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Dolomites : Castelrotto/Oritisei base

Posted by (Los Angeles, CA) on

RS recommends Castlrotto as a base for some Dolomite hiking. Do I understand this correctly, that there is a cable car in the town or very near the town from Castelrotto up into the mountains?

And the same question for Ortisei, which is also high recommended elsewhere? Ortisei seems very close to Secede mountain which looks amazing.

I am hoping those two places would serve as a car-free way to do some nice hikes. It seems most of the other famous peaks require some driving. Although it seems possible to do some bus or train to Lago de Braes given enough time.

Posted by
696 posts

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.

Posted by
2143 posts

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

Posted by
1269 posts

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!

Posted by
1128 posts

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.

Posted by
111 posts

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)

Posted by
11647 posts

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.

Posted by
11817 posts

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.

Posted by
700 posts

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.

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