Dolomites Itinerary: 7 Days Between Val Gardena and Cortina

Dolomites Itinerary: 7 Days Between Val Gardena and Cortina

Days 1 to 3: Val Gardena

• Seceda. Cable car and gondola up from Ortisei to 2,500 metres, where the Odle ridge drops away in a wall of teeth. Walk the ridge toward Rifugio Fermeda and Col Raiser, three to four hours, and take a lift down or keep walking to Santa Cristina.
• Alpe di Siusi. The largest high alpine meadow in Europe, at 1,800 to 2,000 metres with Sassolungo and Sciliar on either side. The access road from Siusi is closed to non resident cars during the day, roughly 9am to 5pm, so use the cable car from Ortisei or drive up before it closes. Easy walking, and the best place in the range for people who do not want a climb.
• The Sassolungo circuit, or Vallunga for a flat valley walk, or the Puez Odle plateau for a full day. If you want one hard day here, take the lift to Rifugio Demetz and walk the loop under the Sassolungo towers.

Days 4 to 7: Cortina d'Ampezzo

Val Gardena to Cortina is about two hours over the Passo Gardena and Passo Falzarego, and the drive is one of the best days of the trip. Stop at the Lagazuoi cable car and at the Cinque Torri on the way.

• Tre Cime di Lavaredo. The signature walk of the Dolomites, a 10 km loop with about 350 metres of climbing from Rifugio Auronzo, passing Rifugio Lavaredo and Rifugio Locatelli with the three towers changing shape the whole way. The toll road up to Auronzo costs around 30 euros per car and the car park fills by 8am in August, with a shuttle bus as the alternative.
• Lagazuoi and the Cinque Torri. A cable car to 2,750 metres, a rifugio terrace with the best view in the range, and First World War tunnels cut through the mountain that you can walk down with a helmet and a torch.
• Lago di Braies. The most photographed lake in Italy, and access is controlled in high summer: in recent years cars have been restricted during the day in July and August, with a booking system or shuttle. Go at 7am or come in September.
• Cadini di Misurina viewpoint, a short walk from Rifugio Auronzo for the other famous photograph, and far quieter than Tre Cime itself.

If you want to walk hut to hut

The Alta Via 1 runs about 120 km from Lago di Braies south to Belluno over 10 to 12 days, sleeping in rifugi where you get a bed, dinner and breakfast and carry only a day pack. It is the best introduction to hut walking in Europe: waymarked, no glacier travel, and a hut every four to six hours. Beds open for booking in spring and the popular rifugi fill for August within days.

Shorter hut trips work too. Two nights on the Puez Odle plateau, or the Sennes and Fanes huts above Cortina, give you the experience without the fortnight. If you have walked the Tour du Mont Blanc, this is the same idea with more vertical rock and better food.

Via ferrata, which is the thing the Dolomites invented

Iron ways: cables, rungs and ladders fixed to the rock, many of them built during the mountain fighting of the First World War. With a harness, a via ferrata lanyard and a helmet, they let a competent walker reach terrain that would otherwise need climbing skills. Start with a guided day rather than reading about it: the Lagazuoi tunnels, the Cinque Torri routes and Averau are all standard first outings, and every guiding office in Cortina and Corvara runs them.

Getting there and getting around

• Venice Marco Polo: 2 hours to Cortina, 3 hours to Val Gardena. The usual arrival.
• Innsbruck: 2 hours to Val Gardena over the Brenner.
• Verona: 3 hours, and often the cheapest flights.
• A car makes the trip. Public buses are good within each valley and awkward between them.
• Lift passes: the Dolomiti Supersummer and valley specific passes pay off quickly if you plan to use cable cars most days, which you should, because they turn a 1,200 metre climb into a walk along a ridge.

When to go

• Mid June to early July: wildflowers, snow patches on the high paths, some huts and lifts still closed. Check opening dates individually.
• Late July and August: everything open, warm, and the busiest weeks. Italian holidays fill the valleys in the middle two weeks of August.
• September: the best month. Stable weather, quiet trails, huts open until the third or fourth week, and larches beginning to turn at the end.
• October to May: huts and most lifts closed, and from December the Dolomites become one of the best ski regions in the world, which is a different trip.

Have us plan the week

Tell us your dates and how hard you want to walk and we will pick the bases, book the huts if you want a hut to hut section, and work around the access restrictions. Planning is free, and we earn only if you book through us.