Dolomites and Lake Garda itinerary input

Hi,
Welcome to the forum.
This seems well thought-out to me, I just have 3 comments:
- where are you flying from? With a 15:20 arrival time at Linate, it looks like you are coming on a shorter flight, so driving straight after landing would not be an issue, but I wanted to double check
- drive straight to Carezza rather than to Ortisei first, then to Carezza
- I am sure sunrise is really nice at Lago di Braies, but staying 1 night there and 1 night in Cortina is not optimal. I would rather stay 2 nights in Dobbiaco (Toblach) or San Candido (Innichen).

As for Lake Garda, it depends on what you want: the northern half is narrow, between mountains, and the southern half is a much larger lake. Both parts have charming towns on their shores, but I find the northern part more scenic and would therefore recommend a stay there: Riva or Limone are good bases.

Hi balso, and thank you for welcoming me! I have read the posts here for a long time, but it's my first time asking a question myself.

To reply to your post, we are flying into LIN from San Francisco so we may be a bit tired. But, we are hoping to sleep on the plane and between 4 drivers make the trip to Ortisei for the night. You are correct, my plan is for us to stop at Lago di Carezza first; I should have made that clearer in my post.

I was also unsure about staying 1 night in Braies and 1 night in Cortina, so thank you for giving that feedback. I had planned sunrise at Lago di Braies based on reading that it gets extremely crowded the rest of the day.

Any must-do hikes that I did not cover?

Thanks for the tips about Lake Garda, we are leaning towards staying in the north as you suggested.

Please don't drive after arriving from San Francisco. You are putting yourself, and everyone else on the road, in danger.

You will all have mostly lost a night of sleep, and be suffering from the effects of a nine-hour time difference. Switching between four jet-lagged drivers isn't any safer than one jet-lagged driver.

Fully agree with Kim. The drive is on busy highways, followed by twisty mountain roads right when you'll be most tired - especially to get to Carezza.
Desenzano del Garda would make for a more reasonable goal for the first night, about 1.15 hours from the airport and with a lovely location on Lake Garda.

I have to agree with the suggestions NOT to plan a long drive immediately upon hittin the ground in Italy! When we flew in to France, pre-Covid, our flight had been shorter than yours, and our drive was only 3 hours…on paper! We had a delay with a car rental, it was teeming rain, and we were all exhausted and hungry. It was the worst part of our entire 2-week trip! But after a decent sleep, a decent meal, and a good walk…the next day we were ready to rock and roll!

You need to consider that you may have to wait to finally get your car, you may have to wait for baggage, you all will be exhausted (no one really SLEEPS on a plane!) and probably hungry! If the weather is poor, your driver will find it tough, as will your navigator.

Better idea: Stay somewhere with a 1-hour drive…rest, walk, eat a good dinner, and go to bed! Then,the next morning, enjoy all the glories of Italy!

Understood. We will aim for a closer goal the first night.

Would appreciate a suggestion where to move Lago di Carezza in that case, and any other input on hikes or stops in the Dolomites and hotels in Garda.

I concur with all the above. Driving after a long flight, even if you fly first class, is risky. In fact, you may even need at least half a day on Day 2 to rest.

Roads in the Dolomites are windy and traverse across altitudes. Hairpin bends and aggressive local drivers are common. What looks simple in Google Maps is nothing like reality.

Adding my agreement to above advice to limit the first day’s drive. Getting through the airport checks and rental car redtape is tiring, and then orienting to Italian roadways, signs, etc. A location on Lake Garda would achieve both a shorter drive initially and arrival to a scenic area. We stayed in Malcesine, but that may be a bit longer drive. It is on northeast side of lake. From there we went to Trento to meet friends, then up to Dolomites. The drive into the Dolomites is beautiful and best done in full daylight. The road was the most frightening one I’ve ever been on - so twisty and such deep ravines! You want to look at the view round each turn, but can’t take your eyes off the road! So having multiple drivers is a plus!