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Itinerary help - Wengen to Dolomites 13 nights

Posted by (Minneapolis/St Paul) on

Hi all,

I have found fantastic lie-flat business class seats using points/miles for Aug 19 - Sep 2, 2026 (Flights First principle at play). Flights are into ZRH out of MUC. I am stuck with how to most efficiently move from Wengen to Santa Cristina in the Dolomites - having meaningful stops between but not sacrificing precious nights in either Wengen or Santa Cristina (I am an avid hiker, but not technical climber). Here is my best thinking so far. But it still leaves me thinking I should find another night in Santa Cristina and/or Wengen, which seems only to leave me with crazy long travel days between the two longer stays. The nights in Mittenwald (or at least a meaningful visit) are important because I share the same last name as the violin maker who is featured in the museum there. Any experience and advice for setting priorities for nights, locations, and solving for the travel distances will be greatly appreciated.

Thur, Aug 20 - MSP-ORD-ZRH arrive 6:10 am, train to Wengen (3:30 hrs)

Aug 20-24, Wengen (4 nights)

Aug 24 - morning train to Luzern (2:45 hrs)

Aug 24-26, Luzern (2 nights)

Aug 26 - morning train to Innsbruck (Transalpin), connect to Mittenwald (5:30 hrs)

Aug 26-28 Mittenwald (2 nights)

Aug 28 - morning train to Bressanone, connect by bus to Santa Cristina (4:30 hrs)

Aug 28-Sep 1, Santa Cristina Valgardena (4 nights)

Sep 1 - morning bus to Bressanone, connect by train to München (5:15 hrs)

Sep 1 - München (1 night)

Sep 2 - morning flight depart 9:10 am MUC-CLT-MSP

Posted by
2975 posts

What a great trip! The Val Gardena and Berner Oberland are two of my very favorite places for hiking. Both areas are gorgeous and offer so many hiking options. Since you are an avid hiker, I think you are going to want more time in each place. As it stands, you have just three full days in each and there is no guarantee the weather will be good all three days.

Luzern is very nice, but I would skip it to add one night each to Wengen and St Cristina. Yes, you’ll have one very long travel day, but that wouldn’t bother me. Assuming you can make the connections work. (I haven’t checked the train schedules.) I would probably skip Mittenwald too (a towns I really like), but it sounds like you have a good reason to go there.

It’s up to you how to divide your time, and there are no bad choices. There is nothing wrong with your itinerary as is, I just know that on my first trip to Switzerland, when I left Murren to go to Luzern, I spent the whole time in Luzern wishing I was still in Murren.

Posted by
3697 posts

You seem to only have 3 nights ( Aug 29,30,31) in Santa Cristina— not 4 nights. You’ll need more time there because it takes more time than you might imagine to get around the Val Gardena on the public buses to the chairlifts/cable cars in Ortisei
and elsewhere. Try to do the “coffin cablecar” (“Telecabina Forcella del Sassolungo”)
at the eastern end of the valley toward Selva di Val Gardena. The panoramic views are spectacular and there are mountain climbers visible from the cafe at the top. There’s more spectacular hiking at the Passo Gardena above the “Hotel Cir” which is 4 miles east of Selva di Val Gardena.
You can pick up one night by shaving one night from Lucerne. I would definitely take the train ride from Interlaaken to Lucerne—-it’s one of the most scenic rail routes in Switzerland. You can overnight one night in Lucerne and shift the time to the Dolomites.

A bit of good news on the clock front is that there are a few trains doing the Mittenwald to Bressanone route in 3 hours and the mostly-hourly buses from Bressanone to Santa Cristina take about 30 minutes.
From Bressanone to Munich. there are a few trains taking just 3:23.

Have a great trip!

Posted by
6 posts

Thanks, @Kenko . I mislabeled the dates (should have paid more attention to my own spreadsheet). The corrected dates clarify that I do have 4 nights in Santa Cristina in my original draft. I appreciate your sharing - these first responses are giving me great options to consider.

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