Hiking Dolomites

It is early for the area. Only the lifts to Rasciesa and the Alpe di Siusi will be open, but that makes for at least two good days of hiking, as hard or as easy as you care to do. You do not need a guide. Also, you can use the bus pass your hotel will give you to go up to Passo Sella, conditions permitting, for a nice hike to and from Refugio Comici.

Thank you, will the huts be open for food and beverage? Also. Would a trip over to lake Garda for the third day be a good idea? I believe we’d have to go by bus.

Some of the huts do stay open in winter...my favorite, the Rauch Hutte is open in winter for meals. Excellent food and the best views on the Seiser Alm - IMHO. The best hutte to stay at is the Langkoffel Hutte - it's old with thick stone walls, tucked into a rocky crevice. Spectacular. You certainly don't need a guide - the area is easy to navigate with a map. Signage is everywhere. The earliest I've been there is June 10 - it's really a crapshoot...some years the trails are completely open and other years they are somewhat limited because of snowpack. You can contact individual huttes to ask when they plan to open.

The rifugio at Rasciesa will be open. We like to walk out there and arrive for lunch. Give yourself 30 to 45 minutes to arrive after taking the funiculare up. After lunch extend tour walk to the top at Santa Croce, if you are feeling energetic, or just to the little chapel 15 minutes past the rifugio.

Also the restaurant at Mont Seuc will be open and probably Sonne and Icaro on the Alpe di Siusi. Since it will be past winter season, some others may be closed for a seasonal break.

I would not spend a day at Lago di Garda. Too much to see and do in the Val Gardena.