Stava-Naturno Fun Train Station and Juval Castle: a journey through Stava in Naturno
Between Naturno and the small village of Stava (Staben), the road branches off into the Val Senales valley with its imposing glacier. Just beyond, another road leads to the Juval climbing garden, one of South Tyrol's climbing gardens, and further up to the majestic Juval Castle. Stava itself lies directly on the Adige River and, thanks to the Naturno bypass tunnel, is very peaceful nowadays.
The former Senales train station of the Val Venosta Railway in Stava now houses a unique project: the Stava-Naturno Fun Train Station. You can take a nostalgic and adventurous ride on a handcar along an 800-metre stretch of disused railway line. Besides a garden railway, a miniature steam locomotive from Waldenburg (Switzerland), and two Rhaetian Railway mail coaches, there's an exhibition and buildings ornately decorated with Far Eastern wood carvings to admire.
The new Stava train station is located very close to the Fun Train Station. Despite its small size, Stava offers more attractions, such as the Church of Our Lady with its impressive coat of arms stone above the pointed arch portal. Path number 1 leads up to the aforementioned Juval Castle above the village, later merging into the Stava Waalweg path, one of the most beautiful Waalwege paths along the ancient irrigation channels on the Sun Mountain.
The castle itself houses the MMM Juval with art treasures from Reinhold Messner's travels to Nepal, Africa, and India, as well as religious symbols from Hinduism and Buddhism. And in winter, the Val Senales beckons you to ski on the glacier at the Alpin Arena Senales.
