Hiking in the Dolomites

The Dolomites make up just a small portion of the Alps. Encompassing an area of 141,903 hectares and 18 peaks which rise to above 3,000 meters (10.000 feet), the Dolomites stretch across 3 Italian regions for over 750 miles -Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige / Südtirol (South Tyrol), and Friuli Venezia Giulia. bordering Austria. The Dolomites were designated a protected UNESCO World Heritage site in 2009.

The Dolomites are made of dolomitic limestone, a rare material that gives the mountains their signature spires, sheer cliff faces, and crags. The Italian Dolomites are without a question one of the most dramatic alpine destinations in the world offering incredible, breathtaking scenery.

The Dolomite Mountain Range

Each mountain in the Dolomites is like a piece of art — Reinhold Messner

The Dolomites, named for the French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu who discovered them in 1789, contain a large amount of the mineral to which de Dolomieu also contributed his name. That mineral, gives the mountains a gold and then pinkish hue at sunrise and sunset. The Dolomites are also called “Monti Pallidi” in Italian, Pale Mountains.

The Heart of the Dolomites is identified with the massif of the Sella group (Sellagruppe in German; 3,152 m), from which radiate the five so-called ‘Ladin valleys’. The highest peak, is the Marmolada, also known as “Queen of the Dolomites”, which at 3,344 m hosts the only notable glacier in the area. The second-highest peak is the Antelao (3,264 m), named “King of the Dolomites”, but by far the most renowned peaks are the Tre Cime di Lavaredo/Drei Zinnen (2,999 m), which can be considered the real emblem of the Dolomites.

Things You Didn’t Know About the Dolomites

These beautiful mountains are one of the gems of Northern Italy. Here are five facts you might not have not about this corner of Italy:

1. The Dolomites are an outdoor haven all year long. The Dolomites are a famed ski destination, with many Italians and visitors heading there during the winter holidays. They are also popular in the summer, especially for hiking and nature lovers. During the shoulder seasons  (late March through late May and from early October through mid-December) many resorts and hotels shut down.
2. Dolomiti Superski is a network of 16 ski resorts with 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) of slopes and 450 lifts that you can access with just one pass. It includes popular destinations like Cortina d’Ampezzo, Alta Badia, Val Gardena, and Marmolada. There are single-day tickets, multiday options, or season passes available online. Of course, you can also buy tickets at the individual lifts.
3. Sledding: If you don’t know how to ski (or just want a break from the slopes), sledding is an exhilarating activity. At Lago di Misurina, you can ascend the Tre Cime di Lavaredo aboard a snowmobile and sled back down. The driver will drop you off at the Rifugio Auronzo 7,654 feet above sea level, where you can sled down.
4. The region is a cultural crossroads of Italian, Tyrolean, and Rhaeto-Roman influences. Residents in the Dolomites have their own distinct culture and each town has 2 names. Ladin is a language spoken by about 30,000 of the locals, though you are just as likely to hear German and Italian throughout the region. That is because South Tyrol was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, when it was annexed to Italy.  When you visit you will notice that everything is written in Italian, German and Ladin: examples are Carbonin or Schluderbach, Ortisei or Sankt Ulrich, Val Gardena or Gröden.
5.  Culture in the Dolomites places a heavy emphasis on hand-crafts (such as woodcarving and leatherwork), food and wine unique to the region, and an appreciation for and conservation of nature.
6. Though the Dolomites are an outdoor lover’s paradise, the views alone are enough for a visit. Enjoy the gorgeous panoramas along the Grande Strada delle Dolomiti, or the Great Road of the Dolomites. Those looking for some R&R can tap in to the region’s healthy thermal bath culture. Though spas abound, we’d recommend baths built around natural hot springs.

The Valleys

Heading west from Cortina into the Alto-Adige portion of the Dolomites, you’ll reach three main valleys: Val Gardena, Val Badia and Val di Fassa. Stay in the charming towns of Ortisei, Selva, Canazei, San Cassiano (Hotel Rosa Alpina with its Michelin star restaurant St. Hubertus) or Santa Cristina. Each valley has its own experience. Val Badia is historically the most isolated area of the Dolomites, home to a significant population of Ladini. Nearly every one of San Cassiano’s residents speaks Ladino at home.

Site Of Some Of World War I’s Fiercest Battles

Since the Dolomites straddle the border between Austria and Italy, they were the location of some of the most ferocious battles of World War I. After World War I, Italy again took possession of South Tyrol defeating the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even now, the mountains are gouged with tunnels and remnants of the war. The terrain of the Dolomites made the mountains particularly intense for both the Italian and Austrian soldiers. Both sides needed to contend with freezing temperatures, high altitudes, and the instability of the mountain itself.

The Via Ferrata

Many of the 700 iron paths in the Dolomites were constructed during World War One by Austrians and Italians, when the mountains and their passes were a critically strategic frontline between Austria and Italy, and a better way to traverse them with weapons, men, and supplies was necessary. The paths were used again in World War II. Today, the path is still lined with wire cables, bridges and ladders thus the name, Iron Paths. The battles fought along those paths in World Wars I and II involved not just combat, but fighting the harsh, natural climates of the mountains as well. Trenches, dugouts and other relics can be found as a testimony and memorial of the fighting that took place along the Via Ferrata.

There are trails for every level of hiker. There are over 80 Via Ferrata trails in the Dolomites, with difficulty levels of 1 – 5. Level One being an easy walk and Level Five requiring climbing skills. Use this very handy map of the Dolomites’ Via Ferrata trails to identify a trail of the right hiking level and in a convenient location for your trip. Click on a trail icon to get details and often photos of the hike. Ivano Dibona is probably the most famous trail, and takes about 8 hours to hike, while the Lagazuoi Tunnels hike is one of the easiest and most unique. Ferrata Averau is also considered an easy via ferrata.

You still need to do your research. Most of the hikes will require helmets (which you can rent) and headlamps (easy to tuck into your suitcase). Here’s a great overview of how to prepare yourself for a Via Ferrata hike . Make sure you know what you’re getting in to before you start off

Hiking in the Dolomites

The Dolomites is one area in Italy that my husband Manlio and I enjoy hiking in Italy. Our other favorites are the Carnic Alps and Julian Alps in Friuli Venezia Giulia, to name a few. The scenery in the Dolomites is beautiful, a photographer’s and hiker’s dream. As you hike through lush green fields speckled with wild flowers in the summertime, sound of cow bells, one is surrounded by gorgeous natural scenery.  Here is what we did on our last visit:

We hiked in spring (end of May), early summer (June) which are ideal months to visit if you are seeking cool weather that’s comfortable for outdoor activities, and few other tourists. Hiking trails in the Dolomites tend to mostly open by mid-to-late May, after the snow has melted. We chose as our base San Candido (Innichen) and booked a lovely little hotel, Garni Siebnerhof, which offers rooms with private balconies with views on the surrounding mountains. We had dinner a couple of times at Gasthof Wiesthaler (simple but local food).

For this trip we chose 2 of the following hikes:

• The first one was to hike up to Rifugio Locatelli, driving to Sesto in Pusteria via Val Fiscalina. We dropped the car off in the parking lot at Bagni di Moso and took Sentiero #102. It was a whole day trek, with a constant climb with a difference in height of about 1250 meters (4101 feet). We left early in the morning and were back in the parking lot around 4 p.m., approximately 6 hours + rest time at Rifugio Locatelli.
  

  Refugio Locatelli is in a wonderful scenic position, with the 3 peaks of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, rising solitary and majestic toward the sky/Photo Audrey De Monte

  

  End of May, still snow on the ground/Photo Audrey De Monte

  

  On the trail #102 up to Refugio Locatelli/Photo Manlio De Monte

  

  Little church at Refugio Locatelli/Photo Manlio De Monte

• For our second hike, was at Malga Prato Piazza. Prato Piazza (Plätzwiese in German) plateau is a high alpine pasture in Valle di Braies/Pragser Tal Valley, which is a side valley of Val Pusteria/Pustertal in South Tyrol. Prato Piazza (2000 m) is a top attraction in the Braies/Prags Dolomites, because of its accessibility, proximity to Lago di Braies, easy hiking trails, and extraordinary views of Croda Rossa d’Ampezzo,  Monte Cristallo, Tre Cime and Piz Popena. Summer and fall for hiking (ideally before July 10th, or after September 10th).
  

  Time for our picnic! What a view and we had the place almost all to ourselves/Photo Manlio De Monte

  

  Hiking Prato Piazza/Photo Audrey De Monte

Mountain huts

It can be difficult for anyone who is accustomed to hiking in North America to grasp just how user-friendly Italy’s hiking infrastructure is. Multi-day hikes in North America (think the John Muir Trail, the Appalachian Trail) mean a heavy pack containing several days’ worth of food in addition to a tent, a sleeping bag, and cooking utensils. Mountain huts in Italy make all of that gear unnecessary. Mountain huts offer hikers a way to stay deep within the peaks and the trails. Open in the summer season, some are very bare bones rustic and basic whilst others are a little more like a basic hotel but, aside from a warm bed and good food for the night, they are usually situated in beautiful setting too.

• Mountain huts, or rifugi, are mainly owned by the CAI (Club Alpino Italiano) and were built in about the last 100 years.
• Mountain huts are located about three hours apart on the trail. This means that hikers can walk three hours, eat a hot lunch (with wine and espresso, if you’d  like) at a mountain hut, and then walk another three hours to the hut where they’ll sleep. Huts are built on all levels of hiking trail, so pick the difficulty you want and after that, identify the possible huts that work for your hike.
• There are several levels of comfort for overnight guests: very simple huts that provide just a bed and blankets are called bivacchi. Bigger buildings that provide heating, electricity, and often hot food, are called rifugi. There are rifugi that don’t offer overnight accommodation but are a wonderful lunch destination for day hikers.
• While it’s a good idea to book your bed in advance, usually a month or so in advance is plenty. If you’re just going for lunch as part of a full-day hike, there is no need to make a reservation unless you’re a large group.
• Here’s what you need to bring with you for a multi-day hike when sleeping in a mountain hut: a sleeping sheet (blankets are provided), a pillowcase (to stuff clothing in, to use as a pillow), a refillable water bottle, clothing (most importantly, a change of socks) and personal items. Many huts sell sleeping sheets (it’s a sheet sewn into the shape of a sleeping bag) if you don’t arrive with one.
• The Lagazuoi mountain hut (reached by gondola) in the Alta Badia region of the eastern Dolomites is one of the nicest mountain huts that we know of. It has lots of beds and even a few private rooms. In the summertime, it’s possible to hike through nearby WWI tunnels and in the wintertime, it’s a well-known ice-climbing destination. Wintertime visitors have the added bonus of an outdoor sauna. To top it off, the chef at its restaurant is amazing, making a lunch or dinner there a worthwhile excursion. If you don’t want to hike up, there’s a chairlift.

Variety of Hikes and Trails

Hiking and walking is available for all different levels of difficulty, from the easy amble to the most strenuous ‘via ferrata‘ (‘iron way’), making the Italian Alps hospitable for families with more than one generation traveling together in the summertime. Don’t forget to visit a rifugio, or mountain hut, whether for a midday meal or an overnight stay (camping is forbidden in the Dolomites). Hikers can take advantage of the long-distance footpaths crisscrossing the Dolomites, called the alte vie. The Alta Via 1 (AV1) is the easiest, most popular route, taking you on a north-south traverse from Lago di Braies to Belluno in Veneto, crossing the Dolomites’s most famous peaks. The AV1 is 80 miles (129km) long, divided in 10 stages. Allow 15 days for the whole trip.

Lago di Misurina, a 20-minute drive from Cortina d’Ampezzo, sits at 5,761 feet above sea leven and you can walk the 1.6 mile perimeter, along which there are places for a picnic. It is also the access point for hiking the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, a popular trail that departs from the Rifugio Auronzo.

Tofana: A cable car will take you up to the summit of this mountain, which is a popular spot for skiing in the winter and hiking come summer. At the first stop on the cable car, you’ll find the Masi Wine Bar and Ristorante Col Druscié 1778, which serves apple strudel and spiked eggnog alongside salads and heartier fare (cable car does not run until June 28).

Rifugio Nuvolau: from Cortina d’Ampezzo take the chairlift for the hike to Rifugio Nuvolau. The views are worth the effort, as you can see the hightest peak in the Dolomites, the Marmolada (10,968feet). Another hike from Cortina is the Sasso della Croce with a stop at Utia Ranch da Andre.

The reason it’s so easy for hikers is that the ski infrastructure is fully leveraged: the lifts and gondolas function all summer to take hikers up and down the mountain. At the top, lots of marked hiking trails continue both upwards and back down, so there is a huge choice of hikes.

PRO TIP: Hiking is NOT all difficult in the Dolomites. There are plenty of trails that are rated easy and medium on the challenge scale, and everything is very well marked. In fact, some of the most iconic views from the Dolomites can be accessed by an easy hike!

Things to do in the Dolomites

• If you are visiting in the winter, and do not like to ski, try snow shoeing. Anyone can grasp walking on snow and it’s a peaceful, low-octane way to appreciate the Dolomites in winter. Cross country skiing is also popular. The Alta Pusteria Valley is a great place to start, with forest trails and military tracks into Fanes-Sennes-Braies Natural Park, beneath the Tre Cime or up to the viewpoints of Durrakopf and Strudelkopf.
• You don’t need to scale the rock faces to get a close-up insight into the mountains, thanks to the Museum in the Clouds, one of six museums in the South Tyrol founded by Alpine mountaineer Reinhold Messner. Feast your eyes on sensational 360° views through the building’s glass lanterns and roofs and discover the history of how these mountains were scaled.

Tips and advice

• It’s no secret that the Dolomites are one of Europe’s best summer hiking destinations, and one of the best ways to escape the crowds is to get off the main hiking routes. Most visitors arrive starting around mid-morning and stick to the most popular day trails, which means anywhere a bit further off course will see the crowds quickly diminish. So hiking from hut to hut on a multi-day route will allow you to really enjoy the beauty away from crowds.
• Three of the most popular hikes for first time visitors, are the Tre Cime, the Lago di Sorapis, the Alpe di Suisi  and the Seceda. The good news is that none of these are particularly hardcore or challenging.
• Pick your hikes and sites first, then find your accommodations: find out which hikes or sights you want to visit most, decide upon how many you can realistically include in your itinerary, and then find your accommodation based upon proximity, practicality, and preference. Generally, if you are planning on hiking, I recommend staying 2-3 nights in about 2 to 3 towns or villages. As long as you are a sensible drive away from the hike start point, cable car etc.
• Bring cold weather cloths: We are in the mountains after all. Days can be wonderfully warm and sunny so you are able to hike in shorts and T-shirts, but rain storms do appear, or higher elevations see drops in temperatures. My recommended list of items to bring: hiking boots or shoes, several pair of hiking socks, a hat, sunscreen, refillable water bottle, lightweight fleece, waterproof jacket, blister pack, walking poles.
• Take maps and guidebooks: trails are very well established and signposted with the custom red and white markers. However, it’s a really good idea to pick up some paper maps of trails whilst you’re in the destination. We enjoy using All Trails in an offline mode but also found this website to have particularly thorough hiking instructions and would recommend starting here when researching a route.
• Don’t ignore the towns and villages. It’s possible to spend all your time in the meadows and mountains, but it’s worth exploring the area’s towns and villages. They feature a mix of classic Tyrolean chalets, medieval churches, sunny piazzas and shady courtyards. Merano hosts an excellent outdoor market while Bolzano has a cathedral, castle and another of Messner’s Mountain Museums. In the pretty village of Dobbiaco, you’ll find Gustav Mahler’s cottage, where he spent his summers composing.
  

  The town of Ortisei/Photo Audrey De Monte

When is the best time for hiking in the Dolomites

The Dolomites offer a lovely climate for the outdoors from June to August, with average temperatures hovering between 26° – 30°C. May and September offer a cooler 24° average temperature, which would be perfect for hikes.

Summer season basically starts a little later due to the intensity and length of the winters here in the mountains. This means that the summer season technically really kicks in from mid-to-late June, ramping up to its busiest month in August (the holy month of holidays for the Italians and French).

September is also great for hikes and manageable tourist numbers. Travelling slightly outside the peak summer season, aside from being more enjoyable, usually results in cheaper accommodation rates too. It’s important to note however that visiting out of season is not without its challenges – many businesses, chair lifts, and tourist services choose to close up shop for renovations or to take a vacation of their own before the winter/summer set in.

The best time of year to visit the Dolomites is mid/late June, early July, and September. 

• Best months for day hiking: mid-late June, early-mid July, September, October*
• Best months for hut-to-hut hiking: July, August, early-mid September
• Best month for outdoor photography: September and October
• Best months for via ferrata climbing: September and potentially October*
• Best months for traveling without a car: July, August, September
• Best months for a road trip: mid-June – October* (avoid August)

*Depending on snow and weather conditions.

Delicious alpine cuisine

Even though you are still in Italy, the food, language and general feel are all different than what you will find in other parts of the country. Food in the Alto-Adige shows the region’s German influence, with specials like canederli, bread balls made from leftovers including bread, milk, cheese and often speck (lean, lightly smoked ham). Gnocchi verdi, ghoulash and spetzel are all on the menu, and the region also produces apples. Wine in the region includes Teroldego (in Trentino) and gewürztraminer (Alto-Adige).

Like much of Italy, the Dolomites are home to a long winemaking tradition. Alto Adige is one of Italy’s smallest winegrowing regions, but because of the geography here, it is also multifaceted. These are authentic wines with their own original character. Most of the grapes are white varietals including Pinot Grigio, Gewürztraminer, and Chardonnay. Two indigenous varieties of red grapes are also cultivated here. These are Schiava and Lagrein. Pairing local wines with cheese and speck from the same region, is absolutely delicious.

Where to stay

There really are some stunning hotels in the Dolomites. There is a wide variety to choose from including luxury hotels, boutique hotels, and local budget hotels. Finding the one that will work best for you depends first on where you want to be located. Quintessential resort towns like Corvara, Ortesei and Cortina are ideal places to base yourself while visiting the Dolomites. They have a wide range of accommodations available. Once you decide on your home base, look for lodging that meets your budget and has all the amenities that are most important to you. Or you can always hire me to find the perfect place for you and plan your whole trip!

How to get to the Dolomites

The best cities, airports to fly into are listed below, including drive time to the two places which are considered the main ‘gateways’ to the Dolomites (and where you’ll likely stay in and around on your first night):

• Innsbruck (in Austria) | 90 minutes to Bolzano, 3 hours to Cortina d’Ampezzo
• Venice (Marco Polo or Treviso Airports) | 3 hours to Bolzano, 2 hours to Cortina d’Ampezzo
• Milan (Malpensa or Bergamo Airport) | 3+ hours to Bolzano, 5 hours to Cortina d’Ampezzo
• Trieste | 4 hours to Bolzano, 3 hours to Cortina d’Ampezzo

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