Drive: Varenna to Santa Cristina (Dolomites)

A22 (Brenner highway) is an easy route, usually very trafficked, but Sep. 6th is a Friday so I guess traffic could be survivable (it goes through the roof on August weekends).
SS38 is the Stelvio route: 40 hairpin turns ascending, 48 hairpin turns descending. You cannot get more scenic but it is a demanding drive, better not tried in bad weather (it can snow up there, even in July and September). Seriously consider your mountain driving abilities before trying; it is not dangerous but can be quite tiring to the driver.
You do not need an halfway overnight; time would be better spent in St. Christina. When driving the A22, I usually get out for lunch at Rovereto and head to tiny village Isera, with two outstanding places: Casa del vino della Val Lagarina or De Tarczal. Both are wineries with excellent cooking, so the driver will have to be careful (Casa del vino has a single menu per day, all day long - De Tarczal has more choices but cooking only at lunch and dinner time).

Ciao Lachera,

A22 it is. Gratzie. I just needed someone to give me that 2nd vote. I appreciate your honesty & wisdom.

I see you mentioned I don’t need a stop over city prior to arriving to St. Christina on A22 but google tells me it will be a 4 h 38 m drive.

With some stops along the way & leaving at 11 am it might be a long day. Considering I’m traveling with someone who doesn’t like drives longer than 4 hrs. Hehe.

If I were to take A22 I chose my midway city to be Padova. Is that suggested? Please if someone has a better suggestion, I’m all ears.

I definitely want to avoid driving near Venice or Milan on my trip. No offense to natives, but I don’t know if I have enough confidence to drive alongside with locals. (Busy roads)

I have copied your lunch suggestion & will check out your other links.

Thank you for your expertise in logistics for the Dolomites. Also may I ask if I chose a good base for the Dolomites…St. Cristina?

Gratzie Gratzie!!!
Nova

You are not driving anywhere near Padova. The cities you will meet are: Bergamo - Brescia - Desenzano - Verona - Rovereto - Trento - Bolzano.

IMHO the drive is in the 4-5 hours bracket; breaking it in the middle for lunch means you will be traveling most of the day at a leasurely pace (I usually travel between Florence and Innsbruck, that's 5.30 hours and I take my breaks at Isera). If you want to spend an afternoon somewhere, a place on Garda lake or a relatively tiny city like Rovereto or Trento may make sense. Verona and Brescia are large cities and you would be going to spend extra time driving busy roads. But I would prefer to save me an unpacking/packing and go all the way.

St. Christina makes sense; you are just under passo Sella, some wonderful hikes around there.

What about SS36 to SS38 to just before Tirano, then SS39 to Edolo, then the SS42 over the Paso Tonale all the way to Bolzano?

Ciao Lachera!!

Thank you again for your time & well thought out comments.

Hehe…thanks for road map correction. I have cancelled my Padova B & B. Maybe I got too excited with the homemade breakfast reviews? I obviously thought that wasn’t too far off the route, but I’m so glad you corrected me.

I have now started looking into Trento & Rovereto. Trento looks like it has more lodging choices.

Yes if I was traveling solo…I would drive all the way. But my co-pilot demands a wine break at the 3-4 hr mark & prefers to settle early. Hehe. That’s why we have so many days. I have to plan longer stays at each city.

Ok back to tweaking my itinerary. I’m so glad there are kind people like yourself out there to help with logistics.

Also thank you for confirming St. Cristina
I hope I can reciprocate one day in return.

Nova

Greetings Sam!!!

Lachera may have convinced me that driving that route in September may not be the wisest choice. But I always appreciate any and all comments.s. If it were a summer drive it would probably be ok. No snow in the forecast?

Thank you again!!!
Nova

Also consider Riva del Garda as a stop over point.

If you want a completely foolish idea, take a room at Casa del Vino della val Lagarina in Isera, so that you can have dinner there; incredible wines will drive your friend mad. Isera itself is tiny and like living two centuries ago, but a good base for Rovereto and Riva del Garda.

Note: the route suggested by Sam is another one. IMHO, while not as extreme as the Stelvio route, looks to me on the tiring side.