My husband and I will be staying in Cortina d’Ampezzo for 4 days after a few days in Venice. We were planning on taking the train to Bolzano and renting a car for our time in the Dolomites. I'm having 2nd thoughts about the rental and hoping for a little help on recommendations regarding trains/buses vs renting a car while in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Thank you

Why the second thoughts on driving? We were only in the Dolomites for a couple of days, but driving was super easy. Rail service is extremely limited. Not sure about buses but I'm not a big fan of buses. Here is our trip report: Copenhagen, Venice, Dolomites, Lake Garda 6 nights!

You'd see much, much more if you had a car. And if either of you has any tendency AT ALL to motion sickness, bus rides on mountain roads can be torture.

If you have any time in Bolzano, I highly recommend the Otzi exhibits in the South Tyrol Archeology Museum.

Do you want to go to Cortina or to Bolzano/Bozen?
Trains from Venice to Calalzo and connecting buses to Cortina run about every 2 hrs.
Trains and buses in the Province of Bolzano/Bozen run every 30 to 60 min, even into remote valleys.
But if you prefer to rent a car: why not at Venice airport?
The driving times from Venice aiport or Treviso to Cortina and from Bolzano/Bozen to Cortina are more or less the same.

thank you so much for your time and responses. We have decided to bus it to Bolzano and then renting a car and driving to Cortina. Cant wait!!!!!

So your trip starts in Venice, then you're going to take the train or bus to Bolzano and then rent a car from there and driving to Cortina?

First of all, I'd make sure you will be able to rent a car in Bolzano and be able to return it in Cortina or wherever you go at the end of the trip before flying out. The one-way charges could be high if that's what you're planning to do, pick up in Bolzano and return in Cortina or Venice.

Second of all, I'd check the train times on trenitalia.com. On Google Maps, it shows a 7-8 hour bus ride fro Venice to Bolzano.

As someone else suggested, it might be better to rent the car in Venice or Venice airport and then drive up to Cortina, which takes 2 hours. Cortina to Bolzano is another 2 hours drive. And Bolzano back to Venice is 2.5 to 3 hours. When you drive in the Dolomites, you won't be able to go as fast as on the Autostrada between Verona and Venice.

I'm planning to pick up and drop off my car in Venice in late August and early September. I will drive to Grado, then Trieste, then Cortina. I don't have plans to go out all the way to Bolzano though. Nor drive too far west of Cortina other than to visit some of the nearby mountains.

I haven't tried public transportation to get around the Dolomites, always rented a car for maximum flexibility. I've tried the bus from Santa Cristina to Ortisei, which is only a few miles, just to avoid dealing with parking in Ortisei. But had to wait a bit for the bus both ways, probably spent about an hour more for that short trip.

So you might consider having a car throughout the Dolomites and making sure the places where you stay has parking, especially if they're centrally located. That will be an issue in Bolzano as well. In Venice, you don't rent a car until you're leaving Venice, because obviously parking is very limited.