Most Inspirational Moment
The Dolomites offer a superb area for walking, with stunning mountain scenery, beautiful alpine pastures, pine forests, and wildflowers. This is some of the best-organized walking I have ever done. Exodus provides very well-written and detailed walking route guides and maps, with all the information you need to plan your day; the routes themselves are very clearly signposted and waymarked with numeric codes that correspond to the maps and instructions. So there is zero anxiety about getting lost or ending up somewhere you would feel out of your depth. That said, if you like to devise your own routes, you can - there is a huge variety of walks here beyond the 12 or so that Exodus provides, all waymarked on clear paths. The other wonderful thing about this holiday is the hotel Bellevue. This is an old-fashioned family run hotel of the very best kind: not posh or pretentious, just clean, comfortable and impeccably managed. You are very well looked after here. The food is outstanding: a 5 course meal is offered most nights, while the breakfast buffet is the nicest I've ever encountered anywhere. The swimming pool and spa are beautiful and very welcome after a day's walking. This is easily one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in - would gladly come back!
Thoughts on Group Leader
No group leader, as this is self-guided. However, the hotel staff were extremely helpful with any questions we had.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Exodus rates this as a Leisurely/Moderate holiday. We found nearly all the walks to be at the upper end of Moderate: as it's an alpine area, there is lots of up and down, with very little flat. With the addition of the hot July sun, we found the walking a little harder-going than anticipated. It won't be a problem for regular hillwalkers, but be aware that the Dolomites is not an area for Leisurely walking.We flew to and from Venice, which is nearly 3 hours' taxi ride from Dobbiaco. We later learned that Innsbruck is closer to Dobbiaco, and can be reached fairly easily by train (the Dobbiaco train station is 5 mins walk from the hotel). So, depending on where you are flying from, Innsbruck airport might be more convenient.
