Dolomites : Castelrotto/Oritisei base

Several years ago, we stayed in Castelrotto when we took the RS Alpine My Way Tour. As I recall, we took a local bus from Castlerotto to the place where we took a gondola into the Alpe de Suisse. Then we took a ski lift to get to the start of the hike we did. We enjoyed the town, and found it easy to get around for the one full day we were there.

And from Ortisei you can reach Seceda by taking a gondola to Furnes where you connect to a cable car to Seceda.

We stayed in Ortezei 2 nights and also st christina 2 nights and also drove to Castlerotto to see it. They all have pros and cons. Good lifts directly from Ortezei, also direct lift to Seceda from st Christina. Also Easy free busses between 3 Val Gardena towns Ortezei, St Christina and one other. I can,t speak to lifts from Castlerotto. Enjoy your trip!

It's been a long while since we were in Castelrotto - stayed 7-nights, loved the town, liked the Hotel and it's location - hiked all over hells-half-acre. Really enjoyed coming upon mountain huts serving local, traditional food - always bearing in mind that more than one beer, at lunch, would not likely be a good thing.

Ortisei is the most central for the lifts. You have the lift up to Seceda on one side of town and the lift to Alpe di Siusi on the other side of town. All within a five minute walk.

I was in Ortisei this summer (and canazei many years ago).
Parked the car at our hotel in Ortisei and didn’t use it at all during our time there. Easy walk to great hikes via the two funivie lifts (as others have said) (alpe di Suisi and seceda).

Next visit I may explore other spots via car but Ortisei was a great way to get oriented (or reoriented as it had been many years since my initial visit)

Like the posters above, we enjoyed walking from our hotel in Ortisei to the lifts on each side of the valley. Gorgeous hiking. Wonderful town.

Is early May too early for this region?

Andrea, May is, IMO, a bit early. Many lifts and higher trails not yet running. Could even be snow in the Alpe di Siusi. Check lift schedules before you decide to go early. Mid June to mid-Sept best time.

Thanks everyone.

Has anyone used Cortina d'Ampezzo as a base? Its also been recommended by some - buts its 90 minutes east of Ortisei.

It seems there is a bus route to Lago di Braes too from both places, and then from the north, you could train to Innsbruck etc without going back to Bolzano.