The Italian-speaking Trentino - named after Trento, the regional capital - and the German-speaking Alto Adige or Sudtirol (South Tyrol, the region bordering the upper reaches of the River Adige) differ dramatically in culture.
However, they do share one featurein common: the majestic Dolomites that form the backdrop to every town and village, covered in snow for six months of every year and carpeted with exquisite Alpine plants for the other six.
The region's mountains have been cut by glaciers into a series of deep, broad valleys.
Many of these face south, so it remains unusually warm and sunny, even in winter.
Travellers have passed up and downthese valleys for generations-as confirmed by the extraordinary discovery, in 1991, of a 5,000-year-old man's body found emerging from the surface of a melting glacier in Alto Adige.
The frozen corpse wore leather boots, stuffed with hay for warmth, and was armed with a copper ice pick.
By the Middle Ages, Alto Adige has established its very own distinctive culture under the Counts of Tyrol, whose land (later appropriated by the Hapsburgs) straddled both sides of today's Italian/Austrian border.
Another ancient legacy is the tradition of hospitality to be found in the numerous guesthouses along the valleys.
Many of these are built in the distinctive Tyrolean style, with beautiful timber balconies for making the most of the winter sun, and overhanging roof eaves to keep snow at a distance.
Cosy in winter, with log fires and warming food, and offering marvellous views, they make the ideal base for enjoying the regionn's mountain footpaths and ski slopes.