Dolomites

We went in early June for hiking at low altitudes and it was too early. The ground was soggy and there was snow in shady areas even at fairly low altitudes. Of course the melt will vary by year, but the area also had little activity. Early June is after ski season and before summer visitors so many shops and restaurants had closed for a few weeks of rest. Mid September would be a much better choice.

Hiking season begins mid-June. You’ll find lodging and restaurants but transportation (lifts) won’t be fully operational to all areas and as mentioned by Mike, it can be soggy/snowy. High season is in July and August, and in September starts to wane after the third week.

Thank you both for your responses. I was afraid of that. We could take our trip in the summer but I was trying to avoid heavier crowds and also the ridiculous cost of flights during that time. Taking away the fact that we wanted to walk and hike a lot, would you recommend visiting this region during the spring at all? If so, I most likely would drop to 3 nights.

There are scenic areas further south with enjoyable hikes in spring but the info is harder to come by. There's a large park in the Apennines in both Tuscany and Emilia. http://www.parcoappennino.it/page.php?id=450. We greatly enjoyed the Pietra di Bismantova hike described here https://www.apathtolunch.com/2018/10/a-classic-italian-hike-for-families.html.
There's the park of the Casentino area in Tuscany that has many hiking trails as well as some small historic cities. What it lacks in mountain majesty it makes up for with lovely forested hills. https://www.parcoforestecasentinesi.it/en
For mountain majesty, there's a park around the Grand Sasso, a very scenic mountain. http://www.gransassolagapark.it/Eindex.php
A full list of the National parks with links is here: https://www.trekking.it/reportage/italia/importanza-chiamarsi-parco/

Thank you Mike! Great resources!

Our Dolomites trip in 2019 was June 5-10. Most lifts were running; the Seceda lift wasn't going to open until June 15. But still, we had plenty of hiking opportunities for our five nights in Ortisei. And we had mostly good weather. Conflicting reading may have to do with different weather in different years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut2GgMVsw94

Jits to the rescue

HI,

I visited Ortisei for 4 nights in June of last year with my daughter and we loved it. We stayed at Casa Al Sol and because it belongs to the Val Gardena association, we were able to go out on long guided hiking/walking tours, simply having to pay for the cable car to take us up, any food we ate at the refuguio we stopped at along the way and for a tip at the end. We did two long hikes on the two full days we were there. We also had free access to the municipal pool (indoor or outdoor, we used the latter as it was warm during our stay)...very very clean etc....I look forward to returning to this area some day, June is perfect as it's not as crazy busy as July and August and yet everything seemed opened..Sandy

I would check the different areas around Ortisei for current snow/ski conditions. I don’t think they’ve had a lot of snow so that make make a difference for hiking conditions. Not sure that will make a difference for what is operating and open in June, but it might.

What happened to your September 2023 trip? Can you still go at that time?

Laurel is an expert on the Dolomites (she literally wrote the book), so if she says Mid-June or later I would heed that. “crowds” are not really a worrisome problem in the Dolomites like they are in Venice, Rome and other major cities.

Oops. Think time travel happened to me! This winter will sure not have anything to do with next spring!