Italian Alps

Hi Bob, To visit the Dolomites, where in Italy will you be coming from and then to? Also, how are you getting around, car or public transportation? This info will be helpful in helping you. Paul

We are coming from Paris and then heading south towards Rome. We are using public transport.

Hi Bob, I don't know if you'll see glaciers, but I'd suggest visiting the Val Gardena area in the Italian Dolomites (Alps). This valley (Val Gardena) is convenient by public transportation fron Innsbruck, Austria and Bolzano/Bozen, Italy. From either location you could train to Klausen/Chiusa area, take a 15 to 20 minute bus ride and be in the Val Gardena. Regular buses run between the 3 villages/towns... Ortisei (the largest and the only one with an "old town" pedestrian zone), St. Christina and Selva. Each place is just a 5 minute ride from one to the next, so any of the 3 makes a good base. If visiting in early in June, the choices for cable cars into the Alps is limited. One that runs starting in late May is located in Ortisei and takes you up into the beautiful Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi, Europes highest alpine meadow with a quintessential Dolomite back. Gorgeous area for walks and hikes. www.val-gardena.com www.alpedisiusi-seiseralm.com/index.html Paul

Public transport can be a little limiting in the Dolomites w/ infreq schedule so ck carefully ahead. But the Dolomites are terrific and one of my favorites in N. Italy.
Book your hotel well in advance as many places fill fast. It is a family oriented area where the vistas are breath taking & hiking is the rule rather than exception.

The question was about the Italian Alps and the answers are about the Dolomites. This is a different.mountain range and very different from the Alps. There is a glacier in the Dolomites, on the north side of Marmolada, but it looks like a snowfield. If you want to see a really impressive glacier, you will pass right by Europe's longest, the Aletschgletscher, on your way from Paris to Italy. On the main route fromaris to Milan, you pass through Brig in Switzrtland. Just 15 minutes east of there by train is the town of Betten, where you can catch a cable car Jo to Bettmeralp, a carfree village perched high above the Rhone valley. Behind the ridge that rises above the town is the mighty Aletschgletscher. You can hike up to see it, or ride a lift. Take a look at the photos on the town website, www.bettmeralp.ch It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the first place I would take my kids to see a glacier. The Marmolada glacier is wimpy in comparison. The town of Bettmeralp and the adjacent town of Riederalp are very family friendly, and a great place to explore alpine ecosystems as well as see a huge glacier.

The Dolomites certainly are part of the Italian alps (albeit not the only part), much like the White Mountains in New Hampshire are part of the Appalachains. The Italian Alps stretch from the Val d'Aosta in the west to the Friuli region in the east.