We used Bolzano as our base, and spent a great day in Merano, and devoted one day to the Dolomites. We got up early, and got the first bus from Bolzano to Ortisei at 7:30 am (5 eu I think). It took nearly an hour. Ortisei is a beautiful town thats been given the Disneyland treatment. From there we walked to a cable car gong up to Seceda (37 eu each rt). In theory, you could just stay in Ortisei as a base because there were cable cars coming down to the city from several angles going to different mountains.
Once we got up near Seceda, it was another 200-300 meters of hiking climb to get the main view. In September, day time and sunny, it was in the 30's and windy. You could also see a number of other famous ranges in the same area - such as Sassoluongo. We then walked down the paths (it a little too organized and civilized to be called hiking). There were half a dozen or so restaurant huts which were pretty good and not that expensive. then came the walk back up 900 feet, which was exhausting. In all we spent the entire day up there, and came back down near the last cable car at 5:30 pm. Then walked down and picked up the bus back to Bolzano from an open air bus "station" behind an old church. Then back to Bolzano just before sun went down, and a good dinner.
We felt like we got a full day experience without having to pay $250 a night in Ortisei.