Dolomites

Look at some travel guides including RS's. Search on key words including Dolomites on this forum. There were a fair amount of posts this summer. Watch RS episodes that pertain to the Dolomites and search for youtube videos. Come back to the forum for questions.

We stayed in Castelrotto and near Cortina. Others would suggest Ortisi. Merano is lovely but not as close to main hiking locations. Bolzano is more in the valley but has transportation options to get you into the mountains.

When are you going? Certain times of the year, it can be harder to find lodging.

Thanks, I am fairly new to this way of assistance. We are planning for early September.

We travelled to the Dolomites as a group of 6 in June 2023. I would watch lots of videos and get familiar with the different areas. Visit the tourism office websites for the various areas. We stayed in Santa Cristina Val Gardena. We had a van, but we also used the bus once to get to Ortesei. We took the gondolas up to Col Raiser, Seiser Alm and Seceda. Every lift takes you to completely different jaw dropping views.

Based on how much time you have, you’ll need to decide if you base in one area, or make multiple stops. Finding lodging for 6 can be challenging. Be ready to get multiple hotel rooms.

Throneandvine (.com) was a good resource for me - as well as RS.
Have stayed in the Canazei area and the town of Ortisei - would recommend both.

Mountain weather can be flaky, so it can be handy to have a good chunk of time at one base from which you can head in different directions (including up or downhill), based on the weather forecast. Bolzano and Bressanone are examples of places that have some indoor sightseeing options that can be useful if the weather isn't conducive to walking around at upper elevations. Hikers will want to stay at elevation rather than down in those valley cities, but I think it's worth looking at how long it would take (via car or otherwise) to get down out of fogged-in mountains to a place like Bolzano or Bressanone where you would have some sightseeing possibilities less affected by weather.

Yes, the weather in the Dolomites is extremely flaky! We were just there mid September and they had had a major snow fall 9/10, or so. It was cold in the higher elevations (like Alpi de Suissi) and the snow cover kept it cold. I ALWAYS bring lightweight gloves when I travel (I've been burned in Seattle quite a few times) but did not for this trip to Italy. It had been so hot. Well, we wished for gloves. It was quite cold (for the season) the entire 6 days we were there.

We liked Bolzano well enough. We loved the time we spent in Bressanone. If you like Salzburg or Vienna, you'll like Bressanone. Like Acraven said, it is a smart idea to have options for various scenarios. We ended up doing more sight seeing and scenic drives, like through mountain passes, (gorgeous and you can find the route in the RS guide), and less hiking.

Several thoughts. Gillian Price has a wonderful series of guides to Walking in the Dolomites, short, long, etc. When you stay at a hotel in the Dolomites they will give you a local bus pass (Mobicard) that is good for the length of your stay, which gives you free bus transport. Great for going up one place and coming down another and taking a bus home. Because there are soooo many ski slopes there are lots of gondolas available to take you up (and down)... I have stayed in Cortina, Badia, Corvara, Santa Christina, Ortisei and Castelrotto. You cannot go wrong with any of them, but Cortina and Ortisei are the largest so have more options for hotels and restaurants, and lifts. I like Santa Christina best and the La Posta Restaurant has great venison. The local wine variation is called LaGrein and is rarely available anywhere else.

https://www.valgardena.it/en/