High above the Val di Fassa in Italy's Dolomites, a mountain refuge has become an unlikely pilgrimage site. Each morning, hundreds of hikers make the trek to 2,300 metres not for the panoramic views of the Sassolungo and Sasso Piatto peaks, but for a pastry: the krapfen, a traditional German-style doughnut filled with vanilla cream.
The Friedrich August refuge has been serving these doughnuts for four decades, but a recent surge in social media attention has turned the humble treat into a viral phenomenon. Photos and videos on TikTok and Instagram show queues of up to 300 people snaking down the mountain path, with some visitors reportedly camping overnight or setting off before dawn to secure a taste. The doughnuts, priced at €3-4 each, go on sale around 7:30 am and typically sell out by 10 am.
For those who make the effort, the reward seems to justify the hype. “Freshly made, still warm, paired with a great coffee and an incredible view… that's hard to beat,” one blogger wrote. The refuge's staff told local media that they have always made the krapfen, but “just because someone posted a photo two years ago, the controversy erupted.”
An 'amusement park' in the Alps
The sudden influx has drawn sharp criticism from local residents and mountaineering organisations, who see it as yet another example of social media straining fragile Alpine destinations. Giorgio Daidola, a ski instructor and former professor, told the Italian newspaper L'Adige that such tourism is turning the mountains into a commodity. “It's now seen as a funfair built at high altitude,” he said. “These are all artificial things that don't correspond to the mountain for everyone that I wanted.” He added, “It's like going to Gardaland,” referring to the amusement park near Lake Garda.
Francesco Abbruscato, president of the Veneto branch of the Italian Alpine Club, noted that overtourism in the Dolomites is a recent phenomenon. “Until five or six years ago we did not witness overtourism in precise points or at certain moments in the Dolomites,” he told Vita.it. “Now there are iconic places where it is no longer possible to appreciate the beauty as we're surrounded by dozens of people who take selfies and are only there for that.”
The krapfen craze is not an isolated incident. Earlier this year, the municipality of Funes restricted access to the Santa Maddalena church, a popular photo spot below the Odle Peaks, after hordes of visitors overwhelmed the narrow road leading to it. The council now limits access from May to November.
This pattern echoes broader concerns across Europe, where viral moments have turned once-quiet spots into tourist hotspots. From the AI-driven convenience of Lisbon's autonomous parapharmacy to the EU's new biometric border checks, the continent is grappling with how technology and social media reshape everyday experiences.
For the Dolomites, the challenge is balancing the economic benefits of tourism with preserving the very landscapes that attract visitors. As Abbruscato put it, the mountains are not a backdrop for selfies but a living environment that deserves respect. The krapfen, once a simple reward for hikers, has become a symbol of that tension.
