Northern Italy: Venice, the Dolomites and the Lakes

1. Day 1: Arrive in Venice

   Venice Marco Polo Airport to your hotel by water taxi

   • By boat
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Venice
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) and a water taxi brings you across the lagoon to a landing near your hotel, about 30 minutes, with your luggage on board instead of dragged over bridges. Hotels are in the historic centre within walking distance of St Mark's Square, never Mestre or the Lido. The afternoon is yours: arrive early enough and you can wander the lanes behind the Rialto or ride the vaporetto down the Grand Canal. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the days ahead, what to pack for the mountains and how the drives are paced. Then we walk together through the quieter streets of Castello or Cannaregio, past canals with washing hung between the houses, to a welcome dinner of Venetian dishes at a local restaurant. Plan to land by about 3 pm; the exact meeting time comes with your final itinerary.

   Included

   • Water taxi from Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) to your hotel
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk and welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the early-evening briefing

2. Day 2: St Mark's at first entry, then Venice your way

   St Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace and the Rialto

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Venice
   Day 2 details

   We are at St Mark's Basilica for the first entry slot of the morning, booked ahead, so the gold mosaics of the domes are seen before the queue stretches across the square. Next door, a licensed Venice guide takes us through the Doge's Palace: the courtyard and Giants' Staircase, the council chambers where the Republic was governed, Tintoretto's huge Paradise in the Great Council hall, and across the Bridge of Sighs into the prisons. We walk on through the Merceria lanes to the Rialto, where the market sells fish and vegetables in the morning, and sit down to lunch at a bacaro-style restaurant nearby. The afternoon and evening are free. Ride a vaporetto to the Giudecca, look for quiet squares in Dorsoduro, or sit by the Zattere as the light goes golden over the water. Your guide suggests routes for the evening, away from the busiest bridges.

   Included

   • St Mark's Basilica on a booked first-entry slot
   • The Doge's Palace and Bridge of Sighs with a licensed Venice guide
   • Walk to the Rialto market
   • Sit-down lunch near the Rialto

   Optional experiences

   • Gondola ride
   • Vaporetto day pass for the islands

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot in the morning, with many bridge steps and the stairs inside the Doge's Palace.

3. Day 3: Up to Cortina and the Faloria cable car

   Venice by boat to Piazzale Roma, then by van to Cortina d'Ampezzo

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cortina d'Ampezzo
   Day 3 details

   A boat takes us and our luggage to Piazzale Roma, where our own van and driver are waiting. The drive north to Cortina d'Ampezzo is about 165 km and two and a half hours: across the Veneto plain, past Belluno, then up the Piave and Boite valleys as the limestone walls of the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009, close in on both sides. We stop for coffee on the way and arrive in time for a sit-down lunch in Cortina, where we stay two nights. After lunch we ride the Faloria cable car from the edge of town to about 2,100 m. From the top there are easy paths along the ridge with views across the Ampezzo basin to the Tofane, Cristallo and Sorapiss groups. Come down in the late afternoon for a free evening on the Corso Italia, Cortina's pedestrian street, with dinner where you like.

   Included

   • Boat from your hotel to Piazzale Roma
   • Drive from Venice to Cortina d'Ampezzo with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Cortina
   • Faloria cable car and an easy walk at the top

   Easier option: Stay at the top station terrace with a drink and the view instead of walking.

   Free time: Evening free in Cortina

   Activity: Up to about 1 to 2 hours of easy walking at about 2,100 m; the air is cooler, so bring a layer.

   

4. Day 4: The Tre Cime di Lavaredo loop

   Cortina to Lake Misurina and the Rifugio Auronzo, round the Tre Cime and back

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Cortina d'Ampezzo
   Day 4 details

   We leave Cortina at about 7:30 and drive past Lake Misurina and up the toll road to the Rifugio Auronzo car park at about 2,320 m, arriving by 8:30, before it fills and before the afternoon thunderstorms that build over the Dolomites in summer. An accredited mountain leader joins your guide for the walk. The loop runs anticlockwise on a wide path to the Rifugio Lavaredo, climbs to the Forcella Lavaredo saddle at about 2,450 m, where the three north faces appear all at once, then traverses to the Rifugio Locatelli for a sit-down lunch with the towers in front of you and small lakes below. The return goes past the Malga Langalm meadows and back round the western side to the car park, about 10 km and 400 m of climbing in all. On the way back we stop at Lake Misurina for a coffee. The rest of the afternoon and the evening are free in Cortina.

   Included

   • Tre Cime toll road and parking
   • The Tre Cime di Lavaredo loop with your guide and a mountain leader
   • Sit-down lunch at the Rifugio Locatelli
   • Stop at Lake Misurina

   Optional experiences

   • Tofana Freccia nel Cielo cable car from Cortina in the late afternoon

   Easier option: Walk the nearly flat path from the Rifugio Auronzo to the Rifugio Lavaredo and up to the Forcella Lavaredo viewpoint, then back the same way, about 5 km, and lunch at the Rifugio Auronzo; the group meets again at the car park.

   More active option: Add the climb to the Sasso di Sesto WWI tunnels and viewpoint above the Rifugio Locatelli before lunch.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Cortina

   Activity: About 10 km and 400 m of ascent and descent at 2,300 to 2,450 m, 4 to 5 hours including lunch, on wide stony paths. Walking shoes with grip, a warm layer and a waterproof are needed even on sunny days. If storms or heavy rain are forecast, we start earlier, take the easy out-and-back to the Forcella Lavaredo or, in a real storm, swap the walk for the Lake Misurina shore and the Cortina valley, deciding the evening before with the mountain leader.

   

5. Day 5: Lago di Braies, then South Tyrol to Bolzano

   Cortina d'Ampezzo to Dobbiaco and Lago di Braies, then through the Puster valley to Bolzano

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Bolzano
   Day 5 details

   We leave Cortina at 8 am and drive north over the Cimabanche pass to Dobbiaco and into the side valley of Braies, arriving at Lago di Braies around 9 am. In high summer the access road is controlled and we book our arrival slot ahead, which also puts us at the lake before the busiest hours. The path round the shore is about 3.5 km and mostly level, with the green water against the pale wall of the Seekofel; allow an hour, or take a rowing boat from the old boathouse. From here the road runs west down the Puster valley, past Brunico, and we stop for a sit-down lunch of South Tyrolean dishes along the way. We reach Bolzano by mid-afternoon, about 165 km and 2 hours 45 minutes of driving for the day. Your guide walks you through the arcaded Via dei Portici, the fruit market square and Piazza Walther, and the evening is yours in a city where German and Italian are spoken side by side.

   Included

   • Lago di Braies, with time to walk the shore path
   • Sit-down lunch in the Puster valley
   • Orientation walk in Bolzano's old town

   Optional experiences

   • Rowing boat on Lago di Braies

   Easier option: Walk part of the shore path and wait at the lakeside cafe.

   Free time: Evening free in Bolzano

   Activity: The lake loop is about 3.5 km on a mostly level path with a few short rocky sections at about 1,500 m.

   

6. Day 6: Ötzi in Bolzano, then Monte Baldo above Lake Garda

   Bolzano to Malcesine on Lake Garda, via the Adige valley

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

   We are at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology when it opens. Its centre is Ötzi, the man found in the ice of the Ötztal Alps in 1991, about 5,300 years after he died, kept in a cold cell you look into through a small window. The floors around him show his clothes, his copper axe, his bow and the arrows in his quiver, and what scientists have learned about his last days. After a sit-down lunch in Bolzano we drive south down the Adige valley past the vineyards of Trentino, then over to the north end of Lake Garda and along the eastern shore to Malcesine, about 135 km and two hours. Here we stay two nights. In the late afternoon we ride the Monte Baldo cable car, whose cabins turn slowly on the way up, to about 1,760 m, with the whole northern lake below. Back down, the evening is free in Malcesine's old harbour, under the Scaliger Castle.

   Included

   • South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology and Ötzi the Iceman, at opening
   • Sit-down lunch in Bolzano
   • Drive to Malcesine on Lake Garda
   • Monte Baldo cable car from Malcesine

   Optional experiences

   • Scaliger Castle in Malcesine in the evening

   More active option: Walk the ridge path north from the Monte Baldo top station for the view down to Riva del Garda.

   Free time: Evening free in Malcesine

   Activity: About 1.5 hours in the museum, with stairs or a lift between floors. The museum is normally closed on Mondays. If day 6 falls on a Monday, we visit Ötzi on the afternoon of day 5 instead (it is open until 6 pm) and spend the morning of day 6 on the Bolzano old-town walk.

   

7. Day 7: Sirmione at opening and Bardolino wine

   Malcesine to Sirmione, then Bardolino and back along the eastern shore

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Malcesine
   Day 7 details

   We drive down the eastern shore early, about an hour and a quarter, to Sirmione, the narrow peninsula at the south end of Lake Garda. The day-trip coaches arrive mid-morning, so we cross the drawbridge into the Rocca Scaligera, the 13th-century moated castle of the Scaliger family, as it opens (both it and the Grotte are normally closed on Mondays; see the note below) and climb its tower for the view over the harbour. Then we walk through the old town to the tip of the peninsula and the Grotte di Catullo, the ruins of a large Roman villa above the water, with olive trees between the walls. Lunch is sit-down in Sirmione. On the way back north we stop at a family wine estate near Bardolino to taste the local red and the pale Chiaretto rosé with a few local cheeses. We are back in Malcesine by late afternoon for a swim from the lake shore or a walk through the lanes, and dinner is free.

   Included

   • Rocca Scaligera in Sirmione, at opening
   • Grotte di Catullo, the Roman villa at the tip of the peninsula
   • Sit-down lunch in Sirmione
   • Wine tasting near Bardolino

   Optional experiences

   • Motorboat trip around the Sirmione peninsula

   Easier option: Skip the walk to the Grotte di Catullo and wait at a cafe in the old town; a small tourist train runs between the two.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Malcesine

   Activity: About 3 km on foot in Sirmione, with steep steps up the castle tower. The Rocca Scaligera and the Grotte di Catullo are both normally closed on Mondays, and we set departure dates so that day 7 avoids a Monday. If it does fall on one, we walk the old town and the castle walls and moat from outside, add the motorboat trip round the peninsula to see the Roman villa from the water, and enter only what is open.

8. Day 8: A morning in Verona, on to Lake Como

   Malcesine to Verona, then across Lombardy to Como

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Como
   Day 8 details

   This is the longest drive of the trip, about 270 km and three and three quarter hours in all, so we split it with a full morning and lunch in Verona. We leave Malcesine at 8:30 and are in Verona, a UNESCO World Heritage city, by about 9:45. A licensed local guide walks us through the old centre inside the loop of the Adige: into the Roman Arena, built in the 1st century AD and still used for summer opera; along Via Mazzini to Piazza delle Erbe and its market stalls; to Piazza dei Signori and the Gothic tombs of the Scaliger rulers; past the courtyard of the house called Juliet's; and across the Roman Ponte Pietra. Lunch is sit-down in the old town. At about 2 pm we drive west on the motorway past Brescia and Bergamo to Como, arriving around 4:30, where we stay two nights by the lake. The evening is free on the lakefront and in the old walled town.

   Included

   • Guided walk through Verona with a licensed local guide
   • The Verona Arena
   • Sit-down lunch in Verona
   • Drive to Como

   More active option: Climb the steps to Castel San Pietro for the view over the river and rooftops before lunch.

   Free time: Evening free in Como

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot in Verona, then about 2.5 hours in the van with a coffee stop.

9. Day 9: By boat to Bellagio

   Como to Bellagio by ferry and back

   • By ferry
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Como
   Day 9 details

   We take the slow public boat up the lake from Como's pier in the morning. It takes about two hours, criss-crossing between villages and villas, the best way to see the western shore without driving its narrow road. In Bellagio, on the point where the lake divides, we walk the lakeside to the gardens of Villa Melzi, laid out in the 19th century with a Japanese water garden, old camellias and statues along the water. Lunch is your choice in Bellagio, with your guide pointing out a few places away from the main street, and the steep stepped lanes up the hill are worth an hour. We come back to Como in mid-afternoon on the fast boat, about 45 minutes. The rest of the afternoon is free: ride the funicular up to Brunate for the view, or visit the cathedral. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner together in Como.

   Included

   • Lake Como ferry from Como to Bellagio and the fast boat back
   • Villa Melzi gardens in Bellagio
   • Farewell dinner in Como

   Optional experiences

   • Ferry across to Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo
   • Brunate funicular from Como

   Free time: Lunch and the afternoon free

   Activity: Bellagio's lanes are steep with many steps; the lakefront and the Villa Melzi paths are level.

10. Day 10: Como to Milan and home

    Como to Milan Malpensa Airport or Milano Centrale

    • Drive about 1 h
    • Breakfast
    Day 10 details

    A last breakfast by the lake, and time for a walk along the shore or to the Tempio Voltiano, the small domed museum to Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric battery, who was born in Como. Mid-morning our van takes the group to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), about 55 km and an hour, arriving at about 11:30. If you are staying on in Milan, we drop you at Milano Centrale station instead, or your guide puts you on a regional train from Como, which takes under an hour. Your guide stays with the group until the last drop-off and helps with check-in questions. Book flights leaving Malpensa after about 2 pm. If you want more time, add nights in Milan or Como before you book: we can arrange the hotel and a transfer on the day you leave.

    Included

    • Transfer to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) or Milano Centrale

    Free time: Early morning free in Como

    Activity: Book a flight from Malpensa leaving after about 2 pm.

Wildlife and weather: June to September brings long days and open lifts, with warm to hot weather on the lakes and in Venice and cool air above 2,000 m. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in the Dolomites, which is why we walk the Tre Cime in the morning.

• Venice2 nights
• Cortina d'Ampezzo2 nights
• Bolzano1 night
• Malcesine2 nights
• Como2 nights