scrb11

In the planning stages, thinking about next May/June, would fly in on a Sunday and leave on a Saturday. So it's about 12 full days.

Want to visit cities and regions which would be new to me, so definitely looking at the Dolomites and Torino/Aosta. Haven't read up on the Dolomites yet but Aosta seems to have some appealing day trips to Breuil-Cervina and Pila.

In addition, would like to spend 2 nights in Verona and visit Vincenza and possibly Bergamo and Brescia.

Went to Venice last month and went to Lake Como a couple of years ago so those can be skipped. Maybe if the itinerary works out, visiting Lake Como might be an option.

Car rental is an option. If all these destinations could be reached by train, that would be the preference but it sounds like a car would save time in Aosta and presumably around the Dolomites as well.

The number of bases and where to base (parking) would also figure into this.

Flights are not booked yet and it would be an award ticket so flexibility might be limited. Seems like flying into VRN and leaving out of TRN or vice versa would work out well. MXP has more flights but getting in and out of it seems a real hassle.

Is this too much area to cover? Typically people go to Lake Como, Venice, Cinque Terre for Northern Italy. I found a map online from Frommer's Northern Italy book where they're hitting every place I listed plus Cinque Terre, Venice, Lake Como, Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore.

Also Bassano del Grappa, Bolzano, Trent and Cremona, Genoa and Piedmont wine country. for a 2-week trip. May have to hunt down the book to see the text.

I removed a lot of the destinations but still covering a lot of ground from Aosta to Cortina d'Ampezzo (or wherever I'd stay near the Dolomites).

HappyTrvlr

Piedmonte, Lake Garda, Dolomites...
Or
Bassano, Lake Garda, Bolzano, Trento,Dolomites
We enjoyed staying in Ortisei, Val Gardena, in tne Dolomites.

bobthenavigator

I agree with happytrylr,
I like the first itinerary. I would not do both Aosta and the Dolomites, and Cortina is not a good location to see the Dolomites---too far east.

scrb11

Isn't Piedmont pretty much near Aosta? Thought it was just an hour or two from Torino to Aosta.

How many days do the Dolomites or Aosta region merit?

Does going up on cable cars towards the Matterhorn still require heavy clothing in May/June?

Suzybg

I just took my parents around the Dolomiti last October. It was only for 4 days but it was beautiful and we all loved it! We had a car and were able to drive from town to town and mountain to mountain.

The one thing to watch is snow over the passes. One of the most famous - Passo dello Stelvio - only opens at the very end of May/early June.

We stayed in the beautiful town of Ortisei which was central to all the scenic drives. The main highlight was the Tre Cime. You do need to pay to access the road but it is well worth it. If you like hiking you can walk a path that circles the mountain. We drove all around the dolomiti on one day - but my mother suffers from car sickness and the windy roads got a bit much for her so on the next day we drove the nice straight motorway to Verona. The dolomiti have a more German/Austrian feel so it was nice to get to Verona to have a more Italian experience as well. Other drives should include the Passo Pordoi and Gavia.

We also stayed in Prato allo Stelvio this past May - to watch a stage of the cycling race The Giro d'italia. We stayed at the Hotel Zentral - which was a beautiful spa - fantastic views, nice indoor pool/spa area, free hire bicycles, large buffet breakfast and wonderful dinners.

Our relatives from Liguria (near the cinque terre) did drive over to meet us so it is possible to do both - I think it was a 4 hour drive for them. The feel of the two areas is completely different. I liked sightseeing in the Dolomiti but Liquria feels like real Italy. I love Lerici, Porto Venere, Sarzana, Santa Margherita. The food is amazing - especially the seafood and gelato.

bobthenavigator

The heart of Piemonte is near Alba and Asti---the Langhe wine country. Torino is also worth your time.

scrb11

Is there a list or itinerary of these drives in the Dolomiti?

I don't mind driving the mountains but have to wonder if it would require snow tires or chains, depending on how the weather might be.

Sounds like you'd have to be prepared with cold winter gear. That might be a drag to have to pack heavy clothing as well as summer clothing.

Anna_Galea

By Italian law you have carry snow chains with you in certain regions of Italy, we hired them at car hire office when we visited Trento and Dolomites last December, we never used them though - but you never know if authorites might stop you to check this out - then you would be fined. I would not know whether this applies in the month of May/June - check this out on the internet.

Agree with above fodorites that Ortisei area is really really lovely, the dolomites scenary is breathtaking there. I can understand the Fodorite saying that her mum had got car sick to reach Passo di Selvio - it is a drive up very high narrow mountain roads at a very high altitude where oxygen levels drop (but not that bad of course), in fact when we arrived it was so very much colder than in Silandro but the view is undescribable - you see the beautiful dolomite mountains with their snow peaks all below you - on the other side below you are at the Swiss border. There were stalls selling sausages etc, and souvenir shops. Not for the very faint hearted maybe because of the high altitude. We were there in September 2005 - locals were telling us that it was snowing in August of that year!!

We had stayed for a few days in Silandro (also called Schlanders by the locals), it is also a nice town in the valley in surrounding mountains - very accessible and has a very Austrian/German feel, as a Fodorite mentioned about this area.

Last December, we went to Trento city (which is nice) and went for a day trip to Madonna di Campiglio. It does have lovely scenary of the Dolomites along the way, but not as spectacular in my opinion, as that of Ortisei/Bolzano - Alto Adige area (northern Italian Dolomites). But further to the north of it would be spectacular as you would be reaching the northern Dolomites.

The Alps to the north west Italy, border with Switzerland and France are of course also really spectacular and majestic and different in shape from the Dolomites (area around Aosta in Italy and Chamonix on Mount Blanc in France - crossing the long tunnel of this mountain from one country to the other is an experience in itself. The Swiss alps are of course just as breath-taking.

I have never been to Cortina D'Ampezzo, but as another Fodorite mentioned it is on the very east of the Dolomites, I would prefer to go more westwards to Trent/Bolzano area and to their north, and maybe also fit in Italian/French/Swiss alps, always driving westards.

You definitely need to hire a car to see the best of the Dolomites and the Alps, you would be missing so much if you don't.

scrb11

Is parking difficult in Aosta or Trento or any other city that you might base in to visit the Alps and the Dolomites?

I know it will be a problem in Verona and other bigger cities but wondering about towns and cities near the mountains.

scrb11

It's best to avoid flying in and out of MXP, especially with no plans to go into Milan?

But availability for VRN or TRN may not be great.

sundriedpachino

Scrb11 there is some really good, well laid out info in Fodors Venice and the Best of Northern Italy.

uhoh_busted

We found MXP easy to fly out of, although we had no interest in going into Milan on our last trip. It was easily accessible from the highway. You might be able to do it for one leg of your international flight.

scrb11

I guess MXP could be an option. Also Linate. I could either fly into Verona and head to Verona or fly into MXP and head to Turin.

Long car rides though.

Anna_Galea

Agree about uhol_busted about MXP. Driving to MXP is ideal for visiting the Italian Lakes and Alps, whilst Verona is a good option for visiting the Dolomites, and also Venice. So I would use two airports, to drive and depart on holiday.

Turin also has an airport, but I have never used it.

I am sure you will find parking in Trento, you have to be careful of course, like anywhere in Italy, that you do not enter restricted areas in city centres, or you will get the unpleasant surprise of receiving a fine even several months after your trip. But there are plenty of roads surrounding city centre where you may find parking.

We had stayed at a chalet style hotel about 10kms outside the city of Trento, and visited the city in the afternoon, went back to hotel to freshen up, and in the evening went for dinner again at a hotel just on the outskirts of Trento. I wanted to try this restaurant out because of its high reviews. It is situated on a hill just a couple of kms outside Trento. It is called Hotel Villa Madruzzoi and I highly recommend it, even just to go for lunch and dinner - the view must be fantastic during the day. It might make a good base to even visit Lake Garda area, Verona, Padova, and even to do a day trip to Venice.

Bolzano further north, would also make a good base to visit, in my opinion, some of the most spectacular scenery of the Dolomites. Silandro (or Schlanders) even further to the north, is also a lovely small town with a very Austrian feel.

scrb11

So it seems more likely to find flights to VCE or MXP than any of the other airports in Lombary, Piedmont or Veneto.

One possibility would be to fly into VCE, then bus to the Mestre station and take the train to Verona, then taxi into wherever I'm staying. Alternately, could rent a car out of the airport and drive, which viamichelin shows as about 90 minutes.

There are transfer services but it's like 200 Euro so might as well rent a car if I can't swing the train trip (with luggage). If those trains are full, would really be a drag to take luggage on.

But really don't want a car except in the mountains.

MXP is too far west for Dolomites. Maybe if I head towards Turin and Aosta from there ...

Anna_Galea

I do not think it is worth the hassle of taking bus to Mestre, then take train to Verona, then a taxi - unless you prefer not to drive. It will be so convenient to hire car straight from airport and drive to Verona, avoiding a lot of hassle with lugage.

If you are not driving, (maybe you are not accustomed to driving in mountaineous regions, I would base myself in Bolzano rather than Trento, to be closer to the northern Dolomites, where you get the best scenary. I am sure there would be buses to take you to towns and villages, like Ortisei. It is a very easy drive to Bolzano on the autostrada, and the surrounding mountain scenary is stunning.

I just checked for you - there are also airports in Verona, Trento, Bolzano and Bergamo. If I am not mistaken (check this out) Ryan Air does flights to Bergamo. Check out also easyjet.

It would still be a drive to go back to Venice to catch a plane back home, so MXP might still a good option even if you are not going to Aosta, as goegraphically the distance does not seems that much longer, check it out on google maps after you decide what town/city/village you are going to base yourself in Alto Adige.

If you decide to base yourself in Bolzano, you can make a stop in Trento for lunch on the way.

I do not know whether you still intend to make a stop in Aosta, or visit Piedmont. Maybe you can base yourself on the western side of the Lake Maggiore for your last 5 days and do day trips to Piedmont and Aosta.

scrb11

I'm hoping to rent the car only for the Dolomites and the Aosta/Turin portions of the trip and day trip from Verona to Bergamo, Vincenza and other cities around Verona by train or bus, because of the hassle and expense of trying to park in those cities.

Plus it seems public transport between those towns would be better than up in the mountains?

As for my flight arrangements, I'm trying to fly on an award ticket, which means going through CDG on AF and taking whatever they have available. I guess I could just fly to CDG and then pay for a LCC to the airport that I want.

But while I would save time on transfers when I arrive and leave Italy, my guess is it could be a hassle to switch from the transatlantic flight to an LCC. May not get the same baggage allowance on a LCC for one thing.

Though it's something I will look into.

Anna_Galea

Yes, it would be possible to take day trips to towns and cities like Bergamo and Brescia, as the distance is not that long from Verona. Yes, it might be a hassle for you to park in cities, to visit by you would have to be careful you do not drive in the very centre in the restricted zones. Usually there are big parking lots just outside the centre which would involve a fee. It is all a matter of taste (and patience to find parking space). Everything has its pros and cons I guess, driving to towns and cities saves you the hassle of going to train station, waiting for train etc. But, if you prefer doing the driving in the Dolomites, then places you mention are relatively short train/bus rides for sure.

You see the majestic Dolomite mountains by car for sure. Most of the roads are not that scary at all to drive, so do not lose heart. I would only think that up the Stelvio pass which takes you up to the highest plateau on the Dolomites is a long ride up a high winding mountain, but you can easily avoid that route. Many roads in valleys around the mountaineous areas fo the Dolomites are quite wide and easy to drive.

So yes, it would for sure be also a good option to hire car just to travel northwards to the Dolomites, maybe making a short stop in Trento and basing yourselves in Bolzano area maybe in a village in one of the valleys of the dolomites so that you would enjoy the magnificent scenary as soon as you wake up in the morning.

scrb11

OK, my dates are more or less set, flying into Verona on 5/26, flying out of Torino on 6/7 (to FCO, from which I'll return to the US the next day).

So that's 11 full days between landing at VRN and departing at TRN.

Now it's a question of how many days to devote to each area. I could see driving from Verona to Ortisei on the first full day and it's only about a 2 to 2.5 hour drive so I'd get most of that day too.

I could devote 3 or 4 full days up there for a total of 3.5 to 4.5.

With 4.5 days up around the Val Gardena, there would be 6 full days left. However, the drive from Ortisei to say Aosta is about 5-6 hours, so it takes up half the day, if not more.

So 5 to 5.5 days, I was thinking 3 days in Aosta, to visit the mountains around the city as day trips, and then the last couple of days in Torino, where I'd turn in my car (looks like they have train service from the airport to the main train stations in the center).


I was thinking of maybe putting in two days between the Dolomites and Aosta. Lake Como is in between them but for some reason, driving times to Bellagio or Menaggio are 4.5-5 hours or 5 to 5.5 hours, meaning I'm still losing half a day in transit. Maybe the roads to these Lake Como towns are slower, winding roads versus the roads between Ortisei and Aosta?

I've been to Lake Como before and I wouldn't mind going again, especially between the two mountainous regions. But it would mean taking a day away from the Dolomites or Aosta/Piedmont or both.

So it would come down to either:

Dolomites: 4.5 days
Aosta: 3.5 days
Torino: 2 days

Or

Dolomites: 3.5 days
Lake Como: 1.5-2 days
Aosta: 2.5 days
Torino: 2 days

uhoh_busted

Driving in and around Lake Como is REALLY a pain. We were there for 5 days or so on our last Italy trip, and I have think it is clearly an area to visit sans auto. Maybe you want to do Lake Garda instead?