I and a friend of mine plan to hike Dolomites by setting up a base area and do a daily hiking for a week in September, 2024. We chose Cortina d'Ampezzo as the base area so we are going to fly into Venice, but the lodging in or near there is $250 a day and up. Are there any towns/type of lodging near Cortina that is more affordable to do our hiking? We already purchased the tickets so we must fly into venice. Any suggestions are welcome.

Will you rent a car upon arrival? Are your hikes more in the eastern part of the Dolomites?

I did a search on booking.com for a week in September and found some properties in San Vito di Cadore that would less expensive than $250/night. It's about 12 km. south of Cortina. There is bus service between the two towns, but you'd have to check timetables for frequency and time of the last return of the day(s).

But you would find many more and nicer options in your budget range in Ortisei or perhaps Selva.

Unfortunately, you've picked the most expensive town in the Dolomites. Are you driving or traveling by public transport?

San Vito di Cadore is a 15 minute drive away, San Candido (which I love) is 38 minutes away. Alta Badia is about 42 minutes, Corvara about 48 minutes, Arabba about 49 minutes.

Take a look at S. Cristina too - located between Selva and Ortisei...but in Val Gardena.

Thank you, Jean and Melnq8, for the suggestions. Usually Hotels.com search results include nearby towns, but.I didn't see any of these towns. Their hotels seem more affordable than the ones in Cortina. I will rent a car to get around.

Also look on Airbnb. We just spent 17 nights in that region in 6 locations and rented apartments everywhere we stayed.

Go over the mountain to Alta Badia. I stayed for more than a week at Garni Le Tranquilite in Corvara in Badia. Less than €60 per night per person in a double room. There were also several other places in the same village that had similar prices.

If you'll have a car, you can (and should) drive all over the area, over lots of passes, through valleys. There are trail heads all over the place. Don't confine your lodging search to just near Cortina.

If you get to Bolzano, don't miss the Ice Man exhibits at the archeology museum.

Booking.com offers apartments around Cortina for 700 - 1000 USD for a whole week