I am confused about the time and distance from Bolzano to Castelrotto. Is it a 2 hour or 1 hour bus ride? Your book says bus #170 but lists different times depending on different days. My husband and I like to hike and we are undecided which town to stay in. We will be coming from the train in Venice and plan to spend three nights up in the Dolomites. Any advice is appreciated.
Posted by
Houston, TX
116 posts
It is about an hour bus ride. We were just there in May 2017. We stayed in Ortisei instead of Castelrotto, and I am so glad that we did.
Posted by
Green Bay
21278 posts
You can look at the schedule for the 170 bus listed here. Scroll down and click and get the pdf. One is in German/Italian and the other in Ladino.
https://www.sii.bz.it/en/siipdfOldtimetables
From Bolzano train station it is a 48 minute bus ride.
The notes indicate things like M-Sat, M-F, no notes indicate daily.
Posted by
OP
13 posts
Hi Kathy, Thank you for your reply. Why did you like Ortisei instead of Castelrotto better? We do not have a car. We are going by buss and rail. Did you drive there or take a bus?
Posted by
Boston, MA
1832 posts
Ortisei is larger and has access to 3 different lifts all from the town.
So without a car you can take 3 different lifts/cable cars to different areas.
From Castelrotto I believe there is 1 to Alpe Di Suisi only.
Ortisei also has a lift to Alpe Di Suisi plus Seceda and not as notable Resciesa (the later is a fun ride on a cable railway). The addition of Seceda, a must see location makes Ortisei better if nothing else.
Also, Ortisei puts you closer to the mountain passes or rest of the Dolomites should you use the bus system. if you stay at a hotel in Ortisei they will give you a free pass to take any of the local busses. You may get the same pass if staying in Castelrotto, I am not certain.
I drove so no experience using the busses or other public transport in the area.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
To help you interpret these connection notes and others in the book that use the same format, the notes on pages 194 and 207 of RS Italy 2017 say something like:
Bus #170, 2/hour Mon-Sat, hourly Sun, 50 minutes
This means that buses depart twice per hour Monday through Saturday and only once per hour on Sundays. Duration of the trip remains the same. (Although I was tempted to say that downhill would be faster.)
Posted by
OP
13 posts
How do we get to Ortisei without a car. Is there a bus from Bolzano?
Posted by
California
790 posts
Ortisei is another 30 min. by bus after Castelrotto.
Posted by
Green Bay
21278 posts
Look on the schedule I pointed you to and you will see that some of the buses continue to Ortisei.
Posted by
shingle springs, CA, USA
782 posts
We stayed in Castelrotto and had a car but took the bus to Bolzano so no worries about parking locations.We loved Castelrotto,mostly German spoken there and we stayed at the Hotel Zum Wolf which has been there since the 1500eds ,great hotel in the middle of town.
Mike