CASTELROTTO - Dolomite drives and excursions ... for Kfusto
 

Kfusto - For lovely excursions/hikes close to Castelrotto head for the ALPE DI SIUSI area - or ORTISEI & the UPPER VAL GARDENA - and use the lifts.

- You can reach ALPE DI SIUSI by cable-car from Siusi (- fine views of Sciliar) or bus from Castelrotto - or by car if the road's open (- car access in low season only. Go early). For fine views don't miss the Florian chairlift from SALTRIA.

- From the UPPER VAL GARDENA the best lift for panoramic views is DANTERCEPIES from Selva. CIAMPINOI is also good.

- From ORTISEI I can recommend the SECEDA lift (- a 2-stage lift). Panoramic views** and fine hikes into the Odle range from the top.


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If you have a car, here are some lovely excursions from Castelrotto:

TOUR 1 - SELLA & 4 PASSES TOUR (100km/63miles approx)

If you only do one tour, THIS is the one!

Route:-
Castelrotto-Ortisei-Selva di Val Gardena-SELLA PASS-Pordoi Pass-(SASS PORDOI** cable car)-Arabba-Campolongo Pass-CORVARA-Colfosco-GARDENA PASS-Ortisei-Castelrotto.

The SELLA and GARDENA Passes are 2 of the most spectacular in the Dolomites.

Don't miss the SASS PORDOI cable car ride (from Pordoi Pass) for awesome panoramic views!
There is a cafe/restaurant with picnic tables at the top.

The villages en route also make nice stops, especially Corvara, Colfosco and Ortisei.

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TOUR 2 - LAKE BRAIES & PRATO PIAZZA (88km/54 miles each way)

Lake Braies is THE most beautiful lake in the Dolomites IMO. Idyllic setting!

Route:-
Castelrotto-Ponte Gardena-(S12)-Bressanone-(S49)-Val Pusteria-Brunico-Monguelfo.
After Monguelfo turn right and follow signs for LAGO DI BRAIES.

Ideal for boating, walking, picnic, swimming (if you're brave!) ...
Cafe & restaurant.

If you have time afterwards, drive up to nearby PRATO PIAZZA for more superb Dolomite views.

Brunico makes a pleasant stop on the return journey. Alternatively Bressanone or nearby Novacella Monastery.

[You could come back a scenic way from Valdaora (West of Monguelfo) over 2 passes (Furcia Pass-S. Vigilio di Marebbe-Passo di Erbe-Val di Funes) - but this would double the journey time].

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TOUR 2(B) - LAKE BRAIES & CORTINA

This is an alternative extended version of the above, returning via Cortina

Route (- as above to Lake Braies):-
i.e. Castelrotto-Ponte Gardena-(S12)-Bressanone-(S49)-Val Pusteria-Brunico-Monguelfo.
After Monguelfo turn right and follow signs for LAGO DI BRAIES.

From Lake Braies return to the Val Pusteria main road (S49), turn right and follow signs for Dobbiaco/CORTINA (S51).
Lake Dobbiaco (- just south of Dobbiaco) makes another nice stop.

From CORTINA take the S48 Falzarego Pass (Great Dolomite Road).
At the summit don't miss the LAGAZUOI** cable-car ride. Awesome!

From Lagazuoi take the scenic VALPAROLA PASS. San Cassiano makes a pleasant stop on the descent.
Return to Castelrotto via Corvara, Gardena Pass and Ortisei - as in Tour 1.

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TOUR 3 - VAL D'EGA & BOLZANO (Ice Man)

Bolzano is only 25km/15miles by the shortest route. A longer (65km) but much more scenic route is via Carezza & Val d'Ega. Here it is:

Route:-
Castelrotto-Siusi-Fie a Sciliar-(left)Presule-Tires-Passo Nigra-CAREZZA.

At CAREZZA there is a chairlift ride* to 'Paolina' Refuge (cafe/bar) for fine views of CATINACCIO and LATEMAR.

From Carezza take the S241 to Bolzano.
(This is the 'Great Dolomite Road')
2km below Carezza don't miss LAKE CAREZZA (2 mins walk from the car park).

After Nova Levante you descend through the scenic Val d'Ega Gorge to Bolzano. Don't miss Oetzi the 'Ice Man'.
N.B. The most central car-park in Bolzano is at PIAZZA WALTHER.

[If you return by the shortest route the round-trip is approx. 90km/56miles]

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I can also suggest other tours if you want more.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Wow Steve--great stuff !

Thanks Bob.

Topping for Kfusto

Hi Steve, I just saw your description of some excursions in the Dolomites, dated 10/24/2004! Although I do not know if you are "still there", I risk to put you a question.
You descrive both rides to Sass Pordoi cable car and Passo di Falzarego - Rifugio Lagazuoi as "awesome panoramic views"!
As I intend to make, next August (very crowded I guess), a trip by car in the Dolomites, if I had to choose "THE cable car" to ride "to the sky", in a dramatic panorama/amateur photographer point of view, which one would you reccomend?
They seem both majestic/awasome/overwhelming/dramatic/etc...etc!!! Do they both have 360º views? Which one has the more spectacular ascension? Which one is closer to those jagged/rugged/marvelous peaks of the Dolomites?

Thanks in advance for some "help".
Best regards. Manuel.

Manuel,

Steve is indeed still around and giving great advice. I'll let him answer.

I will say I skied all around Cortina a few years ago, doing both the Sella Rhonda and Paso Falzarego routes by skiing.

Awesome, spectacular --and I will never forget it.

Buon viaggio!

Appreciate your taking time to post this. I hope to use this someday! Especially in a cabriolet* (since we sold our motorbike).

*convertible

Hi Manuel - I see this is your first post - so ... Welcome :)

Lagazuoi or Sass Pordoi? They are certainly 2 of the best cable-car rides in Italy IMO.

But if I had to choose ... Lagazuoi! (What do you think, Dayle?) On a clear day you can see as far a Grossglockner in Austria. Awesome ride ...

From a photographic point of view there are many points throughout the Dolomites for close-up views of the peaks.

Don't miss ... Ciampinoi/Sasso Lungo, Florian (Saltria, Alpe di Siusi), Sciliar, Colfosco, Sella Pass, Rosengarten/Latemar ... to name a few.

It's a photographers paradise :)

Let me know if I can be of more help ...

Steve

HI Steve, THANKS VERY MUCH for your prompt answer.

I "feel" we (me and my friends) have a very ambitious and "heavy" program. We will fly from Lisbon to Milano, get there a van (may be a Mercedes vito or something else), stay the first night in Bolzano (already booked), then cross the Dolomites to Cortina and then we will proceed to Bruck am der Grossglockner, in Austria, where we will stay for a week (already reserved), from where we will drive to Salzburg and around the Salzkammergut and also a ride to Insbruck!

So we will do the Dolomites twice, the first one from west to east, from Bolzano to Cortina, in our way to Bruck, and the second one on our return to take the flight back to Lisbon, driving east to west. So I guess we can ride one of the refered "passos" in the the first cross and the second one on our way back.

In the first "cross" (planned just for one day (!?) we will leave Bolzano to the north (A22), turn right do the Val Gardena, then Passo Sella, Passo Pordoi (possibly the lift ut here, if the weayher is good!), Arabba, Passo di Falzarego, passing west of Cotina through the S51 on our drive to Dobbiaco and then Lienz and (finally!) Bruck!

On our way back, at the end of our austrian week, we will do the reverse itenerary till Dobbiaco, then Carbonin (I think we will not have time to drive up to the Rifugio Auronzo to see the Tre Cime di Lavaredo), lago di Misurina and then Cortina. As our final destination, this first way back day, will be Alleghe (in the Cordevole valley)(the only place we could book budget rooms), we will lunch (one hour?) in the Cortina main "piazza" (just to feel the atmosphere!) and the proceed our driving to the Passo di Falzarego, where it would be nice to get the Lagazuoi cable car!. After that our destination is Allegue, but I would like first (don't know if we will have time) to do some more of the Sella round (we can do Passo di Valparola, La Villa, Corvara, Arabba and come back to Falzarego, or go through Arabba, Corvara, left to the Gardena Pass and again the Passo di Sella (should we have a look to Canazei, I guess not), Passo Pordoi, Arabba and finally Alleghe (Uff!!!).

Next day we wil drive south, turn west to Falcade, Passo di Valles, Passo di Role (I guess it is spectacular too) and have a coffee at San Martino di Castrozza. After that (and because for sure we will not have the time to go, in Pedrazzo, a little bit north up to Vigo di Fassa and Lago di Carezza!), we will drive west to Predazzo and Montagna and then south to Trento and Verona. After the night in Verona, next day we will drive to Milano and fly home!!!

I "feel" we will not be able to accomplish all this driving (with dozens of "photographing" stops for sure). But this is just a "draft" and we can always shorten the itineraries if necessary.

Thanks Steve for the patience you had (?) to read this long "dream drive". Anyway I would like to have your comments on it.

Thanks in advance for your comments. Best regards.

Manuel.

Manuel - when are you going? I've thought about a trip like this - will it be impossible to drive int he winter?

To Kenav:

I'll make this trip from 1 to 11 next August! A quite crowded time and possibly very hot.
I'm afraid I did'nt understand your allusion/question about driving in the winter. Pls clarify.
Regards. Manuel.

Just wondering if roads are open and easy to drive on in the winter - if it's very snowy.

bookmarking

Manuel - I'm not sure you'll be able to accomplish all that driving either - you're certainly trying to cover a lot in 2 days! I think you might need to make one or two changes as you go ...

And (- weather permitting) I'd strongly recommend you try and fit in several cable-car rides - there are many good ones. They are highlights of any trip to the Dolomites IMO ...

On your outward Bolzano-Cortina journey I'd recommend the 'Sciliar' route to Val Gardena (- via Fie', Siusi, Castelrotto, Passo Pinei ...) rather than your planned A22 route via Ponte Gardena.

This is a lovely 'gateway' route to the Dolomites with great views en route. Take time for a lift ride or a coffee stop at Selva or Ortisei :)

I might be tempted to do the Gardena Pass-Colfosco-Valparola route from Selva ... but really you can't go wrong either way :)

I'd also suggest you try and fit in Lake Braies on your return journey. It's the most gorgeous lake in Italy IMO ...

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Hi Steve, thanks again for your prompt and clear answer!

I have already thinked about some other route from Bolzano to the Sella round. In fact, as I have plenty of time to browse the web to prepare my trip, I do get lots of opinions and advices, some of them probably not "reliable". Imagine that I got an advice about doing, for a better scenic front perspective of the mountains when driving, the Sella pass route south to north, with special reccomendation of the ascent from Canazei (better than the descent to Canazei!).

May be I'm beginning to "over optimize" my itinerary. But if the above advice is correct (PLS CONFIRM), and because, in fact, we can do the Sella round clockwise or counterclockwise, I can plan a different route when leaving Bolzano.

We can do the Sciliar route you reccomend (up to Ortisei), or take the Val d'Ega road via Nova Levante and Lago di Carezza (pls your opinon, although I know Lago di Braies is your favorite, and so I intend to go there on our return trip)to Canazei, and then go north to make the reffered ascent south-north of Pass Sella. After that we can continue clockwise via Corvara and Arabba (or La Villa and Pass di Valparola), and then maybe take the Lagazuoi lift (leaving the Sass Pordoi lift to our return).

Ok, that's enough! I feel I have to calm down and control my enthusiasm/anxiety! Anyway will you be so kind and give your precious advise?

Thanks again. Regards.
Manuel.

To do any of this tour - where do you fly into?

Hi Kenav - Where are you flying from?

Most convenient airports for the Dolomites are Bolzano, Innsbruck, Verona, Brescia, Venice, Munich, Milan ...

Whether you can tour the Dolomites in winter depends on road conditions, of course. The passes are occasionally closed by snow - but are usually cleared very quickly.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

And skiing it is fabulous! Buon viaggio Manuel!

Manuel - Any approach to the Sella Ronda is magnifico :)

We all have our favourite routes - and you will surely get different recommendations. Personally I love the Sciliar/Val Gardena and/or Corvara/Val Badia approaches - but the Canazei/Fassa route via Val d'Ega is also lovely.

Really you can't go wrong whichever you choose :)

As for the passes, Sella and Gardena are both a delight with great views - clockwise or anticlockwise.

If you do take the Val Gardena approach I'd certainly recommend a short 'detour' to the top of the Sella pass (- fantastic views).

My suggestion would then be perhaps to backtrack to the Gardena/Valparola passes via Colfosco/Corvara ...

You could then do the Arabba/Pordoi route via Canazei on your return leg from Alleghe :)

Really you can't make a bad choice! You will wish you were staying a week ;)

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Thanks again Steve for your kind answers/advices. In fact I would wish to stay an all week in the Dolomires area, but my companions do also like "cities" and some "art", and I know that Salzburg (and the Salzkammergut and Dachstein regions) and Insbruck are very nice as well.

By the way, do you know the Dachstein region in Austria (south of the Hallstatt See)? If yes, my LAST question (still about lifts): which is the best? The Hunerkogel (an almost 1000 m ascent, near Schladming, south of the Dachstein) or the Kripenstein (acessed from near Hallstatt, north of the Dachstein group, with ice caves, mamooth holes, etc)? From what I've read, I guess the best (again from the scenery point of view) choice will be the Hunerkogel, but in fact I was not able to visualize the views from the top of it in the web (by the way, the Google Earth is WONDERFUL, you can "fly" over your planned itineraries and also visualize lots of pictures.

THANKS again Steve. I promise not to bother tou more (...at least very soon!).

Regards. Manuel.

Sorry to butt in on this post, but I had a quick question about the Dolomites, and there seem to be several helpful people here that could help!

We will be staying for several days in the Southern Bavaria/Tirol region (Reutte, Fussen, G-P area) in October. I just realized that northern Italy is such a short drive by car, and I've been tossing around the idea of popping down there for a day visit. We love breathtaking scenery...that's our #1 priority on the trip. Is it worth driving into Italy for several hours of sightseeing to take photos and have lunch? Or do you think it's too much for only a 5 day visit to the area?

We will also be visiting Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles, plus Mittenwald, G-P, Fussen, Oberammergau, Reutte, Innsbruck, Hall, and heading up the Zugspitze. With everything so close together, I'm thinking we could fit it all in during a 5 day visit, but I'd like some opinions. Thanks!

Also, would Steve's Tour 1 work best for us if we go?