Bolzano or Castelrotto

Is there a reason to even stay the one night in Bolzano? The train/bus to Castelrotto should only take about 2 1/2 hours. We took the train from Padova (switched trains in Verona) to Trento and caught a bus to Moena (south of Castelrotto) We arrived in the afternoon with plenty of time to explore the gorgeous town & scenery during our first day.

I would choose Castelrotto for two nights even if you must stay in Bolzano one night.

I don' t know when your trip is to take place or the timing of your earlier stay in Bolzano, but just in case you don't know: It can be very hot in Bolzano in the summer time, and quite a lot of the local hotels are not air-conditioned.

The bus to Castelrotto takes less than an hour, but you'd need to add extra time to go on to Alpe di Siusi (a shorter bus ride plus the lift). That adds up to enough time that I wouldn't want to do it repeatedly, so it comes down to how you want to spend your days--in Bolzano's museums or walking in the mountains. And of course there is some weather risk.

Google maps shows a driving time of 42 minutes from Bolzano to Castelrotto, and other research I've done show buses generally take under an hour. So it would make sense to base yourself in one town and day trip to the other (which is what I plan to do later this year). Also, each way between Bolzano to Ortesei is under an hour by bus. I'm opting for Bolzano as a home base for ease of transportation with bag/s, cost of hotel, and I will not be retracing my steps (by bus, with luggage) yet again on the day that I leave the area.

Castelrotto if you must, but a better option is Ortisei (or Santa Cristina or Selva) in the Val Gardena. You will be more "in" the mountains and it will be cooler. From Ortisei you can take a cable car right to the Alpe di Siusi as well as the other side of teh valley to the impressive Rasciesa Ridge, a fabulous, easy, scenic walk.

I stayed in Castelrotto and liked it,we had a car and did a day trip to Bolzano and went to the museum where they have Otzi the 5000 year old man found in 1992 I believe.Castelrotto's language is German.
Mike

Shelley,

As someone else mentioned, I wouldn't bother with Bolzano at all, unless there's something specific you want to see there. Take the Bus to Castelrotto and use that as your base for exploring the area. It's very easy to get from there to the cable car for Alpi di Siusi via local bus, and that makes a nice day trip. There's also a chair lift from Castelrotto that goes up to Marinzen. This provides an idea on what that looks like - http://www.seiser-alm.it/en/leisure-activities/mountains-and-hiking/from-castelrotto-to-the-marinzen-alpine-pasture/

You can also hike from Marinzen to Alpi di Siusi. According to this sign, that will take about 1H:10M. If families are doing it with strollers, it can't be too difficult.

You could also consider Ortisei, which Laurel suggested. I haven't been there yet, but it's on my list.

As Mike mentioned, you'll find more German spoken in that area rather than Italian. It's an autonomous part of Italy and "officially" bi-lingual but German is most common. Ladin is more prevalent than Italian in some parts.

I'll just add that the RS Alpine tour changed their itinerary from Bolzano to Castelrotto because it was easier/faster to access the Alpe di Siusi.

I disagree with Ken: i found Bolzano to have a beautiful historic district (all polished up for the tourists, of course) and at least two worthwhile museums, not just the one housing Otzi. I consider it well worth a visit, but if you are heading to that area to do a lot of walking in the Dolomites, it's not as convenient as one of the mountain locations. And in the summer you must accept the risk of quite high temperaturez.

Thank you all for your input.
We are not going until next September(mid) . Being a skier all my life I love the mountains and want to just enjoy and walk some of the trails.
Ken (nice to see you are still helping travellers with your input).
Just wanted to ask if mid September is a little late and could run into snow?? We will be travelling from Budapest & after Alpe di Siusi will be heading to Matera in the far south so packing clothes for weather conditions may be a problem.
Any help for the weather in mid September in the Dolomites would be helpful.

One more question. We are stopping in Verona and contemplating renting a car there to take up to Castelrotto, or is train & bus easier. At present only planning on 3 nights in the area.

You can also hike from Marinzen to Alpi di Siusi. According to this sign, that will take about 1H:10M. If families are doing it with strollers, it can't be too difficult.

Ken, We took this hike and it was TWICE as long as indicated, involving a boulder field we had to scramble across and a narrow "deer path" with a steep drop to the valley that had my nerves on edge. I do not think the stroller people went all the way. That hike was labeled "easy" and was so misleading that Ric and I wrote a book about easy hikes in the area aimed at English speakers with children or "of a certain age" that do not want to do mountaineering. Locals think "easy" is different because they start hiking when they are 2-yers-old. I have a different interpretation of "easy."

To the OP, A car is really not necessary. The bus system is phenomenal and if you stay in the Val Gardena, your lodging will give you a pass to use on the local buses from Bolzano to the Sella Pass to get to various lifts and towns.

Bolzano is worth a stop to see the museum with Otzi.