Walks in the Italian Dolomites

Name: Walks in the Italian Dolomites
Brand: Exodus
Rating: 4.9 (8 reviews)

8 reviews

Activity Level

Moderate

Activity

Walking & Trekking

Overview

Enjoy dramatic Italian scenery in the heart of the Dolomites

In the heart of the northern Italian Dolomites, close to the border with Austria and dominated by the famous Tre Cime (Three Peaks), is the beautiful Tyrolean village of Dobbiaco. A week’s walking from here allows you to discover the beauty and sheer magnificence of the majestic Alta Pusteria Valley. With over 1000kms of trails, the Italian Dolomites are a mecca for high-level walkers and we provide a selection of meticulously researched route notes for walks at various levels. highlights include a high ridge path along the Austrian border with 360degree views over the Italian Dolomites and Austrian Alps, and a circular hike around the world-famous Tre Cime, three immense obelisks of sheer rock that have now become the symbol of the region. Amazingly, all of this is accessible on well-defined paths either directly from the hotel, or via a short bus or cable car ride.

Key Information

Trip Code: W07DL
Ways to Travel: Self-Guided Holidays
Countries: Italy

What's Included

All breakfasts and 7 dinners
All accommodation (see accommodation section)
Route notes and maps
Arrival & departure transfers (on flight inclusive bookings.)

6 days of Walking & Trekking

Pace:

Approximately 4-6 hours walking per day

Terrain:

Low altitude; good paths with some steep ascents

Day 2: 15 km / 9.3 miles
Day 3: 17 km / 10.6 miles
Day 4: 19 km / 11.8 miles
Day 5: 16 km / 9.9 miles
Day 6: 14 km / 8.7 miles
Day 7: 17 km / 10.6 miles

Highlights

Breathtaking natural landscapes
Excellent bird-spotting; stunning flowers; unrivalled Alpine views
Beautiful 4-star family-run hotel with spa, pool, sauna and steam room.
Visit the world-famous Tre Cime (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

Itinerary

First Destination: Dobbiaco
Next Destination: Dobbiaco

Meals included:Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast

First Destination: Dobbiaco
Next Destination: Dobbiaco

Arrive at your hotel in Dobbiaco.
You stay at the Park Hotel Bellevue for 7 nights (breakfast and evening meal)

Meals included:Dinner

From the hotel, you ascend gently along peaceful country lanes, through picture-perfect Tyrolean villages and hamlets dotted across the hillside – each boasting a lovely chapel or church offering stunning views and decorated with frescoes. At Stadlern, take time over a picnic to soak up the mountain panorama before returning to Dobbiaco alongside the bubbling Rienza River.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

There’s a short bus ride before a spectacular gondola ride this morning to the high Rotwand pastures (1,914m), just below the mighty Croda Rossa limestone peaks. From here it’s a gentle descent along pretty pine-scented forest trails to the ancient Kreuzbergpass, south Tyrol’s most easterly mountain pass. You then head up to the refuge of Malga Nemes, a fabulous panoramic spot for lunch, with marmots foraging in the open sunny pastures, before descending along a wide woodland track to the Tyrolean village of Moos where you pick up the bus back to Dobbiaco.

A longer walking option is also available.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Enjoy truly spectacular scenery on one of our favourite trails in the Dolomites. It’s a fantastic full-day hike with ascents and descents of around 800m for unrivalled views. First an easy stroll along the shores of the turquoise Lago di Braies and then ascend via the Alte Kaser pastures to the idyllic mountain bowl of Hochalm for lunch. Your descent is through a deeply carved valley below colossal peaks and impressively striated cliffs

A shorter walking option is also available.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Today you’ll head into the heart of the Ampezzo National Park in the italian-speaking Veneto region. Setting off from Cimabanche along a disused railway line, you’ll head up through the Gotres Valley on an old military road to reach the high mountain pasture of Forcella Lerosa. You descend to the idyllic meadows of Rifugio Ra Stua and follow a narrow forest footpath towards Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

This fabulous walk takes you along the impressive crest of the Carniche Alps. You start the day with a bus then cable car ascent (payable locally) up towards Mount Elmo (2,041m). From there, an old military supply route takes you to the refuge Sillianer Hutte (in Austria). This ridge forms a border between Italy and Austria and gives you spectacular views across the Austrian Alps. Your descent is on a less well defined rocky path that crosses the pretty mountain pastures of the Klammbachalm to arrive at the picturesque Klammbachhutte, before the forest track back down to the village of Moos.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

A tremendous finale to your week awaits as you head by bus (payable locally) to the high-altitude Rifugio Auronzo at the foot of the world-famous Tre Cime di Lavaredo (2,999m at the top). These enormous freestanding limestone towers have been so popular with walkers that they’ve naturally become the symbol of the Dolomites. You follow a wide mountain trail constructed by soldiers during the First World War, which provides the finest perspective of these three immense columns.

A longer walking option is also available.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast

Dates & Prices

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Call us on 1 844 462 4317

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Accommodation

Hotel Bellevue

You will spend 7 nights in the beautiful 4-star Park Hotel Bellevue. It combines old-world charm with good old-fashioned hospitality. Facilities include a luxurious spa with sauna, steam room, swimming pool, massage/beauty treatments; there’s also a cosy lounge to curl up in with a book, or take an aperitivo in the relaxing bar.

Room Upgrades:
Room upgrades may be available on request for a supplement; prices start from an additional £8 per person per night (based on 2 people sharing) – please enquire at the time of booking for further details and prices.

All prices are based on 2 persons sharing, so if there is an odd number of people travelling in your party or you are travelling alone, there will be a compulsory single room supplement payable in advance.

Essential Information

This is a centre-based independent walking holiday. Walks can easily be extended/shortened by using the complimentary 7- day Mobil Card which gives unlimited access to local buses and selected cable cars and chairlifts. The walking is along varied and well signed footpaths, both at high altitude and in the lower valleys. There are moderate ascents on most days, and longish descents on days when a cable car is used to gain altitude. Walkers should have a good fitness level and be confident on uneven terrain. This trip is unsuitable for severe vertigo sufferers, but will appeal to people wanting challenging high level mountain walking by day, and luxury 4-star hotel accommodation at night.

As this is a self-guided holiday there is no group and no leader. There may be others on the same departure date as you, but you will not be organised together. You are provided with route notes for each day, which begin with an overview of the walk and advice on lunch, followed by detailed instructions. The route notes contain a 24 hour emergency assistance telephone number should you need it and in emergencies, the hotelier is normally able to dispatch a taxi or pick you up themselves. They may wish to charge for this service.

You may find our Fitness Training Guide a useful reference: http://www.exodus.co.uk/assets/pdf/Exodus_WT_Fitness_Training_Guide.pdf

The tour itself normally begins at our start hotel in Dobbiaco in the evening of Day 1 of the itinerary. Arrival and departure transfers are included (for flight inclusive travellers) between Venice Marco Polo Airport and the hotel in Dobbiaco (approx. 2hrs 30mins) at set times which coordinate with the standard flights. Please ask your Sales Consultant for times.

We can also arrange non-standard/private arrival and departure transfers at alternative times from either Venice Marco Polo Airport or from Innsbruck Airport for you (at additional cost – please enquire at the time of booking for prices).

Flights:
We can also book flights for you if you wish. The standard flights we usually use are with British Airways from London Heathrow to Venice Marco Polo, but occasionally we may use flights from Gatwick instead. Please enquire for up-to-date flight details as availability and schedules may change throughout the season.

Italy

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Italy. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/italy
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/italy
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy/entry-requirements
• USA:  www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Italy.html

Please note: it is compulsory to carry ID with you at all times in Italy.

All breakfasts and 7 dinners are included.

Evening meals are served in the atmospheric candlelit dining room where high quality cuisine includes a weekly 5-course banquet and themed Tyrolean buffet evening.

The Dolomite Mountains offer some of the best weather in all of the Alps – perfect for year-round active adventures. As a mountain range, the Dolomites receive less precipitation on an annual basis than do the majority of the Alps. During the summer temperatures vary between 20°C – 22°C, while temperature starts dropping a bit in September. Equally, at all times you need to be ready for the occasional stormy day.

As a certified B Corp, we’re on a mission to improve our social and environmental impact across all our adventures.

We do this through our innovative Thriving Nature, Thriving People plan.

This ‘nature positive’ approach is designed to help nature and communities thrive in harmony through practical solutions, such as reducing carbon and waste on our trips, supporting conservation projects through the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation, and rewilding 100 square metres for every Exodus traveller.

Reviews

Add new review

Rosemary Finch

Added October 2022

Hiking in the area around Dobbiaco

This is a beautiful area for hiking, and the variety of self-guided hikes we were given was great. There was everything from short easy rambles to long challenging climbs. The Bellevue Hotel was wonderful, with awesome service and delicious food. Definitely an experience I would be happy to repeat. The only negative factor was that, although we never got lost, some of the route notes could do with updating. It seemed that total hike distances were often understated. Also, we did the last tour of the season, and found that some of the refugios mentioned as lunch stops were closed. I would recommend that anyone going late in the season check before setting out, or be sure to carry your own food.

Most Inspirational Moment

Finally making it to the top of Mt. Elmo in a snowstorm!

Suggestions

I will forward some details of route note issues to Headwater.

Adventure Coordinators

Added October 2019

Fantastic holiday

Loved this trip - it was my first self-guided trip and my first trip with Headwater. They have a great selection of hikes to choose from, right from easy rambles to tough hikes. I did pretty much all moderate and more difficult hikes and the directions and provided maps are excellent. I stayed at Park Hotel Bellevue in Toblach (Dobbiaco) which is one of the best hotels I have ever stayed at. Included transportation passes and time tables easily let you get around to all the trail heads and even to other towns in South Tyrol if you do not feel like hiking or if the weather is inclement.

Most Inspirational Moment

There were so many - I would say what will always stay with me are the momentous views. I have hiked in many different mountain ranges but the Dolomites are simply spectacular.

Thoughts on Group Leader

This was a self-guided hike so there wasn't one

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you travel solo, ask for an upgraded room. The standard singles are a tad small.

David Bruce

Added September 2017

The Italian Dolomites: Self Guided Walking

Dobbiaco was a tremendous centre and the Park Hotel Bellevue was everything that we would have wanted. The guidance notes for the walks were excellent and each of the itineraries gave us a different view of the Dolomites from rolling pastures to jagged peaks. I would unreservedly recommend the holiday.

Most Inspirational Moment

Walking in the Tre Cime was beautiful and quiet with glimpses of marmots and alpine, wild flowers hanging on to the rugged terrain. Other walks were almost as spectacular and each had a different character and high point.

Thoughts on Group Leader

N/A

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you are up to it, always choose the longer walks. They are quieter and allow you to work off some calories in preparation for the excellent food at the Park Hotel Bellevue.