Day hikes in the Dolomites

At lower elevations, mid May should be OK. Don't expect brilliant weather, though. BTW- the "Dolomites" consist of just one relatively small area of Italy's considerably vast Alpine territory. The term is not synonymous with "Italian Alps." Depending on the rest of your itinerary, the Dolomites might be convenient, or another region may fit better. So, feed us some more information about the rest of your trip.

Thanks for your reply Tom. Our plan is to fly into Venice May 9 for 3 days, hike in northern Italy if possible for 2 days, Milan for 2 days, Cinque Terre for 2 days, Rome for 4 days and finish in Florence for 4 days with a side trip to Siena. Fly back to Montana out Florence. This is our first trip to Italy.

Our family went hiking in the Dolomites in August and there are some really nice hiking trails. We stayed in the town of Canazei. It is a wonderful area northeast of Bolzano. There are many little towns to stay in near Canazei. The Val di Fassa area is a huge ski area so many hotels are available. Happy Travels!

I'm not much of a hiker, but when I lived in Italy I enjoyed going to the Dolomites in Summer. I love the entire Alto Adige region and I wouldn't know where to start. Val Gardena is great. I prepared an itinerary for you. Try and cut and paste to your browser. Hopefully it will work. http://maps.google.it/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=venezia&daddr=Col+di+Pr%C3%A0,+Taibon+Agordino+Belluno,+Veneto+to:Via+Forcella+Aurine%2FSP347+to:passo+rolle+to:Karerseestrasse%2FSS241+to:Strada+sconosciuta+to:Fraktion+St.+Magdalena+to:passo+delle+erbe+to:passo+sella+to:46.405729,12.023335+to:SR48+to:passo+tre+croci+to:misurina+to:rifugio+auronzo+to:borca+di+cadore+to:passo+cibiana+to:cimolais+to:A27&hl=it&geocode=FeBFtQIdYEa8ACkfb1JTCq9-RzGwX5EVhwkHBA%3BFbtswgIdGAS2ACkJl1-jvVB4RzHQHOWriQkHCg%3BFYhywQIdeIq2AA%3BFdVuwgIdn9yzACnjybbFIVx4RzGwr-SriQkHCg%3BFfwpxAIdoZ6wAA%3BFR4OxQIdvBWxAA%3BFeaRxwIdfv2yAA%3BFTg0yAIdFkW0ACEi1VtyOo7e4Q%3BFTSpxQIdUYuzACk5Y_416Gp4RzGgmXcuiAkHHQ%3B%3BFY_2xQIdNfW4ACltMkUStTV4RzEG4gxvh5ppaA%3BFUpkxgIdfjm6ACn7BqSMoTR4RzGwTnEuiAkHHQ%3BFVrNxgIdLPS6ACkFxPU4w8x5RzEfkm7e2moKVQ%3BFf4-xwIdF5i7ACkdzqyqc815RzEhe4YuiAkHJg%3BFeiTxAId1ni6ACmnUCLIzbR5RzFAU5EVhwkHBA%3BFRedwwIdSQ67ACkJntwhZLF5RzFstliZxOeYxg%3BFbJQwgId-sy9ACmxzt16RqN5RzFrZVJD71KBrw%3BFdyjwAIdlqW7AA&mra=dme&mrcr=7,8&mrsp=9&sz=16&via=2&sll=46.405759,12.024429&sspn=0.011807,0.01929&ie=UTF8&ll=46.367779,11.894073&spn=0.756191,1.757813&z=10

Also, if you like hiking, you might consider increasing your number of days in the Dolomites and decrease other places you intend to visit. Two days are too few because the mountain roads don't allow you to drive too fast and it takes time to get to places. For example you can easily cut at least 1 day in Rome and do everything in 3 days, with time to spare. Venice can be easily done in less than 2 days and so does Florence (and I'm from Florence, so I should be biased in favor of it). Milan needs a day (but don't tell my Milanese friends). Basically all they have is a Duomo (Cathedral), the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele next to it (basically a mall) from which you end in front of the La Scala Opera house. You need 2 hours for all of that. A little distance away you can visit the Cenacolo (Last Supper) (1 hour) at S.Maria delle Grazie e maybe the Castello Sforzesco and its museum (another 2 hours). The whole city (at least the sites) can be done in a busy day from sunrise to sunset.