Seceda or Alpe di Siusi

It depends on what your hiking skills are. We like the Alpe di Siusi more as there are gentler hikes, better paths. The Seceda alpine meadows are beautiful, but require a lot of downhill if you come from Seceda and the terrain is rockier in many places, plus narrow paths. You can easily ride the lift up at Mont Sëuc and hike a round trip to Icaro, returning to Mont Sëuc OR for something a little more rigorous, hike all the way to Saltria and come back via bus to Compatsch and lift to Siusi then bus to Ortisei. That second option is kind of a full day what with all the transport. Another option is to take bus and gondola up to Compatsch and hike to Mont Sëuc.

Have you been up to Rasciesa and hiked along to the chapel there? Nice easy hike, great rifugio for lunch or a streusel stop.

Thanks Laurel for the reply.

I agree the Seceda hikes in the meadows are steep up and downhill and rocky at a few places.

My question is from from the views/scenery perspective than hikes. We already did the Seceda hike from the cable car station to the ridge line to one of the mountain huts down for lunch and then back again to the cable car station - took about 3+ hours with photos and quick lunch stop.

Is the view at Alpe di Siusi better or different than the meadows at Seceda? I am not undermining the views at either of the places or Alpe di Siusi - but we want to decide if we should go to Alpe di Siusi or do some other walks / hikes in the area.

Thanks again.

Views in the AdS are different depending on where you go. Look at the hike from Ciampinoi to Refugio Emilio Comici and on to Passo Sella. One way hike, up by lift at Ciampinoi and return by bus from Passo Sella. One of my favorite hikes and Emilio Comici is a great refreshment stop.

Hello TravellingEnthusiast :

Thank you for your live report. How is the weather? Is it very different from what Google tells us (rain)?
Have you done the Tre Cime Loop trail? I heard that this is dramatic. It's not in Val Gardena, and so you probably can't daytrip from VG.

Please continue to have a great time. Happy travels!

Hello @Laurel, thanks again - we have another day here and will checkout the hike you mention and AdS. It does sound something we would like to explore.

@Barkinpark, the weather indeed is different than what google says. I usually check the webcam of the place in the morning (6 am or 7 am) we decide to go up. If it looks fairly clear, we get ready and go!
The weather was brilliant on Saturday, but rain in the town and snow at Seceda on Sunday and Monday (we could see the peaks have slight snow from our apartment which was not there before). Today (Tuesday) the weather looks great again.
As for Tre Cime ... we did a crazy thing and day tripped there on Sunday. Best decision. After a lot of contemplation, since the weather and webcams showed cloud and rain in val gardena, we decided to drive to tre cime, do a 3 to 4 hour trail and come back before sunset. Worked out brilliantly even though we left much later than we would have (due to the contemplation). So definitely doable, but it's a long day.
The hike itself is moderately easy, but the ascent is steep so it's strenuous (atleast it was me). However, I highly recommend that hike or atleast till Rifugio Locatelli (dreizinnenhutte). This overall area and the mountains surrounding it and the landscape is beyond what we imagined. I may be the odd one out, but we enjoyed the surrounding peaks, hike and landscape more than the tre cime itself.
We skipped lake Braies and came straight back to Ortisei. We might do the lake in some other trip. While driving from Ortisei to Tre Cume, we did pass a lake Durensee, and loved it. Greenish alpine water with the Dolomites for backdrop, was a good way to cool off slightly before the drive back.
It is usually recommended, here at the forum, and also at the numerous travel blogs and vlogs I followed to shift bases between val gardena and cortina to explore both the areas, and I agree, since it is beautiful and so different than other alpine locations, however, we really wanted to see why people recommend tre cime soooo much! I'm glad we did what we did, and now we have 2 days to take it easy in val gardena!
Wish you a happy and enjoyable trip too!

Instead of Alpe di Siusi I would recommend the Adolf Munkel trail. It is about an hours drive from Ortisei in the Val di Funes. Stunning loop trail with a smaller but far more impressive alpine meadow.

@TravellingEnthusiast, thank you for your write-up. I am glad that you had great weather and enjoyed your time there. Happy travels!

@mjoseph1 we did do the Adolf Munkel trail and indeed it was stunning. Thanks!

This is all very helpful- i will be driving from Cannes to Verona on Sept 14 and looking for a stopover enroute if anyome has suggestions.?
Then we will spend 3 nights in Verona as we may drive to Padua and then off to Dolomites- We are not on a fixed schedule but will have about 7 days. I am now second guessing myself as have 3 nights in Belluno and 3 or 4 nights in San Candido, I am thinking they are too close together and may change to Castlerotto and I’m not sure??. We are moderate hikers.

TravellingEnthusiast would you recommend two places and are you using airbnbs? :)

After that we will go to Lake Garda, Turin and Alba.

Thanks for any guidance.