My husband and I are making a loop from Vienna to Budapest to Prague to Salzburg. From there, since we haven't ever been to the Dolomites,we would like to spend about five days there. We will drive from Salzburg to Bolzano then east ending up in Vienna to drop off our car and catch our flight home. What do you think would provide the most spectacular scenery? (We love the Lauderbrunnen Valley!) We like to hike but don't want to pack hiking boots and backpacking gear. Do you have any suggestions as to lodging? I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11852 posts
We love the Alpe di Siusi and the Val Gardena. Making our third trip there in July! We also liked the Lauterbrunnen area (were there for New Year's) and returning in early September. If you like Lauterbrunnen/Berner-Oberland, you will also love the Val Gardena. Lots of lifts and scenic hikes.
While we now have trail hiking shoes for high, rocky paths, our first trip was with non-technical shoes. Just good, sturdy walkers will do. We have stayed both up in the Alpe as well as down in Ortisei. From Ortisei you can access both sides of the valley via a variety of lifts covered by the Val Gardena Card, which is a very good deal for lifts and buses. You might enjoy reading about our last trip here as well as here. In Ortisei, we favor a little B&B called Garni Walter.
Posted by
Edmonds WA
250 posts
We LOVED the Hotel Zum Wolf where it was easy access to walk to catch the gondola to the Alpe de Suisi. We almost preferred this area over Lauterbrunnen. There are so many amazing trails to hike or bike on. We didn't pack our gear either but were able to do these with regular good shoes.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8371 posts
We went from Zell-am-See, Austria south over the Grossglockner High Alpine Highway. It goes over the second highest peak in Western Europe, and is the most spectacular scenery I have ever experienced.
The Grossglockner ends just north of Lienz, Austria which is on the Italian border East of Cortina. It's the south side of the Alps that's so especially beautiful to me.
From there, we dropped south into Italy to the city of Udine, spent the night and went on into Venice.
See GoogleMaps.com or Mapquest.com to get the lay of the region.
Posted by
OP
Safford, Arizona, USA
31 posts
Thank you all so much!! I'm getting excited about this trip. Your input has been greatly helpful!!! The last time we were in Salzburg it rained for a week and we missed so much, so hoping for a bit of sun this time - and more sun in the Dolomites!