Stay in Dolomites or go to Julian Alps/Bled?

Hi Emily,

Where in Austria do you need to end in? Klagenfurt?

I have never been to Slovenia, so take that into account. I have been to the Swiss alps once, the Bavarian and Austrian alps and the Italian Dolomites many times. Nothing is like the Dolomites. Unique and stunning. Like nothing else you'll see in the Alps. Skip staying in Castlerotto, which is on the outskirts of the Dolomites. Stay "in" the Dolomites. The Val Gardena and/or Alta Badia are superb. These two valleys are connected by the absolutely amazing drive over the Gardena Pass.

www.valgardena.it

www.altabadia.it

I would certainly stay at least 4 nights in the Dolomites.

Paul

Our favorite place in all of Italy is the Val Gardena. We have been 5 times in 4 years. Terrific hiking for all activity levels. As Paul says, stay IN the mountains, not Castlerotto. A car is fine but not needed as public transportation via lift and bus is excellent. We take either a bus (nice pullman) from Bolzano to Ortisei, or get a taxi from Ortisei to pick us up. You need to get reservations set as August is the peak of the summer season. Spend at least 4 nights. (We are here for a month this time and loving it!)

I've been to both. In my opinion, the scenery in the Dolomites is much more spectacular.

Thank you all!

We will most likely rent a car just to have flexibility to get to Klagenfurt and not have to rely on the relatives to drive us around. Final destination in Austria is near Klagenfurt but about 30 mins away to the north. and we are flying in and out of Venice so we can return the car at the same place.

Do you have recommendations as to which valley in the Dolomites has the best views or hiking trails? We originally picked Castelrotto based on Rick's recommendation but we also looked at Ortisei. We have avoided looking at Cortina since it seems to be quite touristy and too "chic" for what we're looking for. Castelrotto also seemed appealing because of the proximity to alpe di suisi but also the charm of a village with restaurants for dinner time. We avoided Bolzano or Oberbozen thinking these were too far from dolomites, but sounds like Castelrotto is still on the edge as well. Would love any further recommendations on other towns in the area that might be appealing. Paul, I can see you have posted a lot so I am cross-referencing some other posts!

Hi Emily,

Go with any of the towns or villages in the Val Gardena or Alta Badia. They are both valleys right smack in the Dolomites. For instance, Ortisei, St. Christina and Selva, which are in the Val Gardena, are maybe 5 minutes drive from one another, St. Christina, where we stayed, being in the middle and the smallest. Any of them makes an excellent place to base. Similar for the Alta Badia. We stayed twice in La Villa, which was less than 15 minutes from both Colfosco and Coravara. Maybe it's just me, but didn't care for Cortina d'Ampezzo. Bolzano is ok, but about 40 minutes drive from the Dolomites, plus it's a larger city, with a nice old town. Still, traffic, crowds and the sprawl ruin it for me. Castelrotto. Ok, it's close to the Alpe Di Siusi, still not in the Dolomites themselves, but from Ortisei, you hop on the Mont Seuc cable car, for one, and in minutes it drops you in the Alpe Di Siusi. We visited Castelrotto twice during our few trips. Cute, but the other alternatives are just so much better. Rick Steves isn't always correct. With the Dolomites, he barely scratches the surface, covering basically one location.

Paul

I only did day-trips to the Dolomites from Bressanone and Bolzano but can confirm that Ortisei, in particular, has no shortage of restaurants. It's popular, but the atmosphere is definitely not snooty.