The Italian Dolomites: A Visual Journal

We spent 4 picturesque days romping about in these majestic, wondrous mountains in late August of 2024.  Follow along and immerse yourself in our digital scrapbook, a love letter to the Italian Dolomites…

Day Zero

This was exclusively a travel day.  We started on the east side of the Dolomites, which meant it was easiest to fly into Venice.  We rented a car at the Venice airport and then drove 2-3 hours north to the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo.   Be sure to check out our “Pro Tips” section below for how we tackled driving around Italy.  We stayed at the Hotel Columbia, a cozy, family-run inn, and arrived quite late in the dark. 

Day One: Lago di Braies

Then, the following morning, we opened our window shutters and were finally able to take in the view of the surrounding mountains.  The town of Cortina is straight from the pages of a fairytale.  It was busy and bustling with folks – many seemed to be local Italian tourists – a large portion of whom were accompanied by their pet dogs.  We wandered around town, purchased groceries and snacks before we began the 1 hour drive to our first hiking destination in the Lago di Braies area. 

The Lago di Braies area is very popular, and a permit is required if you plan to visit between the hours of 9am – 4pm.  We arrived right at 4pm, so we did not need a reservation.  There are several large parking lots that are walking distance to the lake which have pay stations that accept credit cards (we paid 15 euro for the P4 lot, which is closest to the lake). 

There is a gigantic luxury hotel, several cafes, and a boat rental at the lake.  We enjoyed a small schnitzel sandwich, pretzels and an Aperol spritz before starting a 2 mile (3.2 km) loop hike that encircles the lake.  The hike was easy, family-friendly, and provided views of the gorgeous emerald lake at every turn. 

As daylight winded down, we left to find dinner before driving back to Cortina, and were happily pleased with our pizzas at Restaurant Seeschupfe with a view of Lago di Dobbacio.

Day Two: Cortina d’Ampezzo

We had an early pre-sunrise wake-up call to get a head start on our packed day.  We drove to the Rifugio Auronzo trailhead to do two hikes, Cadini di Misurina and Tre Cime, both of which start from this trailhead.  The 1.5 hour drive itself was gorgeous – winding roads with lake views.  Access to the trailhead is gated, so at 7am we encountered a queue of cars waiting for the gate to open.  It was 7:30am by the time we paid our 30 euro entrance fee and were admitted through the gate to look for parking. 

The first hike was for Cadini di Misurina.  Follow Trail No. 117 to get started. This is a short, 2 mile round trip trail.  It took us far longer than expected to complete the trail because there was a line of hikers waiting to take photos at the famous “Instagram spot” – for good reason, as you can see in the images below. 

We returned to the trailhead for a quick bathroom break (there are public toilets at the trailhead and food at the Rifugio Auronzo), then it was “boots on the trail” once again for our second hike of the day: Tre Cime, with the goal of eating lunch at Rifugio Locatelli before looping back to the trailhead.  It was 10am at this point, and we decided to hike the loop counter-clockwise. 

The elevation grade was moderate with rolling hills throughout, and a steep downhill after Rifugio Locatelli.  The trail was very crowded. The giant three towers, the trail’s namesake, were quite a marvel, and we were lucky to have a window of sunshine for some warmth as the wind was picking up. 

We had lunch at Rifugio Locatelli (draft beer and cold-cut sandwiches) for under 20 euro total.  There was plenty of picnic table style seating here with epic mountain views, classic après-ski vibes.

After lunch, we started our descent to go back to the trailhead.  Cloud coverage varied for the remainder of the hike, but we were still able to get 360 views of Tre Cime as the loop encircled it.  We saw two people in squirrel suits parachute down from Tre Cime.  There were hikers of all ages, including many kids and dogs. 

Our favorite thing about this area was the juxtaposition of the lush green valleys, full of grazing cows in the foreground, with giant, craggy spires and mountains in the background.  

At the end of this hike, we clocked about 6 miles (10km).

We then drove (the state road, i.e. the scenic route) two hours to the Ortisei area to explore the western side of the Dolomites.  We stayed at the Smart Hotel Saslong in Val Gardena. This was a nice, modern hotel with small, minimalist rooms – a completely different vibe from the romantic inn at Cortina.  The best thing about our stay here was that it was literally right next to various bus stops to take us into town (the hotel provided us with bus passes!), and the hotel breakfast was very impressive.

Note: other sites/trails of interest that we didn’t have time for in the Cortina area that you may be able to add to your itinerary include: hiking the Croda da Lago circuit, riding the Freccia nel Cielo cable car to Cima Tofana

Day Three: Seceda

We caught the bus into the heart of Ortisei and then walked to the cable car station (search “Funivie Seceda Spa” on Google Maps) to purchase round trip tickets to reach Seceda Ridge, our hiking destination of the day.  Round trip tickets were 45 euro per person, and included both legs of the trip: first the Ortisei-Furnes gondola ride, which then connects to the Furnes-Seceda cable car.  This gondola/cable car ride took about 20 minutes total to reach the Seceda Ridge area. 

We didn’t have much of a plan other than to wander about and take hundreds of photos, with plenty of stops at various Rifugios to feed our bellies and reach our daily limoncello spritz quota.  Views were incredible from every angle.  The area was, as expected, very crowded: full of families and children, dogs and cows, paragliders and photographers. 

Each Rifugio boasted a slightly different menu with Tyrolian specialties (we had the South Tyrolian meatballs, yum!), and some fun recreational additions too, like foosball tables and swing sets for children.

Day Four: Val di Funes

We started our day early to head for the Val di Funes area.  Our goal was to capture sunrise colors at the Santa Maddalena viewpoint.  There are a few parking lots (Berger Square, Filler and Putzen) with electronic pay stations (4 euro per car) and plenty of signage directing you to the church of Santa Maddalena.  The parking lot was nearly empty at 6:45am when we arrived.  To reach the viewpoint, you must walk uphill towards Hotel Tyrol along the Kirchweg street, past the Fallerhof Farm along the path to the Church of Santa Maddalena, and then continue another 10 minutes uphill past the church for the best photo ops.  The viewpoint is about 1 mile from the parking lots. 

The soft morning light in the valley was so lovely.  The area was quiet and calm – the only sounds we heard were the birds chirping and the clicks of our camera shutters.

We continued on past the viewpoint to do a 6 mile (10km) loop hike.  We followed Panoramaweg for the first part, then took Sunnseitnweg trail to return to Santa Maddalena.  It was an easy hike with rolling elevation that toggled between shady, wooded areas and paved roads, weaving between family farms.  AllTrails was very helpful for navigation.  We could even see the church of St. Johann/San Giovanni from afar (see photo below).

This was a nice reprieve from the many crowds of the previous hiking – since we started our morning so early, we encountered only one other couple the entire time.  By the time we returned to our cars at 10am, a few other hikers were just starting their day and the parking lot was half full. 

We drove a few minutes to nearby St. Johann/San Giovanni viewpoint (see below) to snap a few photos of this cute little church.  There is only one small parking lot here (2 euro weekdays, 4 euro on weekends) on Via Zanser (GPS coordinates: 46°38’12.3″N 11°43’19.6″E.). 

We returned to Ortisei for the remainder of the day to wander around town, window-shop, and eat lots and lots of delicious food to truly savor our last night in the Italian Dolomites. 

Pro Tips

• Always carry cash and loose change!  It usually costs 1 euro or so to use a public bathroom.  This is because they have attendants keeping the facilities clean.  
• For our phones, we purchased an eSIM card through Global YO for an international mobile plan.  This worked well for us for a few phone calls and data roaming (like using Google Maps for public transit, or the occasional social media post)
• Getting around & navigation:
  • AllTrails was perfect for our hikes, especially in the Val di Funes area
  • For driving, Google Maps was perfect – make sure you download the offline maps!  
  • For public transit, we also used Google Maps, but you must use it live so keep this in mind for data roaming 
  • Many hotels & lodging will give you free bus passes to encourage public transit – we used this for getting around town, but not to get to the trailheads for hiking
• Rental car & driving:
  • Some people tackle the Dolomites relying only on public transit.  While this is certainly possible and highly respectable, we decided to have a rental car so we could have more flexibility, specifically to get to trailheads before or near sunrise/first light.
  • If you plan to drive in Italy, Italian laws require a collision damage waiver and theft insurance (this is available as a benefit for many major credit cards).  
  • You will also need an international driver’s permit, which we were able to easily obtain at our local AAA office in person.  
  • We used the AutoEurope website for our rental car reservation
  • It’s helpful to review and become familiar with road signs and colors on Italian roads beforehand.  We found this blog to be helpful.
  • Autogrills are very convenient highway stops for gas and convenience food that also serve delicious food with clean restrooms
  • Have cash on you for the many toll roads!
  • Note that attendants will fill up gas for you (like in Oregon!)
• There are many drinking fountains with potable water scattered throughout town – don’t forget your reusable water bottle!
• We found Apple Weather to be inaccurate.  We relied on Google instead.
• Summer is a beautiful time to visit, but keep in mind that afternoon and evening storms are very typical – plan accordingly.

Happy Adventuring!