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The Tre Cime di Lavaredo above a mountain hut and green slopes on a summer afternoon

Sample journey · 8–10 days

Valley to valley through the Dolomites on foot

Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Alta Badia, Val Gardena, the Alpe di Siusi & Val di Funes

Photo: Hikerwise.com / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Italy is usually known through its cities and its kitchens. The Dolomites are another side of the country entirely: pale rock walls that glow red as the sun goes down, larch forests, meadows scattered with wooden hay barns, and mountain huts where soup, dumplings and a view worth the climb wait after a few hours on foot. Three languages and cultures meet here, Italian, German and the old Ladin, and every valley has a character of its own.

This route runs from east to west, from Cortina d’Ampezzo to Val di Funes, crossing passes rather than doubling back. Each day brings three to six hours of walking, often helped by a lift, while the luggage travels separately. One night is spent in a mountain hut beneath the walls of the Tre Cime, the others in warm, family-run hotels in the valleys. It suits active couples and friends, and the route, the distances and the stays would be shaped around your fitness and the season.

The route

The journey

  1. Venice or Verona
  2. Cortina d’Ampezzo
  3. Tre Cime di Lavaredo
  4. Alta Badia
  5. Val Gardena
  6. Alpe di Siusi
  7. Val di Funes
  8. Bolzano
  9. Verona
  1. The Averau peak reflected in the small Lago Limides among spruce trees in the Dolomites

    01Days 1–2 · Cortina d’Ampezzo

    Finding your legs beneath the towers

    From Venice airport to Cortina is around two hours by road. The first day is for an easy start and getting used to the altitude: a lift up to the Cinque Torri, where First World War trenches survive among the rock towers, and a trail to the little Lago Limides, with the peak of the Averau reflected in it. In the evening, dinner in a town whose main street still carries the elegance of the old mountain resorts.

  2. The rock walls of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the light of sunrise

    02Day 3 · The Tre Cime di Lavaredo

    Three peaks and a night in a hut

    In the morning, up to the foot of the Tre Cime for the best-known trail in the Dolomites: a loop of about ten kilometres around the three rock pillars, past huts and small tarns, with the north faces revealed at their full height. Instead of returning to the valley, a night in a mountain hut: a shared dinner, simple rooms or dormitories, and the quiet once the day visitors have gone. Sunset and early morning on these walls are often what people remember most from the whole journey.

  3. A green clearing among the forests near La Val, with the peaks of the Puez-Odle park in the distance

    03Days 4–5 · Alta Badia

    A Ladin valley and larch meadows

    After coming down from the hut, the road crosses the passes to Alta Badia, a valley where Ladin is still spoken and village names are written in three languages. The trails here are gentler: across the meadows of the Pralongià plateau, with views to the surrounding massifs, or through larch woods to the Holy Cross sanctuary beneath the sheer wall of the Sas dla Crusc. In the evening, Ladin cooking: fried turtres pastries, dumplings and mountain cheeses.

  4. A footpath across the green meadows of Seceda towards the rock ridge of the Odle

    04Day 6 · Val Gardena & Seceda

    Along the edge of a ridge

    Over the Gardena Pass into Val Gardena, known for its woodcarving. From Ortisei, lifts climb to Seceda, a grassy ridge at almost 2,500 metres that slopes gently down into meadows on one side and breaks off in the jagged slabs of the Odle on the other. The way down can be on foot, past pasture huts that are worth a stop for lunch or apple strudel. The evening is spent in a valley village.

  5. A wooden hut in a green meadow on the Alpe di Siusi beneath the mountain walls in morning light

    05Day 7 · The Alpe di Siusi

    A day on the great meadow

    An easier day after a few longer ones. A lift from the valley rises to the Alpe di Siusi, Europe's largest high alpine pasture, where level paths wind between hay barns and small mountain farms and the Sassolungo and Sciliar massifs rise above the grass. You could walk for several hours, or take a long lunch on a terrace; here, both make equal sense.

  6. Green meadows and forest in Val di Funes beneath the Odle peaks

    06Days 8–10 · Val di Funes & Bolzano

    A quiet valley and the way home

    The last two nights are in Val di Funes, one of South Tyrol's quietest valleys. The Adolf Munkel trail runs through forest and pasture directly beneath the teeth of the Odle peaks, and the valley villages have two small churches that, with the mountains behind them, look almost painted. On the final day, Bolzano: the market, the arcades and the archaeology museum that holds Ötzi the Iceman, then a train to Verona and the flight home.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    The circuit of the Tre Cime

    A walk of around four hours around the most famous peaks in the Dolomites, well within reach of a fit walker.

  2. 02

    A night in a mountain hut

    Simple but memorable: a shared dinner, sunset on the rock and a morning before the first visitors arrive.

  3. 03

    The Seceda ridge

    A grassy slope that suddenly breaks into slabs of rock, one of South Tyrol's most striking views.

  4. 04

    Ladin culture and cooking

    A little-known language, distinctive traditions and dishes you won't find elsewhere in Italy.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • Gentler

    More lifts and level trails, and the hut night could become a hut lunch instead: the same mountains, shorter days.

  • Hut to hut

    For experienced walkers, a few days on a section of the Alta Via 1, sleeping only in mountain huts while the luggage waits in the valley.

  • With a mountain guide or a small group

    With a qualified mountain guide you could try an easier via ferrata on First World War paths; the journey also works well for a small group of friends.

  • In autumn

    In late September and October the larches turn gold and the trails are quieter, but some lifts and huts have already closed, so we'd shape the route around them.

Practical considerations

  • Mountain huts usually open from around late June to September, and lift seasons vary from valley to valley; huts have few beds, so they're worth planning well ahead.
  • This is a physically active journey: three to six hours of walking a day, with several hundred metres of ascent on some days and high points of around 2,500 metres. Good fitness and broken-in boots are needed.
  • Mountain weather changes quickly, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms in summer, so walks start early and warm, waterproof layers are essential even in July.
  • The road to the foot of the Tre Cime is a toll road and access may be restricted in summer; we check the current rules and bus options before you travel.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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