The Dolomites

I have stayed in Castelrotto many times. It's a beautiful town, the Cavallino d'oro is a spectacular hotel in the center. Easy day trips make this, for me, a great place. A week is not too long to be there!

We visited the Dolomites for only a few days this past August and I would love to return and stay for a week. The area is absolutely beautiful. We stayed one night in Castelrotto at the Hotel Cavallino d'Oro as the previous person suggested. It was a nice area and as stated, it makes a nice base. We also stayed one night in La Villa - Alta Badia at Hotel Cristallo and it was also very convenient. We chose to change hotels every night which I would normally never do but we didn't want to back-track at all since I'm prone to severe motion sickness and we wanted to minimize drive time. In retrospect, I didn't have any problems and plan to return for a week and stay in one place and take day trips.

I can't compare the Dolomites to the Austrian Alps though I'm sure the Austrian Alps are just as beautiful as the Dolomites. From Venice, you can be in the Dolomites in only a few hours & it's a really nice drive. We stopped many times en route to see waterfalls and rivers and the drive was just magnificent! Hope this helps. Have a wonderful trip.

We have returned to the Dolomites multiple times...we have been to many other parts of the alps and the Dolomites are unique. The combination of the Austrian/Italian culture, the drama of the peaks, the hiking, and the old-world villages that still survive are well worth your time. Austria, Switzerland, and the rest of the alps are lovely but the Dolomites are our favorite.

I have not been to the Austrian Alps in many years, but we have been to the Dolomites each of the past two summers with a 3rd trip planned for July 2014. The Val Gardena is particularly convenient. You do not need a car, which is lovely! We spent 6 nights the last trip - two in the Alpe di Siusi at a half-pension hotel, Hotel Saltria, and four in the cute village of Ortisei. If you get a Val Gardena Pass, you can ride all the lifts and funiculars and buses you like, seeing not only the Alpe di Siusi, but also accessing many different paths and views on both sides of the valley. I think the VG Pass included 12-15 lifts. You can read about our trip here and also here. In the Val Gardena you are truly amidst the mountains with lots of options. You can visit all three of the villages easily via the excellent bus network.

We once went over the mountains on the Grossglockner High Alpine Highway, south of Zell-am-See, Austria. The road goes over the second highest peaks in Western Europe, and the scenery is just breathtaking. The drive ends just north of Lienz, Austria which is east of Cortina, Italy and the Dolomites.

If anyone is going from Salzburg to Venice from May to October, the drive is highly suggested.