Italian Alps

Karen,

It would help if you could provide a bit more information. Are you planning on visiting the Italian Alps as a day trip, or stay there for a few days? Is there a particular town or area that you'd like to stay in? The answer on "how to get there" will depend to some extent on which location you're going to.

It would also help, since the question is a tiny bit garbled, to clarify, are you trying to get to the Alps or Dolomites, or are you trying to find a tour which will convey you and show you around? How many in your party?

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1237

Info on Dolomites

For the Dolomites you can head north from Verona on a train that runs to Brennero (passing through Trento, Bolzano and Bressanone). At some point--Bolzano is a convenient option and has a lovely historic district--you hop off the train and take one of the relatively frequent buses that go up into the mountains. Those are supplemented at various places by mountain lifts, so you can get easy access to great walking territory (easy or challenging, your choice) without having a car.

I believe there are other approaches farther east, but the above path is the one I took.

the "Alps" is a non-specific term for a mountain range that extends across Europe, from Eastern Europe through Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France. The Dolomites are a subset of the Alps, distinguished by their dolomitic (limestone) character. But they are also distinguished by scenic values. They are jagged, eroded, pink and white, and rise from green meadows. There are no snow-covered peaks and only one glacier ( Marmolda) as far as I know. The hiking can range from delightful Meadows with Haflinger horses, or goats, roaming loose, to via Ferrara paths, to moonscapes.

I love the Dolomites and happily return whenever it fits in our trip. The first three visits were with public transport, which is very good. The next two were with a car, which provides a bit more flexibility. We picked up the car in Bolzano and dropped it in Venice.