The Dolomites: Cortina, Alta Badia and Val Gardena on foot

1. Day 1: Venice to Cortina d'Ampezzo

   Venice Marco Polo Airport to Cortina d'Ampezzo

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Cortina d'Ampezzo
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE). Your See Sight Tours guide and driver meet the group in the arrivals hall early in the afternoon: plan to land by about 1 pm (the exact meeting time comes with your final itinerary). We drive north about 160 km, roughly two and a half hours, on the motorway past Treviso and Belluno and then up the Piave and Boite valleys, with a coffee stop on the way. The flat Venetian plain gives way to wooded valleys and then to the first pale limestone walls. Cortina d'Ampezzo sits at about 1,220 m in a wide green bowl ringed by the Tofane, Cristallo and Sorapiss, and co-hosted the 2026 Winter Olympics with Milan. After check-in, your guide walks you along the pedestrian Corso Italia to the tall bell tower of the parish church. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner and a short briefing on the week: the walks, the weather and how we split into easy and active groups.

   Included

   • Group pick-up at Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE)
   • Orientation walk on Corso Italia with your guide
   • Welcome dinner and briefing

   Free time: Free hour before dinner

   Activity: If you land later, we can arrange a private transfer at extra cost; ask when you book.

2. Day 2: Cinque Torri and the open-air war museum

   Cortina to the Cinque Torri chairlift and back

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cortina d'Ampezzo
   Day 2 details

   A gentle first day to get used to the height. We drive about 20 minutes west towards Passo Falzarego and ride the chairlift from Bai de Dones up to Rifugio Scoiattoli, about 2,250 m, at the foot of the Cinque Torri, five towers of rock standing alone above the meadows. From 1915 to 1917 this was the Italian side of the front against Austria-Hungary, and the trenches, gun posts and shelters here have been restored as an open-air museum. Your guide and our local walking leader take you through them on a loop of about an hour and a half. Lunch is a sit-down meal at a rifugio below the towers: polenta, canederli or barley soup, with the Tofane across the valley. If you want more, walk on to Rifugio Averau and up the steeper path to Rifugio Nuvolau at 2,575 m, one of the oldest huts in the Dolomites, before riding down. We are back in Cortina by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours.

   Included

   • Cinque Torri chairlift up and down
   • Guided walk through the First World War trenches of the Cinque Torri open-air museum
   • Sit-down lunch at a rifugio below the towers

   Easier option: Stay on the terrace at Rifugio Scoiattoli after the trench loop, or ride down straight after lunch.

   More active option: Walk on to Rifugio Averau and climb to Rifugio Nuvolau at 2,575 m for the view over Cortina, about 300 m more climbing and 2 hours extra.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Cortina

   Activity: About 3 to 4 km and 1.5 to 2 hours on foot on the standard walk, on rocky paths at about 2,250 m.

3. Day 3: Tre Cime di Lavaredo and Lake Misurina

   Cortina over Passo Tre Croci to Misurina and Rifugio Auronzo, then back to Cortina

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cortina d'Ampezzo
   Day 3 details

   We leave Cortina at 8 am, earlier than other days, because the toll road to Rifugio Auronzo fills fast in summer and the south faces are at their best before the crowds. It is about 25 km and 45 minutes over Passo Tre Croci and past Lake Misurina to the hut at 2,320 m. Then the group splits. The active walkers go round the Tre Cime with our licensed walking leader: under the south faces to Rifugio Lavaredo and up to Forcella Lavaredo, where all three north faces appear at once, then on to Rifugio Locatelli, Malga Langalm and back to Auronzo, about 10 km, 400 to 500 m of climbing and four hours on foot. The easy group walks the wide, nearly level track to Rifugio Lavaredo and back to Auronzo with your guide, then our van takes them down to stroll round Lake Misurina and the smaller Lake Antorno. Lunch is booked for both groups: the loop walkers at Rifugio Locatelli, the lake walkers at a restaurant in Misurina. The van then collects the loop walkers at Auronzo, and we are back in Cortina by late afternoon.

   Included

   • Tre Cime toll road to Rifugio Auronzo
   • The Tre Cime loop with a licensed local walking leader, or the level walk to Rifugio Lavaredo and Lake Misurina with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch for both groups: at Rifugio Locatelli on the loop, or in Misurina for the lake walkers

   Easier option: With your guide, the nearly level 1.7 km track from Rifugio Auronzo to Rifugio Lavaredo and back, then the van down to flat lake walks at Misurina and Antorno, with lunch in Misurina.

   More active option: The full loop round the Tre Cime via Forcella Lavaredo, Rifugio Locatelli and Malga Langalm: about 10 km, 400 to 500 m of climbing, 4 hours on foot.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: 8 am departure. The loop is on good but stony paths at 2,300 to 2,450 m; bring a warm layer and rain gear.

4. Day 4: Lagazuoi and over the passes to Alta Badia

   Cortina to Passo Falzarego and the Lagazuoi cable car, then over Passo Valparola to Alta Badia

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Alta Badia
   Day 4 details

   A slower breakfast, then we load the luggage and drive about 16 km up to Passo Falzarego at 2,105 m. The cable car lifts you to the Lagazuoi at 2,732 m, where the terrace of Rifugio Lagazuoi looks across the Tofane, Civetta and Pelmo and, on a clear day, the glacier of the Marmolada, the highest peak in the Dolomites at 3,343 m. In the First World War Austrian and Italian troops dug tunnels into this mountain to blast each other off it, and the Italian gallery has been restored. If you are steady on your feet you can walk down through it with helmet and head torch and our local walking leader, about 1.5 to 2 hours; everyone else rides the cable car back down. Lunch is your choice, on the rifugio terrace or in the valley. We cross Passo Valparola into Val Badia, where people speak Ladin as well as Italian and German, and reach our hotel in Alta Badia early in the afternoon. Tonight we eat together: Ladin dishes such as turtres and cajincí.

   Included

   • Lagazuoi cable car up and down
   • Views from the Rifugio Lagazuoi terrace with your guide
   • Dinner of Ladin dishes in Alta Badia

   Easier option: Ride the cable car both ways and stay on the summit terrace.

   More active option: Walk down through the restored First World War tunnel of the Lagazuoi with the walking leader, helmet and head torch supplied: about 600 m of descent, 1.5 to 2 hours, with steps and some cables.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Alta Badia

   Activity: The tunnel walk is steep and dark in places; it is not for anyone uneasy in confined spaces.

5. Day 5: Santa Croce and the Armentara meadows

   Alta Badia to Pedraces, the Santa Croce chairlifts and the Armentara meadows, back to Alta Badia

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Alta Badia
   Day 5 details

   The rifugio lunch day, and the gentlest scenery of the trip. A short drive takes us to Pedraces, where chairlifts climb under the great west wall of Sas dla Crusc (Sasso di Santa Croce) to the pilgrimage church of Santa Croce at 2,045 m, built in the late 15th century, with the Puez and Odle peaks and the Sella across the valley. Lunch is at Rifugio Santa Croce beside the church, a long, unhurried meal of Ladin and South Tyrolean dishes, with time left for strudel. In the afternoon we walk south across the Armentara meadows under the cliffs, at their best for flowers in late June and July, then down through larch woods towards San Leonardo or La Villa, where the van waits: about 8 km and two and a half to three hours, mostly level or downhill. We are back at the hotel by late afternoon.

   Included

   • Santa Croce chairlifts from Pedraces
   • The pilgrimage church of Santa Croce
   • Sit-down lunch at Rifugio Santa Croce
   • Guided walk across the Armentara meadows

   Easier option: Ride the chairlifts back down after lunch and spend the afternoon in Alta Badia.

   More active option: Walk up to Santa Croce from Badia on the old pilgrims' path instead of the chairlifts: about 700 m of climbing in 2 to 2.5 hours.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 8 km and 3 to 4 hours on foot in all, mostly on meadow paths.

6. Day 6: Val Gardena: Seceda or the Alpe di Siusi

   Alta Badia over Passo Gardena to Ortisei, then back

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Alta Badia
   Day 6 details

   We drive about 35 km and an hour over Passo Gardena at 2,121 m, under the walls of the Sella, and down into Val Gardena to Ortisei, a village known for its woodcarvers. Here you choose your walk. The active walkers ride the cable car via Furnes up to Seceda at about 2,500 m, the grassy ridge whose sharp edge faces the jagged Odle peaks, and walk down with our walking leader past the Pieralongia rocks to Col Raiser, about 7 km, mostly downhill, three hours on foot, with lunch at a mountain hut on the way, then take the Col Raiser gondola down to Santa Cristina. The easy walkers take the gondola from Ortisei up to the Alpe di Siusi, a broad high pasture under Sassolungo and Sciliar, for level paths between farm huts and lunch at one of them. We meet in Ortisei in the afternoon for an hour in the woodcarving shops and by the old Val Gardena railway locomotive, then drive back over the pass.

   Included

   • Seceda cable car and Col Raiser gondola, or the Ortisei to Alpe di Siusi gondola
   • Guided walk on Seceda or the Alpe di Siusi
   • Sit-down lunch at a mountain hut
   • Free time in Ortisei

   Easier option: The Alpe di Siusi: level paths on a high pasture, as long or short as you like, with lunch at a farm hut.

   More active option: Seceda to Col Raiser past the Pieralongia rocks: about 7 km, mostly downhill, with short climbs.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: If thunderstorms are forecast we swap this day with day 5.

   

7. Day 7: The Great Dolomite Road to Bolzano and Ötzi

   Alta Badia over Passo Campolongo and Passo Pordoi to Canazei, then Lago di Carezza and Bolzano

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Bolzano
   Day 7 details

   We leave Alta Badia after breakfast and take the slow, high road to Bolzano, about 90 km and two and a half hours of driving with three stops. Over Passo Campolongo to Arabba, then up to Passo Pordoi at 2,239 m for coffee and a last look south to the Marmolada and its glacier. Down the hairpins to Canazei in Val di Fassa, with its old wooden houses, then over Passo Costalunga to Lago di Carezza, a small green lake under the spires of the Latemar, for a half-hour walk on the path around it. We reach Bolzano at lunchtime (lunch is on your own in the old town), check in, and walk to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology with timed tickets to see Ötzi, the man who died in the ice about 5,300 years ago and was found by two hikers in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, with his copper axe, bow and clothes. The late afternoon is free under the arcades of Via dei Portici, then we meet for a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Passo Pordoi viewpoint stop
   • Canazei
   • Walk around Lago di Carezza
   • South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology and Ötzi, with timed entry
   • Farewell dinner in Bolzano

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Bolzano

   Activity: An easy day on foot. The Ötzi museum opens Tuesday to Sunday, and on Mondays only in July, August and December, so departure dates are set around it.

   

8. Day 8: Bolzano to Venice

   Bolzano to Venice Marco Polo Airport, past Verona

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   After breakfast your guide walks you to Piazza delle Erbe, where the fruit and vegetable stalls open from Monday to Saturday, then along Via Portici and down Via Cassa di Risparmio (Sparkassenstrasse) past the pale stone main building of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, and on to Piazza Walther, the main square, while the town is still quiet. We leave about 9:30 am for Venice Marco Polo Airport: about 260 km and three hours of driving, south down the Adige valley on the A22 past Trento and then east on the A4 past Verona and Padua, with a coffee stop on the way. We arrive around 1 pm, so book a flight leaving after about 4 pm. If you are flying from Verona, or taking the train on to somewhere else, we can drop you at Verona Villafranca Airport or Verona Porta Nuova station on the way, about an hour and three quarters from Bolzano. Your guide sees you to the airport doors and checks your flight before saying goodbye.

   Included

   • Morning walk from Piazza delle Erbe past the Free University to Piazza Walther
   • Drop-off at Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE), or at Verona airport or station on the way

   Activity: Book a flight from Venice leaving after about 4 pm, or from Verona after about 1:30 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: Summer days in the valleys are warm, often 20 to 25 C, and cool at altitude, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms in July and August; early starts keep us off the high ground when they build. Late June and early July bring the meadow flowers at Armentara and on the Alpe di Siusi. Marmots whistle around the Tre Cime and Seceda, and chamois are often seen on the screes.

• Cortina d'Ampezzo3 nights
• Alta Badia3 nights
• Bolzano1 night