Hello, We plan on renting a car in Germany to visit family, then driving to the Dolomites for a week. We see that there are many locations we should see, both on the east side (Cortina d'Amprezzo side) and west side (Kastelrotto side). Our family has stayed in Ortisei twice and highly recommends it. We're considering staying half our time on the east side and half on the west to avoid too much time in the car, but is this necessary? Or is staying in Ortisei, which looks lovely and we want to stay there regardless, the entire time o.k. if we want to visit Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Cadini di Misurina, Lago di Braies, and Lago di Landro as well as Lagazuoi Tunnels, Seceda, Val di Funes and Alpe di Siusi? Afterwards, we're going to drive back up to Munich for two nights to visit the Oktoberfest and explore the downtown. Any recommendations on where to stay midweek that offers parking and is on the U-bahn line?
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
2495 posts
With a week, it might be nice to split the stay in the Dolomites. Ortesei is great, but it is a bit like Disneyland. Popular, crowded and a bit overwhelming. With a car, you have more options. We based in Santa Cristina Val Gardena and it was much more quiet.
In Munich, we stayed at Hotel Metropol. Great location on a quiet street half a block from the train station. Fabulous breakfast, and they offered parking. Book soon for Octoberfest, and expect very high prices just about everywhere in Munich during that time.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17253 posts
If you wish to see the Tre Cime, which involves a hike, you need to get an early start to be sure of getting to the tollgate before they close it because the parking lot at the trailhead is full. This can occur by mid-morning during high season, and that is starting to last until late September. Once the parking area is full and the gate closes, the line of cars that forms cab be 2 hours long.
Read more about this on blogs such as this one:
https://www.moonhoneytravel.com/rifugio-auronzo-toll-road/
For this reason it is not practical to visit the Tre Cime from a base in Ortesei; it is a long drive. Better to base in Dobbiaco or Cortina, each about 40 minutes from the tollgate, or even Lago Misurina which is closer.
For the Val Garden, while Ortesei is popular and full of charm, we prefer the smaller and quieter Santa Cristina, the next village up. Lifts go up to both sides of the valley from here as they do from Ortesei, but they go to different locations. Nit is easy to transfer between villages by the local bus.
Posted by
Bay Area, California
1623 posts
For Tre Cime, you should not stay in Ortisei. During high season, there is a bus from Toblach that goes all the way up to the parking lot. I drove during Covid (Sept 21) and arrived by 8:30am. It was already a zoo and took me one hour to wait for parking. I saw the bus multiple times and it just zoomed past all the cars.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you for these great tips!