Dolomites, then Venice. But how?

You want to avoid picking up a car in one country and returning it in another.
Fly into Venice and drive to the Dolomites. We enjoyed Ortisei in the Val d’Gardena. Stunning mountain scenery.

Or, if you get a lower price and better flights, fly to Milan. With the autostrada, it is not that much further away timewise, at least to Ortisei, which I prefer over Cortina.

Do not stay in Bolzano; it is not in the mountains and the city, while attractive, is hot and humid in the summer (including September). Val Gardena as suggested above is a much better place to stay; there are several villages all offering nice accommodations and views.

Depending on the flight prices and schedules, you can fly into Munich and take the train to Bolzano (buy tickets in advance from barn.de to get the best price), or fly into Milan and ride the train to Bolzano from there. We chose the former option, spent one night in Munich, then rode the train to Bolzano on tickets that close under 40 euros each. Either way you can pick up a rental car in Bolzano (we did this at the airport), drive to your Dolomites, village, and then drive to Venice to return it there with no drop fee.

Thank you for answering my request for Dolomites/Venice information.

Great ideas!

Donald

We just did something similar as part of our trip. We flew into Venice and rented a car from there. Drove to Selva Val Gardena and stayed there for 3 nights. We did a day trip to Innsbruck because it was rainy and stormy one day.

Innsbruck is definitely closer to Val Gardena than Venice. I think we paid €30 in road tolls from Val Gardena to Innsbruck (but I think only €20 going the other direction?). If you drive on the freeways in Austria you need a vignette (toll sticker) BUT if you’re just going between Innsbruck and Italy on the A13, you don’t need the vignette provided that you enter the freeway from Innsbruck Sud.

Good idea flying into either Venice or Milan. Good roadways to the Dolomites from either city. If you enjoy driving, consider taking the Great Dolomites Road from Bolzano to Cortina. The views are spectacular. Last October, we started off in Padua, headed north to Cortina and slowly wound our way to Bolzano. Twisty, hilly but leisurely drive that was well worth the effort. We spent 2 nights in Bolzano and then headed to Verona going down the east side of Lake Garda.

Thanks for two more replies!

I am seeing that this trip is do-able in one way or another.

Donald

I just looked over my notes from a trip we took in '15. After a week in Venice ,we took a rental Fiat Panda at 10:10 AM from Marco Polo & had a delightfuly scenic, easy drive up to Cortina. We were having a fine lunch in Cortina by 1:30 PM. FYI: we were a 68 yr.old couple & can highly recommend the Villa Neve in Cortina...cozy, reasonably priced, easy parking, & a breakfast to die for.

With just a few days stay in the Dolomites. Bolzano is so so. The mountains are incredible hopefully u are planning early sept. The driving is slow and windy plan for it.

Thanks for additional replies.

All of you have been so kind and helpful.

Donald