Bus from Bolzano to Ortisei - does it get crowded, standing room only?

You are boarding at the point of origin. Get there s bit early and you will be among the first to board and get seats.

If you have luggage that will need to be stored underneath the bus and if you are traveling with anyone, I would suggest that one of you grab seats while the other(s) deal with the luggage. I suggest this because when I traveled last October, while I and other passengers were fumbling with opening the luggage hull, the bus was quickly filling with daytrippers. This was more of an issue getting on in Ortisei than going there. I did get a seat both times but found it a little close for comfort even though I got there early.

Exactly what I'm worried about. Some people can get pushy and disrespectful, which adds a layer of stress I'd rather avoid. I'm mostly worried about the return from Ortisei to Bolzano. If the bus is too full in Ortisei, I don't want to miss my train in Bolzano going to Verona and then Milan.

You can always take a bus up valley to Selva and board there. Then when it gets to Ortiseii, you will be seated on board with your luggage stowed before the crowds.

I did not find other passengers pushy -- in fact they were helpful with the luggage hull. But I don't know if the bus allows people to stand if there aren't enough seats. However, there are options, so don't worry too much. I took regional trains from Bolzano to Verona and then to Padua, so I didn't need to reserve in advance. Even with a faster train from Verona to Milan, you could plan to change your ticket time at the last minute if needed on the Trenitalia app. Also, if you search this forum, information on a private driver or taxi from Ortisei to Bolzano has been provided a number of times.

We just took the train from Milan on Sunday. This time we bought tickets in advance and took the EC train from Milan to Verona. But when we lived in Italy, we always took the regional trains on this route, which do not have to be purchased in advance, and time wise the velocity regional trains only take an extra half hour from Verona to Milan. You can book the regional train in the app before you get on (validates automatically upon departure) or from a kiosk for paper tickets, which would need to be validated.

You could always take an earlier bus to play it safe, store luggage at train station, and explore Bolzano- visit Ortzy the iceman

Admittedly, it's a bit of a splurge compared with the bus, but on our first trip from Bolzano to Ortisei and return, we went with taxi-ivan.com - train station to lodging service.

OP here with an update from my recent (early June 2025) trip from Bolzano to Ortisei via local bus 350. After arriving via train to Bolzano, the bus station is a quick 3-5 minute walk down the street to the right of the train station (look for the lime green building and buses). The 350 bus arrived and departed on time; there was a mild scramble to board, with people struggling to load baggage in the storage compartments on both sides of the bus (if you are traveling as a couple or family, I recommend one person focus on the baggage loading, while the other boards and gets a seat). The bus filled up entirely within a few minutes. About 4-5 people had to stand the entire 1 hour trip to Ortisei. Upon boarding, the bus was very, very warm, with no air conditioning in 90F temps. After departing the driver turned the air conditioning on, but the bus still felt kinda warm for the whole trip. When we arrived in Ortisei, we got off one or two stops before the main stop at Piazza St. Antonio/Antoniusplatz. The walk to our hotel was entirely uphill and we had to stop a few times to catch our breath. For the return trip to Bolzano a few days later, we decided to leave from the originating stop at Piazza St. Antonio/Antoniusplatz. Again, the bus was on time, and there was a scramble to board. This was 10:05 in the morning, and it was very busy; this time the bus was full packed, and the luggage compartment was full, so the bus was chock full of standing passengers and luggage squeezed in everywhere. On the trip, the driver seemed to be driving quite fast, and with sharper turns on the hilly, winding roads. With little air conditioning, I got motion sickness about half way through the trip, and had to quickly exit the bus in the middle of nowhere to handle my situation. I had to wait almost another hour in full sun on the side of the road for the next bus; luckily, the Suditrol bus app was accurate in helping me determine how long my wait was going to be. I eventually made it Bolzano for the next leg of my trip.

This sounds pretty miserable. We are in Ortisei now and took the 350 bus to get here. It was well air-conditioned and no one was standing when we started. There were some people who came on late in the trip who ended up standing.

I hope you got your luggage back on your return journey.

My only experience from July 2024 was just as pac-nyc described minus the motion sickness and leaving the bus. My friend and I arrived apparently on a strike day so some busses ran and some didn’t. For the return, I have no idea - but one scheduled bus didn’t arrive in Ortesei so we waited nearly an hour for the next, standing room only bus and had to scurry for our train.

Similar experience as pac-nyc minus motion sickness. Bus 350 from Bolzano to Ortisei on 5/31 4:30ish was okay as we stood right under the "C" stall right when he his pulled in, about 10 min before departure.

When we did the day trip from Ortisei to Bolzano, bus 350 was unbearably busy, hardly room to stand, we boarded one stop west of P. St Antonio. We jumped off Ponte Gardena "Waidbruck Lajen" to catch train to B. Luckily it all covered with day pass. We decided not to take do any more day trips. When leaving from Ortisei to Bresonne on last day, the host reassured us bus 360 is not as busy as 350 and she's right. It was 10 minutes late so that created some sort of stress.
Can't imagine the bus situation in July and August!

I posted my story as an FYI for those who are planning this trip. This was my first time going to the Dolomites area. I'd love to return, but will consider spending the extra money for a private car as others have mentioned here. I'll also consider motion sickness pills next time :)

Update: while my experience going to Ortisei was quite pleasant, going back today was not. There was on the schedule both a 9:57 am and a 10:00 am. bus. The first one was to originate in Ortisei so thought there would be no issues with seats and luggage.

Problem was it never came and the 10:00 am came late. It was already mostly filled with people so even though we were near the front of the line, we did not get seats. We were standing in the middle between front and back which was about the best place to be. The a/c was running but the number of bodies made it still quite warm. About 1/2 way there people in the back started shouting that the bus needed to stop and that someone needed to get off. This was not in English but it was pretty obvious. A woman was almost carried off the bus-she looked in much worse shape than just motion sick. We were in a town and two policemen were there too. She had a friend with her and the bus driver got all their luggage off and we carried on. We must have stopped in a town that was not planned because we made a big circle and when we went by, she was still laying on the ground.

About 20 minutes before we were to arrive (20 minutes late), my legs started shaking and I was worried I was going to collapse. A man in the area where we were standing had offered me his seat when the journey began, but I declined. I decided I had to sit down and explained to him that I would take him up on his offer. The woman next to him got up and gave me her seat.

I made it to the train station and we even made our train. My husband rolled both of our bags because I still wasn’t doing that great.

Fortunately, I had arranged for a car service to meet us in Rovereto and take us to Malcesine instead of two more buses.

We were up early and could have easily taken an earlier bus. We just thought it would be nicer to spend an extra hour in ortisei than at the train station. But the early buses are less crowded. I would advise that or a private transport.

@ Beth - please tell me how you arranged the car service from Rovereto to Malcesine. I’m doing that route in a couple of days and am more than ready to be off the buses (have just been in Ortisei). Thanks

Janet- I got two names from our Airbnb host and booked with one that replied the quickest.

It was Chicar. [email protected]. The driver met us outside Rovereto station with iPad with my name on it. Drove us to Malcescine. Spoke English. Mercedes car. 90 euros each way. We will be using them to return to Rovereto as well.