And after we left there, we moved on to the other museum on this mountain, the Messner Mountain Museum Corones. Spoiler alert! We loved that one too!
Author Bio: Corinne Vail is a travel photographer, food lover, and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 14 years. For many years she lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands teaching the children of the US. military. She’s visited over 90 countries, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.