Please advise and help us plan for Dolomites

We also need to watch budget very carefully. Where to pick up and drop off car? Straight away you've made a big mistake - if you are watching the budget don't hire a car!!! The multilingual Südtirol/Alto Aldige region which Ortisei is in offers free use of their excellent public transport system to guests in officially registered accomodation. I can imagine that Ortisei is somewhat overpriced, it stars in several well known guide books....

Stay somewhere that offers this https://www.suedtirol.info/en/en/information/suedtirol-guest-pass The pass also includes free or discounted admission to various historical/culural locations. The accomodations featured on this page are a random selection, swipe across the selection to find the link to the full list (very full, you may need to methodically check by area!). Riding with the locals on spectacular mountain bus routes between the villages whilst taking in the views seems to fit what you are looking for

download this network map https://www.suedtirolmobil.info/fileadmin/pdf/net/net_all.pdf then use the route numbers on it to check out timetables and find hubs with decent levels of service https://www.suedtirolmobil.info/en/my-journey/timetables

And no, you don't normally need A/C. The days may be warm but the air is fresher and less humid, you might leave the windows open during the day (and shutters closed if the sun shines in)

I don't think the Dolomites are about must sees, it's more a place to be.
I used Dolomites as a search term here and this is the first thing that was listed. Perhaps it will help.
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/stretching-out-in-the-italian-alps

As already noted, a car is not necessary. The Val Gardena (Ortisei, Santa Cristina, etc) is an hour from the main train station in Bolzano by bus. The bus station is 50m north of the train station. You can download the app for tickets from the websites already mentioned on arrival and then the free hotel-provided bus ticket takes care of the rest. I usually stay in St Cristina rather than Ortisei (20 minutes apart by free bus). But I have stayed in a number of other villages and they have all been nice. It is good to be near a lift to get up into the mountains, but because of the buses not essential. Unfortunately the cost for the lifts has gone up a lot in recent years. Another thought is that there is a gondola in Bolzano to Oberbozen which is a plateau above the town on the west side where there are lovely walking trails and a little rail line to use to get back to the gondola if you want. Have fun.

.....and the gondola from Bozen up to Oberbozen, plus the connecting tram across the plateau is part of the free travel with the Guest Pass! Base station is few minutes walk from Bozen railway station, beyond the bus station.

Thanks everyone. Tbh the rental cars are the cheapest of the expenses. Our main issue is accommodation. They are prohibitively expensive, don't offer free cancellation. So I wonder if renting a car allows us to look in more remote and hence less expensive areas for staying? Everything I've looked in Val Gardena or Dobbiaco are 300 euros or more per night. And no free cancellation

If you have a car, anywhere is good. I am staying near Bruneck which is actually very central for hitting different hiking hot spots.

You are very late to be booking accommodation. The Dolomites are very expensive and the cheapest accommodations are high in demand. I booked mine for June in Nov.

For people that don’t hike, I think somewhere like Switzerland or Austria would have more to offer.

Thanks. Of course I know we are late. But it's even later to change plan. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to book earlier. To be fair I first posted here a month ago. But we are still as confused about the whole area as ever.

To be fair, we are not responsible for planning your trip. Don’t blame the forum.

You really have to do your homework for this region. Outside of Ortisei, there are not that many places to casually enjoy the mountains. Those places are quite spread out and have tight restrictions to combat overcrowding during the peak of summer.

The Dolomites are better for hiking enthusiasts.
Other alpine destinations have a far wider range of activities, accommodation, and accessibility options.

Try to post your questions in trip advisor south tyrol forum. They may have some ideas for you where to stay other than in Ortisei, Selva or Santa Christina.
I got tons of help from them for my upcoming trip in August.
Once you know where to stay you can search for hotels in booking.com to see what's available.
Since you have a car you don't have to stay in Ortisei.
You could try Santa Maddalena in Val di Funes.
I split my stay between Ortisei and Santa Maddalena. We'll have no car.

Not ideal and not sure how much cheaper the lodging is, how about staying in Brixen (Bressanone). If parking in Ortisei is expensive. You can take bus 360 from Brixen to Ortisei, where you can access the 3 lifts and you can take bus 330 from Brixen to Santa Maddalena (pretty small village) and continue on bus 330 to Zans where the start of Adolf Munkle trail.

Yhank you so much for the helpful replies. I will try tripadvisir too. We have family issues and there was no way for me to plan before now. I also have to work full and over time so I have really little time .. this is late I know but it's the way it is. I will check out the areas. I also noticed nowhere offers free cancellation really. At best it's 20 days before arrival. Is that the norm? Thanks

Not sure about 20 days but i noticed these areas have stricter cancellation policies than others and also many require minimum nights sometimes 5 nights or 7 nights for peak season

We loved the Dolomites and spent 5 nights in Ortisei last June. But we went hiking. I just am wondering if you were be better off doing something else, especially a month out when prices are very high.

We did not have A/C and generally accommodations are not refundable. They do not want people to cancel if the weather forecast is bad.

We just left Ortisei after a 3 night stay, and loved everything about it. We did not have a car. Took the train to the Ponte Gardena/Laion Station. Taxi from there was €68. Our hotel provided us with a pass for free public transportation once we arrived in the region. No A/C was needed and day temperatures were 80 degrees. Everyone’s idea of a budget is different, but you should be able to find a room for less than €250 per night. That would include breakfast. Even people who are not big hikers can enjoy taking the lifts or the funicular to enjoy the magnificent views. You can stretch your money by getting a picnic lunch and a simple pizza for dinner.

Ok,just managed to find a very affordable youthhostel in Bresanone. Is it too far out?

the youth hostel in Brunogasse is well located for the historic centre and the bus station, which is a main transport hub. So with the Guest Pass you can get to more places than you will have time for. Doesn't look good for parking a car! To vist Bozen it would be quicker to walk the extra few minutes to the railway station and use a regional train. But now you've decided where to stay start working out your trips, don't waste your time staring at timetable posters and trying to place them on a map when you are there. And get used to the multilingual place names, Brixen/Bressanone / Bozen, Bolzano/ St.Ulrich, Ortisei and so on.

My starter for a tour of the mountains, route 401 from Brixen to St. Lorenzen, then 460 south to Corvara or Kolfuschg, then 473 (route overlaps 460 between Corvara and Kolfuschg) via the Gardena/Grödner Pass (you can break there for a while) to Plan and then 360 back to Brixen. The buses run often enough to break in various places, but note those with x above them in the timetable column do not run at weekends.

Great, you found the place. Like i mentioned earlier, the bus from Bressanone to either Ortisei and Santa Maddalena should be straight forward. These two places have plenty options for hike easy to medium levels, will keep you busy for a week for sure.
You didn't ask, but if you plan to take the Seceda lift, you'll need to make a reservation or be there open to avoid long line.