Hello! My husband and are are traveling to Italy in late June. We plan to fly into Milan, spend one night there, and then head for the Dolomites and stop at Verona on the way. My Rick Steves guidebook says that Castelrotto is the ideal homebase, but we want to do overnights at the huts. Should we plan to spend the first night in Castelrotto, and then after that, a hut; or plan to head straight for a hut from Verona? Is it realistic to use a hut as homebase? We'd likes to do several of the longer hikes, so I guess I'm not sure if Castelrotto really is an ideal homebase for what I want. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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Seattle, WA
16287 posts
Do you have a particular hut in mind? It would be pretty hard to reach most huts with a start in Verona; you have to train to Bolzano and the take the bus from there into the Dolomite region. So you could aim for Castelrotto that first night. It is a pleasant town but it is not in the mountains, so as a base it would require lots of transport to get to the trailheads and back. On the other hand if you use a singe hut as a base your hiking opportunities will be limited, as most of them are designed for thru-hiking, or for access to climbs. Why not a series of short hut to hut hikes? There are couple of nice ones that start up on the Alpe di Siusi. You could hike io to Rifugio Bolzana for one night, returning to Alpe di Siusi by the other route past Tirler hut. You end up farther up the Alpe. Catch the shuttle bus to the end of the road at Saltria, and ride the Florian lift up to the Zallinger Berghaus. (Warning, this is a horse farm too, so if you have an aversion to horses this may not work). From there you can do the circuit around the Sasso group; there are several huts alone the way. You could include a side trip into the moonscape of the valley that divides the two peals (Sasso Longo and Sasso Piatto) to the Demetz hut. For a real thrill, ride the crazy little two-person gondola down to Sella Pass, where you pick up the circumnavigation trail back to your next destination. I suggest you consult the Cicerone guide "Shorter Walks in the Dolomites" or "Walking in the Dolomites", both by Gillian Price, for more ideas. RS doesn't even mention the beautiful Val Gardena and Val Badia hiking areas, such as the Puez Odle group.