Dolomites / Venice whirlwind trip advice

I think you will see a lot but not enjoy it.

I question day 2. Driving to Val Gardena will take a while... I'd much rather visit Lake Braies, for example.
And no need to return the car at the airport: look into returning the car in Venice itself; there are car rental offices at the end of the causeway into Venice. Beware the speed cameras on that causeway, but otherwise, it is just as easy as going to the airport.

But I'd rather skip Venice and dolomites altogether and head straight to Milan from Nice!

Balso,

thanks for the feedback. my wife also wants to just head from Nice to Milan.

One question - you are the second person who is recommending against driving to Val Gardena, which according to Google maps is 1 hr 38 min away. I was assuming its a nice drive so the time is not that much. Leave at 7:00 am and start the hike at 9 or so.

Do u think it will take longer due to summer traffic etc?

You'd need to have special training as a racecar driver (and no campervans) to make it in 1:38. 2 hours is more realistic, and there are 2 twisty mountain passes on the way so it is a tiresome drive! Also, this only gets you to the bottom of the valley. You would then need to take a lift to either Seiser Alm or Seceda.

Hence my comment to opt for a place on the same side of the Dolomites as Cortina.

But really, Lake Como is wonderful! You'll have a great time there and it will save you the exhaustion of going to Venice + Dolomites in such a short time frame.
Lake Maggiore is also a great option by the way (have a look at the Isole Borromee), and it would make travel to Interlaken easier than from Lake Como.

When it comes to travel - LESS IS MORE & QUALITY OF TIME IN EACH TOWN OVER QUANTITY OF TOWNS.

You'll be spending more time moving between places than savoring each place.

You don't even have time to enJOY the great European breakfasts and amazing Italian food.

Do what is best for you, but that seems overwhelming to me.

This sounds like an Instagram-driven trip. You have seen photos of Tre Cime and the views from Rifugio Lagazuoi, and read about the Gran Cir via Ferrata, and you want to do those and Venice as well, on your trip from France to Italy to Switzerland. I think that is way too much, especially in this day of travel uncertainties with flights, trains, etc. With the short time you have in Venice there is no way you can experience and appreciate the wonders on offer there. And in my view it is not a place to go in summertime at all.

Both the Dolomites and Venice are worthy of far more time and attention than you are giving them. And you will be spending most of your time moving from one place to the other, not actually enjoying the places you have come so far to see and experience.

I suggest that is you must see the Tre Cime and the other Dolomites sights you list, skip Venice. Fly into the airport there, pick up your rental car and head to the Dolomites, then drive to Milan or somewhere near and return it there. It is still a quick trip, but if you must see the Dolomites, it could work, and might inspire you to return for, say 2 weeks next time. We are making our 4th trip there later next month, if the stars align properly.

@lola - yes the way I put it, that does sound like a Instagram trip.

But the real reason we wanted to visit Tre Cime was the Monte Paterno via ferrata in that area and introduce my kids to mountain climbing

Thats why I dont want to skip this area, if possible.

We are spending “take it easy” time in Paris, Nice and after Milan/Dolomites, in Gimmelwald.

Its just this leg that is being rushed.

Its easy/logical to say come back and spend more time in Venice on the next trip. But with kids in HS etc, its a bit unsure.

Hence the extra effort to try and fit it in.

thanks for taking the time to reply.o

OK, that helps me understand. But I don’t see how you plan to fit in the Monte Paterno via ferrata, with the approach hike and all, in the 2-3 hours you have allotted to Tre Cime on Day 1. You only mention the Gran Cir via Ferrata on Day 2.

I still think it is too much to try to include a short stop in Venice in this plan. If you want to introduce the kids to the mountains in the Dolomites, spend the 3 days there and drive to Milan to return the car before you move on to Lake Como.. Maybe you will will or will not have a chance to take them to Venice another time, but chances are you will. I didn’t start taking my sons to Europe until they were in college (before we did our ski trips and hiking trips in the US). But then Europe became a habit. We’ve been to Switzerland together 3 times now, and are planning a return next summer—with their own kids (now 10 years old) along. So high school need not be the end of your travel time with your kids.

Since you are going to Gimmelwald, you might consider the via Ferrata at Mürren. My husband did this in 2018, after our kids and grandchildren departed for home (school and work were calling them), and he absolutely loved it. Very different from the Dolomites via Ferrata experience. There was a family with two teens in his guided group, and they had a great time too. Photos from the web here:

https://www.earthtrekkers.com/murren-via-ferrata-guide/

@lola - yeah all good points.

plan would be to show them the Tre Cime area instead of climbing up the via monte paterno ferrata ( for which we had hired a guide - oh well)

do a few hikes in the area and then head off to Milan.

I did consider driving to Milan from the dolomites, but honestly, I am hesitant to drive into Milan. So thought returning the car to the outskirts of Venice at the airport might be easier and them take the train.

Either way, like u all, my kids and wife are imploring me to drop Venice/Dolomites and head off to Milan from Nice.

Thanks for the link. Love earth trekkers! they are in the dolomites as we speak - and that Murren via ferrta looks amazing (and scary).

Knowing my kids, we might just do it :)

thanks again

will be sure to update!

Gillian Price's Guides to hiking in the Dolomites might give you some additional ideas places go that are easier to access in the time you allocate.

The Cortina Express Bus to Cortina d'Ampezzo from Marco Polo Airport leaves several times a day and is located in the parking lot 5 minutes from the terminal. It roughly a two hour bus ride. Cortina has four lifts from town into the Mountains, and a local bus can take you to the lift in the Falzarego Pass that goes up Mt. Lagazuoi.

https://suedtirolmobil.info/en/my-journey/network-maps

https://lagazuoi.it/index_en.php

Have fun. If you make it up Lagazuoi it is worthwhile to contemplate that you will be standing in the WW 1 front line entrenchments between Austria and Italy. Particularly nasty placebo have a war in the winter.

You really should reconsider Venice, Cortina and the Dolomites on this trip. Venice and the mountain region is just worthy of more time than you have scheduled.

You'd do better to slow down a little. The hiking and vistas around Lake Como and Southeast Switzerland are also incredible.

Thanks - I will keep that in mind.

Plus seeing some crazy rental car prices.

You cannot see Tre Cime for 2-3 hours. It takes at least half a day (my visit took 7 hours but I enjoyed it by taking it slow).
Also, the feasibility of visiting Tre Cime is weather dependent and it's cloudy/rainy quite often.

If I were you, I would save the Dolomites for another trip, when you have at least 4-5 days.

Update:

So we are skipping Venice all together - that gives us 3 nights in Dolomites.

aug 6 day 1:

arrive venice airport @10am
pick up rental car and drive to cortina

aug 7 day 2: Tri chmi hike

aug 8 day 3: rifugio lagazuoi hike ( maybe take the Kaiserjager Path via ferrata down)

aug 9 day 4: drive to venice train station - drop the car and head off to milan. Overnight in Milan.

aug 10: head off to gimmelwald..

Busy… but we think its worth it. We have been to venice and milan before - and the kids can see these places when they grow up. right now they are more into hiking etc

The plan now looks much better!
And you will probably have time to walk through a few streets between Piazzale Roma and the train station in Venice, thus giving you a taste of Venice!

Or if you'd rather just optimize travel times, see if you can drop off the car in Mestre, it will save travelling over the causeway to Venice.

Trip Report.

Overall things went exactly as planned.

Venice Airport to Cortina d’Ampezzo:

We rented a car at Venice Airport - booked a few weeks in advance - auto - and expensive. But atleast we got a brand new SUV

Drive from the airport to Cortina d’Ampezzo could not have been easier. Its a toll road - little traffic. We paid by credit card.

Dolomitesstrong text**** -

wow! majestic. We have been to Switzerland and the mountains here in italy are truly spectacular.

One piece of advice: Roads in Dolomites are steep and winding. Even covering a distance of 10-15 miles seems to take much longer than anticipated. So I would not plan in any long drives - have ur base close to the spots u are interested in seeing.

And as someone said above Tre Cime takes a whole day.

It was 20 km from our hotel and I assumed its a 30 min drive. Between traffic and winding roads this took 1-2 hrs.

Day 4 : we drove back and dropped off the car at Venice Airport.

We took the water taxi to Venice. $160. Great experience. Highly recommended.

We stayed at RS recommended Hotel Flora for 1 night. That gave us a few hours to see Venice.

It was super crowded. and hot. Glad we did not plan on staying any longer. We got up at 5:30 am, to walk around the San Marco square area. Magical. Only 1-2 instagrammers around.

We took the 11 am train to Milan. And from there on to Interlaken/Murren.

thanks all for ur advice

happy travels!

Where did you stay in Cortina? Renting a car in Venice and driving up to Cortina for 2 nights, then over to Ortisei for 4 nights. Hoping that will give a good overview of the Dolomites.

Hi, we stayed here:
Bar Pasticceria Hotel Meublé Fiori
+39 0436 890158
https://maps.app.goo.gl/HvZTd7tAnKbAJ31q6?g_st=ic

Its 20 min or so south of Cortina. In Aug Cortina is somewhat overridden by tourists so decided to stay in a smaller village. Great place. Highly recommend.

The places that we went to, and would do again:

Rifugio Lagazuoi (amazing views and hiked down the front line trail)

Tofana

Monte Cristallo ( where the famous bridge in the movie Cliffhanger is located)

Tri Cime

Lago Di Braes

Safe travels!