Italian Dolomites in late March / early April -- opinions

I have no idea what sort of weather they might encounter at that time of year, but you can take a look at actual, day-by-day historical weather statistics on the website timeanddate.com.

Bolzano has a very pretty historic district. There are several museums, the most popular of which is the natural history museum that houses the Iceman. It is a very modern museum and well done. I went to one or two art-related museums in Bolzano; they were OK but not special. If the weather's nice, it will be easy to get up into the Dolomites because there is bus service from Bolzano. Ortisei is a comparatively large village.

The smaller city of Bressanone also has an attractive historic area, but it's a bit of a walk from the train station.

The even smaller town of Chiusa/Klausen is atmospheric; it feels very different from Bolzano and Bressanone. However, I don't know that it will be very lively in March.

There are several other towns along the rail line that might be worthwhile, but I've only been to the ones I've mentioned here.

Thanks very much, acraven. The weather averages for late March going back to 2016 actually seem reasonable. Some years looked quite nice, with temperatures in the high 60s / low 70s, and sunny/clear.

So with that, would you or anyone else recommend adding another night in the Dolomites? At that point, my parents will have been in Paris and Turin for a total of 7 nights between the two. A break in a smaller setting with beautiful natural surroundings could be perfect, my final concern just being that they'll run out of things to do. Though it seems unlikely.

Also, I picked Bolzano as the place they'll stay just because it's centrally located and that's where they'll catch the train to Munich. Would anyone recommend they stay in one of the surrounding villages instead for any reason?

Note that it will still feel like late winter except in the valley floors. Stick to Balzano as a base. The mountain views should be pretty, but there will not be a spring feeling to the villages at night .

Thanks Mike. I should clarify that those historic weather averages I was finding were for Bolzano itself, so if that's the valley floor, I'm sure any villages at higher altitude will be colder.

Still wondering about thoughts on the timetable here. At this point I'm sort of inclined to take a day from Amsterdam and add it to the Dolomites. That would result in 3 full days (4 nights) in Dolomites and 2 full days (3 nights) in Amsterdam. Would it be a mistake?

I would not take time from Amsterdam. I think 2 full days in Bolzano would be enough. If the weather is bad, they will get bored. I was higher in the mountains last September and it was freezing cold.

I would assume that the weather in this region is hyper-local. I wonder if they'd have luck tripping out to another village for the day if things got gloomy in Bolzano.

Anyone advocating for additional days?

At a time of year when mountain walking is doubtful (I think; I don't go north of the Alps before May 1), I wouldn't reduce Amsterdam--a city with a great deal to see and do--by one night in order to add a night to Bolzano. But that is just one person's opinion, and this person hates being outdoors when it's cold and drizzly. Also, she loves art museums.

We spend a lot of time in the Val Gardena, usually in the autumn. The idea of staying in Bolzano I late March is excellent. The villages will be full of skiers and there will be snow at least high up. Day trip to Ortisei or the Alpe di Siusi — or both! 4 nights would not be too long. Here are 3 good days for the area:

• Tour Bolzano using Rick Steves’ self-guided walking tour. Be sure to visit the archeological museum, a true highlight. Time and weather permitting, take the lift to the Renon Plateau and ride the little train.Some info here, https://www.ritten.com/en/highplateau/highlight/railway.html. Stop in the TI in the base station of the lift for details and buy the combo ticket for lift and train. If the morning is clear, I would head up first thing, maybe have lunch, then tour the town of Bolzano in the afternoon.

• Take the bus to Ortisei for the day. While there, consider riding the funicular to Rasciesa. https://www.resciesa.com/en/. If they are up for it, they can do a winter walk on the easy trail to the rifugio for lunch or even just for strudel and coffee, it is about a 30 minute non-technical walk although the first 1/4 mile is a bit steep. Sturdy shoes or boots required. If the walk does not appeal, there is a restaurant at the top of the lift with fabulous views. Alternatively, they can ride the lift to Mont Sëuc to the Alpe di Siusi, but I recommend saving the AdS for another day, below.

• Take the bus to Siusi and the lift to the Alpe di Siusi https://www.seiser-alm.it/en/alpe-di-siusi/castelrotto/alpe-di-siusi/ arriving in Compatsch. From there, they can take an easy walk along part of a nature trail called the Hans and Paula Steiger Trail, take a bus to Saltria to see more of the landscape and have lunch at the Hotel Saltria, take a ride in a horse drawn sleigh, or just hang out in Compatsch (the Nordic Cafe is a lovely place for lunch).

This will be a lovely break from cities and unforgettable!

If you chose Amsterdam bring good rain gear.

Rain gear noted for Amsterdam!

Laurel, thank you so much for the viewpoint and example itinerary. It's made our decision tougher, but in a good way. To restate: we could pull time from either Amsterdam or Munich, which are both currently at 4 nights. The trade-offs I'm thinking about are, respectively, Keukenhof Gardens or Neuschwanstein Castle -- if they have only 3 nights in either place, they would possibly not have enough time to trip out to see one of these sights.

Would it be a mistake to keep the current allocation of 3 nights in Bolzano and have them catch the later train into Munich through the Brenner pass? They would not be able to see the scenery during the train trip at night, but it would give them more time in the region without adding a night as the train does not depart until 630pm

Thank you all again for the helpful insights.

Hi Tom,

I’d highly recommend a day in the Dolomites! Ortisei would be perfect, as it also has a cute pedestrian only zone. The Mont Seuc cable car there runs until April 5, 2020. I think this would be perfect for them, as the views are beautiful, a restaurant at the top and paved walking paths.

https://www.funiviaortisei.eu/en/timetable-prices

I also think seeing the Ice Man exhibit at eh Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano is a must see for anyone.

http://www.iceman.it/en/

This castle, right on the outskirts of Bolzano may interest them also.

https://www.runkelstein.info/visitor-info

Here’s another one not far from Bolzano at all.

https://www.schlosstirol.it/en/

The reason I would say for adding a night in Bolzano is seeing the Dolomites really needs a clear day, and with an extra day, you get better odds of that.

Paul

Thank you Paul. It's looking now like we'll pull a day from Munich and perhaps sacrifice Neuschwanstein to accommodate it. I tried looking into a night train (ÖBB Nightjet) from Munich to Amsterdam so they could have their cake and eat it, too, but it seems there are no sleeper cabins available for overnight April 3rd (this is a Friday) and, even if there were, it would be quite expensive.

Unless anyone thinks the train departing Bolzano at 630pm and arriving Munich at 1030pm would give them enough additional time in Bolzano to not allocate another proper night there? Again, they'd miss out on the scenery during that train ride since it'll be dark.

While we’ve only driven the Brenner Pass, actually a number of times, the car drive is incredibly scenic. Especially approving Innsbruck.

I can’t imagine arriving in Munich train station at 10:30pm, then getting to their hotel, checking in and so on. That would be a long, bad day in my opinion. Spend the extra night in Bolzano.

Just a comment about the not-available night train (for future reference): I used to sleep fitfully on night trains. The last one I took from Rome to Sicily (at age 64) was a disaster--not a wink of sleep and a totally non-productive day at my destination. I think the rails in that area were rougher than average; there was constant jerking back and forth. However, people vary a lot in their ability to sleep through the braking, station noise and acceleration encountered at every stop along the way. At the very least, anyone contemplating a night train should consult a list of the stops to see how many times they may be jerked awake along the way. I tried to check that information for Munich-Amsterdam, but I couldn't find a night train on that route; I must not have looked in the right place.

Thank you acraven, the ability to sleep and possibility/number of stops are both things that I was trying to factor as well, not finding great testimonials on either, so your comments here have been useful. It seems like it's better not to risk it as one of my parents is a light sleeper.

I was using Trainline (thetrainline.com or their mobile app) as well as the Austrian Railways (ÖBB) website. You should be able to find the Nightjet by setting a starting departure time of around 10pm from Munich to Cologne (might have to type in München and Köln), the original idea being that they would have caught an ICE afterwards from Cologne to Amsterdam. The website seat61.com has been invaluable for research on trains and routes.

My wife and I are 62/71.
Our Italia experiences are overnight stays in Sienna, Firenze, Bologna, Treviso, Venezia. We have day tripped to Modena, Bolzano.
This March we will visit Milan, Varenna, and Genova.

I would forget both München and Amsterdamn. The travel time will be wasteful.
I would do Torino (4 nights because of jet lag), Milano (5), Varenna (3), Bolzano (3), Treviso (4).