Dolomites visit

Look at the Canazei or Fassa valley area

Do you think you will take walks or hikes while there? If so I know a great book for the area near Ortesei.

Did you contemplate the area around Ortesei?

So we stayed a Val Gardena area. It was awesome. Recommend staying at this wonderful small lodge. Run by a family with an excellent Chef and Hostess. We ate breakfast and dinner there each of our 4 nights and loved every minute of it. You will not find a nicer place as this: https://www.stuacatores.com/en/

Lots of places to hike, or take the tram up to the mountains or visit the city below to shop and eat if you'd like.

We have stayed in the Castelrotto area on a RS tour and also on our own at Moena. We liked both of those very much. I also hear great recommendations for Ortesei.

I wouldn’t stay at Trento. We stayed there one night after our nights in Moena, mainly to catch a train to Bologna the next day. The villages are charming and up in the mountains; Trento is a city.

We loved Ortisei in the Val Gardena. Easy access to many hikes from there.

Be very careful to have air conditioned lodgings if you end up staying down in the valley rather than in a mountain village (not that anyone here is likely to recommend that). Both Bressanone and Bolzano--vey attractive otherwise--were extremely hot during my summer 2015 visit, and many (probably most) hotels in that area are not air conditioned. It was a lot cooler up in Ortisei, etc.

I love the Dolomites region, although I mostly go there for the skiing.

This is the website I start with:

https://www.suedtirol.info/en

The Dolomites are the mountains - the Province is the South Tirol, although the Belluno region of the Veneto Province includes the eastern Dolomite Mountains and Cortina d'Ampezzo (reachable from Marco Polo/Venice Airport by direct bus in about 2 hours).

Also check out Gillian Price's walking guides to the Dolomites available at the publisher, or through Amazon.

https://www.cicerone.co.uk/authors/gillian-price

If you have specific questions I can do my best to provide more information or websites.

Plan to have fun!

We loved staying in Ortisei with access to gondola and funiculars up to the mountain valleys. Beautiful town.

We stayed here last summer.

http://www.beludei.com/en/information/index/1-0.html

Loved the hotel and the location. The price included a wonderful breakfast, dinner and late afternoon (post hiking) snacks. In addition, there was a hiking guide and trailhead transportation M-F. Staff were wonderful. I can't wait to go back!

If you are looking for shorter hikes, someone who contributes to this page has written a hiking book and often contributes to the discussion. I can find a link to the hiking book if you are interested.

We stayed at Hotel Grones in Ortisei. The location and hotel were both wonderful. It works really well if you don't have a car because you can walk or bus to a number of different lifts that will take you to great hiking spots. We had breakfast and dinner at the hotel each day, and the food and service were fantastic! I am dying to go back.

I know this is off topic but can you visit and enjoy the Dolomites without a car? We're well traveled visitors to Italy but we don't rent cars instead use the wonderful rails. Thanks!

Regarding a car, when we were in Ortisei we had a car but honestly never used it the entire stay. The bus system in the Val Gardena is really great. The most difficult part would be finding transportation into the Dolomites. If you know where you are going to stay and where you will be coming from perhaps someone can help you with that part of the journey.

Mark,
We go every year (except 2020!) and never have a car. We take a bus or a taxi from Bolzano to Ortisei and rely on the valley buses (free pass from your lodging) and lifts and our feet. The public transportation is excellent.

I'm looking at traveling there in September 2021. A friend has recommended the following in the Castlerotto area: hotel Cavellino D'Oro. I wonder if anyone reading this part of the forum has stayed there. Also looking at Garni Hotel Mirabel in Ortisei -- anyone want to weigh in?

Rnorton Castlerotto is not in the mountains and it can be rather warm there. I suggest you get up into the Val Gardena in one of the three villages, especially if you want easy access to hiking.

We stayed in Vipiteno, technically just outside the Dolomites. Vipiteno has an interesting and attractive small core. We did stop off in Castelrotto one morning and drove some distance east and back. My favourite day in the area was actually the scenic drive from Vipiteno to Merano and back. Merano is in a very nice setting, well worth a visit.