Maia Alta (Obermais) is the villa district of the spa town. Beautiful stately houses hide behind fences and gardens and lend the quarter its venerable charm. Here, east of the Passirio River, the valley floor turns towards Monte Scena and Montefranco, and here you also find the district of Labers, which is usually counted to Maia Alta, as well as the Val di Nova valley with the valley station of the Merano 2000 Cable Car, which takes you to the skiing and hiking area.

Already in earlier times, aristocrats knew to appreciate this beautiful area. The castles and manor houses of Maia Alta tell of these times and some of them can also be visited. The list is topped by Trauttmansdorff Castle, which today houses the South Tyrol Museum of Tourism. It was once the chosen residence of Empress Sissi, who came to Merano several times with her daughters for spa treatments. Below and next to the castle is the flowering splendour of the Botanic Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle. All of this can be reached on foot along the Sissi Trail, which leads uphill from the old town of Merano to Trauttmansdorff and its sights.

Pienzenau Castle, today a training centre, Rubein Castle and Rametz Castle with its private wine museum can also be found here. In the Villa Freischütz, on the other hand, Franz Fromm's art collection was made accessible to the public, surrounded by the "Garden of Living Silence". Hikes such as the mountain tour to the Monte Ivigna and the excursion to Santa Caterina with its church can be wonderfully combined with a Toerggele evening in autumn. In winter, the cable car to Merano 2000 starts in the Val di Nova, destination for days on skis and sledging adventures.