Dolomites Advice
 

I am traveling to the Dolomites and had a couple of questions:

1. What is best time of year to visit (summer activities)?
I heard May is best time to travel Italy but what about the Alps, is there still snow?

2. Others on Fodors have said that Val Gardena(sp?) is good place to visit, is this area best for good sites, hikes, etc?

3. Any recommendations on places to stay?

Thanks.

I summer05, I love the Dolomites. I love the end of summer in the Dolomites when the rest of Italy is so hot and humid but in the Dolomites the air is crisp and wonderful, the sun is gently but warm.

I have stayed in small towns but always with friends never in hotels so from that viewpoint I can't offer any suggestions.

I can tell you that Italians that own residences in the Dolomites go there from anywhere from May to the end or middle of October depending on their jobs or whether they work or not.

One beautiful small town is Agordo, you might want to go onto Google and see if anything interest you. Lots of people there love to hike, the small town is beautiful and the people are very nice.

We drove through the Dolomite on our way to Venice from Verona mid-May (in 2001). It was beautiful. I'd love to go back and actually stay someplace for a couple of nights. Orteisi was very lovely, but the sights as we continued driving were overwhelming. I don't think you could pick a bad spot.

There was still snow (nothing I would call "skiable" but enough to be visually stunning.

Thank you, has anyone stayed in one of those mountain lodges?

Hi
We were there several years ago and stayed in San Vito. Ithink just about any place in the Dolomites is beautiful. San Vito was a nice small village, it had a tourist office and was conveient for our trip over the pass back to Austria. we were there in late august and had snow on the mountain tops. Really great drive.

Is there a spectacular drive I shouldn't miss? I am traveling from Lake area to Venice.

Summer 05

I was there on a trip a couple of years ago, at the very beginning of June.

We drove from Venice through Bolzano, which is a nice place to stop -- see the "iceman" and other interesting stuff at the museum there. Then we continued on to Castlerotto.

We didn't have a reservation, just went to a couple of places advertising "zimmer" (rooms for rent) and found a very nice and cheap room. Your time of year is off-season, so I don't think you need to book in advance.

However, since it is off-season, some places are more closed-up; Cortina, for example, was dead. Most of the places to stay in Castlerotto seemed to be open, and the town was quiet but not creepy-quiet! Restaurants/shops etc were open (not the case, in general, in Cortina) and there was a festival going on, where they were bringing the cows up into the higher summer pastures.

We were able to walk and hike in the area; many gorgeous green meadows filled with early wildflowers. However, most of the higher trails were still snow-covered.

We also drove into the Val Gardena, very amazing.

The Dolomites are spectacular. If you can stomach Sylvester Stallone movies (he is not my favorite...)"Cliffhanger" was filmed there.

What is the best travel to get to Dolomites from Lake Area? Main highway from Milan or northern route through back country? Is it a hard visit in one day?