Italy

The Dolomites by Car, Then the Alta Via 1 on Foot

A week driving the Dolomites between three hotels, Bolzano to Val Gardena to Cortina, then ten days hut to hut on the Alta Via 1 from Lago di Braies, and two quiet nights in Venice to finish.

Nights19
SeasonLate summer
StyleBoutique and luxuryAdventure
DifficultyStrenuous
PaceFull days
SuitsTwo people who want a week of drives, day hikes and good hotels together, with one of them carrying on to walk the Alta Via 1
Based onA trip I took myself

Where to stay, and why

Falkensteiner Hotel Bozen WaltherPark

Bolzano · 2 nights

Bolzano is about three hours up the motorway from Venice airport, so the first night after the overnight flight is a straightforward drive, not a mountain one. The hotel is in the old town with its own garage under the building, which matters: the center is a restricted traffic zone around the clock, and reception registers your plate. A Superior Room with my partner perks: breakfast, a hotel credit, early check-in or late check-out, and an upgrade when one is free. The rooftop pool and spa is the plan for the first evening.

Alpstay Hotel Acadia

Selva di Val Gardena · 3 nights

Three nights in the middle of the week, so two days have no packing. Selva sits at the head of Val Gardena, below the Sella, and Alpe di Siusi and Val di Funes are both day trips from the door. A small adults-only hotel, in a Romantic double with breakfast. Ask the hotel for the Val Gardena guest pass, which covers the local buses. The front desk closes in the evening, so on a day over the passes, call ahead if you will be late.

Faloria Mountain Spa Resort

Cortina d'Ampezzo · 2 nights

A spa hotel about two kilometers outside the center of Cortina, and outside its restricted traffic zone: free parking, no plate to register, and a shuttle into town. With two early starts in a row, for Tre Cime and then Lago di Braies, a base the car can leave freely mattered more than a room on the main street. My partner perks here: breakfast for two, a hotel credit, a welcome drink and a bottle of wine, and an upgrade when one is free, confirmed by the resort in writing. The buffet opens after an early start has left, so order a packed breakfast at reception the night before.

Rifugi on the Alta Via 1

Alta Via 1 · 9 nights

A mountain hut at the end of each stage, booked months ahead and mostly direct with each hut. Among them Rifugio Col Gallina at Passo Falzarego, Rifugio Passo Staulanza, Rifugio Vazzoler under the Civetta, Rifugio Passo Duran and Rifugio Pian de Fontana before the last descent. Ask for a packed lunch at dinner the night before, not at breakfast; on several stages there is nowhere to buy lunch on the way.

Albergo Delle Alpi

Belluno · 1 night

The first bed off the trail. The bus from the end of the route stops at Belluno station, the hotel is a few minutes' walk from it, and the train to Venice leaves from the same station in the morning. A plain room with a buffet breakfast.

Hotel Rialto

Venice · 2 nights

On the Grand Canal at the foot of the Rialto Bridge, with the vaporetto stop at the door, so arriving by train with a pack is one boat ride or fifteen minutes on foot. A single room with breakfast. It has its own water landing, which makes a water taxi to the airport easy, and it will hold bags for a late flight if you ask at check-in.

Day by day

  1. Day 1

    Venice to Bolzano

    Land at Venice Marco Polo after the overnight flight, collect the car, and drive about three hours north on the A4 and A22 to Bolzano. Nothing else that day.

  2. Day 2

    Bolzano

    Ötzi the Iceman at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, then the cable car up to the Renon plateau and its earth pyramids.

  3. Day 3

    Lago di Carezza and Passo Sella

    An early start for Lago di Carezza, before the car park fills and while the water is still, then over Passo di Costalunga and Passo Sella and down into Val Gardena.

  4. Days 4 and 5

    Val Gardena

    Two days from the same hotel. Alpe di Siusi, the big high meadow, by gondola from Ortisei. Val di Funes and the Odle peaks at the end of the day, when the light is on them.

  5. Day 6

    Great Dolomite Road

    Over Passo Pordoi and Passo Falzarego to Cortina, with the cable car up to Lagazuoi and the First World War trenches at the top station on the way.

  6. Day 7

    Tre Cime di Lavaredo

    The loop around the three towers from Rifugio Auronzo, then Lago di Misurina on the way back. The toll road up takes cars only with an online reservation, so the parking slot was booked ahead for an early entry.

  7. Day 8

    Lago di Braies

    An early drive to Lago di Braies, where the driving week ends. My wife took the car back to Venice, and I started up the Alta Via 1 from the lakeshore: the steepest start of the route, about 3,000 feet of climbing on the first day.

  8. Days 9 and 10

    Fanes and Lagazuoi

    Across the high, open Sennes plateau, down to the road head at Pederù and back up onto the Fanes, then a long climb over three passes to the hut at Lagazuoi, at about 9,000 feet.

  9. Day 11

    Passo Falzarego

    A half day. Down from Lagazuoi to Passo Falzarego and Rifugio Col Gallina, by the normal path or through the First World War tunnel inside the mountain, which needs a helmet, a headlamp and via ferrata kit. The afternoon is free.

  10. Days 12 and 13

    Nuvolau and Pelmo

    Over the top of Nuvolau rather than around it, then across the Mondeval plateau with Pelmo in view all afternoon to Passo Staulanza.

  11. Day 14

    The Civetta

    A long stage under the Civetta to Rifugio Vazzoler.

  12. Days 15 and 16

    Moiazza and Schiara

    Under the Moiazza to Passo Duran, then the hardest stage of the ten, the longest day on your feet and the most climbing, to Rifugio Pian de Fontana. Start early.

  13. Day 17

    La Pissa and Belluno

    The last stage climbs first, then drops nearly 5,000 feet to the road at La Pissa, the end of the route. A local bus runs from there to Belluno.

  14. Day 18

    Belluno to Venice

    A direct train to Venice, about two hours, and on to Hotel Rialto. In the evening, a small-group cicchetti and wine walk through Cannaregio.

  15. Day 19

    Venice

    Nothing booked, on purpose. After ten days on the trail the right plan is a short one: the bell tower of San Giorgio Maggiore, a walk on the Giudecca, or a campo and a book.

  16. Day 20

    Venice

    The flight home.

What made it work

  • The driving week comes first, so the trek starts after a week of day hikes instead of straight off a transatlantic flight.
  • Three bases in seven nights, moving east toward the start of the trek, with three nights in the middle so two days have no packing.
  • Hotels chosen around the car. The centers of Bolzano and Cortina are restricted traffic zones, so the Bolzano hotel has its own garage and the Cortina base sits outside the zone with free parking, which made the early starts for Tre Cime and Braies simple.
  • At the Bolzano and Cortina hotels, my partner perks: breakfast, a hotel credit and an upgrade when one is free. I wrote to both before arrival to reconfirm them.
  • The bookings that decide a day went in first: the rifugi, months ahead, and the Tre Cime toll road, which takes cars only with an online reservation.
  • Walking south from Braies to Belluno, so the trek ends a bus ride and a two-hour train from Venice, not back at a car.
  • Two quiet nights in Venice at the end rather than the start, at a hotel on the vaporetto line, with one evening walk booked and nothing else.