October in Northern Italy - Hotel Reservations

Hi Mary Sue,

First, I'll say October is our favorite time of the year in the Dolomites and Alps in general. Our experiences have been little to no rain, cool to even warm days and chilly to cold early mornings and nights. We've seen some nice colors/fall foliage on our trips.

Our pic's are at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=one_set72157646609535108
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pjbassplyr/sets/72157646798948951/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pjbassplyr/sets/72157646363588198/

Just a note here, Ortisei, in the Val Gardena, hosts a town wide market day every second Monday of October. Food, beer/wine tents, alpenhorns, stalls selling just about everything, etc. If you can, I'd try to make this.

Also, as most cable cars and lifts are closed by mid October, the Mont Seuc/Seiser Alm cable car from Ortisei up to the beautiful Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi is open until Nov. 2 this year.

http://www.alpedisiusi-seiseralm.com/index.html

I would say you could travel without reservations at this time of year. We always reserve ahead, but it's not a busy time. There will be enough open as far as places to stay, restaurants, shops, etc. Our favorite place to stay in the Dolomites is the Ciasa Montanara in La Villa, Alta Badia.

www.montanara.it

We also liked our stay at the Garni Ariston in St. Christina, Val Gardena.
www.garniariston.com

This is our own "Best of the Dolomites" drive, it can easily be done in a day and covers drives over 4 Dolomite Passes.

It can be started/ended from any point really, but I'll use Val Gardena:

Head to Selva and over the amazing Gardena Pass to Colfosco and Corvara (Alta Badia). Here, take the Campolongo Pass to Arabba. From Arraba take the Pordoi Pass towards Canazei. Before you get to Canazei, take the Sella Pass (or stop in Canazei and go back a bit to continue). Take the Sella Pass and at the end, get right on the Gardena Pass (they branch off one another) towards Selva and the Val Gardena. There's a cafe/restaurant/rest stop at the "top" of the Gardena, Sella and Pordoi Passes. You'll also notice a few small places to park along the passes to get out and walk among the Dolomite peaks.

For some info and photo's of the passes, check out:

www.alpineroads.com/dolomites.php

Some are listed under the German and or Italian name:
Gardena Pass - Grödnerjoch
Sella Pass - Sellajoch
Pordoi Pass - Passo di Pordoi
Campolongo Pass - Passo di Campolongo

Rainy day options could include the old towns of Bozen/Bolzano (and the excellent exhibit on the "Ice Man" at the Museum of Archaeology) or Brixen/Bressanone (and another good museum, the Diocean Museum).

www.bolzano-bozen.it/en/
www.brixen.org

We also liked our stay in the Sud Tirol, meaning the Vinchgau/Val Venosta, which more or less starts around Meran/Merano and goes west to roughly the Swiss border near Mustair. Plenty of alpine scenery (but not the typical "Dolomite" mountain scenery), so many castles (our favorite was Churburg Castle/Castel Coira), a wonderful small medieaval walled town (Glurns/Glorenza).

Hope this helps.

Paul

Hi again,

Sorry the first link to our pics doesn't seem to be correct, try this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pjbassplyr/sets/72157646609535108/

Paul, thanks so much for the great information and beautiful pictures! Have you ever been south of Merano to the Brenta Dolomites?

Hi Mary Sue,

We've never been south of Bolzano. We absolutely love the area between Ortisei, Val Gardena and Cortina d'Ampezzo plus the Vinschgau/Val Venosta just west of Meran Merano.

Paul

We have traveled many times in the Alto Adige and never made reservations...and it has always been the height of the season in summer. There are so many places to stay that, especially in fall, you should have no problem finding something central and picturesque!