Hello fellow Fodors travelers!

My fiance and I are traveling to Italy for our Honeymoon from June 26th to July 6th this year (2017). We will be spending two days in the Dolomites as I really love mountain scenery and have been amazed by the pictures I have seen so far.

We will be traveling from Lake Garda, staying in La Villa Stern for one night, and making our way back down to Venice as we leave the next day. We will have a car for this trip. Does anyone have recommended/can't miss short hikes in the Val Gardena area? We will only have one day here and want to make the most of our time in the Dolomites. We both really enjoy mountain scenery and I am into photography. Looking for those jaw dropping views that seem unreal when you are there. Also my fiance wouldn't want to do any hikes longer than probably 4 hours. We are both in good shape for hiking but this is our honeymoon and dont want to do anything too strenuous.

I have already done a lot of research, but wanted to get the perspective of those who may have been there before. Right now I have planned for us to take the lifts from Ortisei up to Saceda and hike down the valley to the Col Raiser to S. Cristina Val Gardena and take a bus back to Ortisei. The Alpe de susi area looks very tempting as well but the views from the top of Saceda looked unbeatable. Any recommendations for this area are appreciated.

As for the second day, we will make our way west before heading back down to Venice that afternoon. I have thought about doing the Lagazuoi Tunnels Hike early in the morning. From there,I I would like to do a short hike to see the Tre Cime that day as well. We still have to make our way back down to Venice that evening so dont know if trying to do both of those would be too much. Any advice you have here is greatly appreciated.

As always, thank you in advance for any thoughts or recommendations.

Cheers!

Luke

We spent a week hiking in the Dolomites in 2013. We did many hikes, but I would definitely try to find the phone booth lifts.

Details in our trip report

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-dolomites.cfm

Pictures here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...57636058614266

If you want to do two hikes in a day you can just take the lift up Lagazuoi, have a short hike around without doing the tunnel, than go back by lift and drive to Tre Cime for a short walk. If you absolutely want to do the tunnel do only the tunnel: you need something like 4 hours, you cannot do it in a hurry as you still need to be careful, have good shoes, a flashlight and safety helmets.

The Seceda option is a great one, take the path that branches left to Pieralonga on your way to Col Raiser. Many stunning vistas, and you feel much more face to face with your surroundings. Doesn't take long, so fits into your timetable. Alpe di Siusi is pretty, but you are in a huge meadow, so the views feel more distant.

My photos of Dolomites here, skip to last few pages.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskDja7Fy

The cablecar stations have great food and vistas, wonderful to soak it up with a beer, or coffee and applestrudel. Col Raiser a favourite of ours.

It is as beautiful as you imagine. Is there any way you can add a day in the Dolomites from your existing itinerary? Congratulations on your marriage.

Don't underestimate how frequently you will want to stop and really take in the scenery, which includes when you are driving. The roads include many many turnouts for that just that reason.

I confess I don't know a lot about the tunnel hikes, but in the Dolomiti, the last place I would want to be is anywhere that blocked my views of the Dolomiti themselves, or made me feel like I could be in a tunnel anywhere in the world. Seeing the Dolomiti ranges, one is really struck by their uniqueness and that it is only possible to see them in this one place on the planet. For such a short trip, maybe you want to see as many peaks as you can, not be inside a dark confining space with a flashlight.

I wish you good weather for your short visit.
I would agree with you that the north side of the Val Gardena
would likely give you the panoramas you're looking for--
Col Raiser and Seceda.
Consider a hike to the Comici hut further up the valley.

Thank you everyone for your replies and good information. I think we are going to stick with the Seceda hike and now try to fit in a small hike that day up the Puez Hutte trail. I also think we are going to skip doing the tunnels hike as many of your brought up great points about being in the tunnels.

I am homing to add a trip report when we get back with some links to the great views we hope to see. Just crossing our fingers for good weather.

Cheers!

A lot of the photos people tout seem to be taken up on Alpe di Siusi, with the meadow in the foreground and the mountains rising above in the distance.

But I plan to go up to Secede summit, didn't know about hiking across and then taking Col Raiser cable car down to Santa Cristina, which is where I'll be staying. So maybe I need to figure out the bus from SC to Ortisei.


So does anyone know the rules for drones in this area? Are these national parks, in which case I would expect that they're prohibited completely?

You should investigate the laws yourself.

Almost all of the area encompassing the Dolomites falls within a patchwork of seven national parks, and drones may not be flown over national parks. You would need to know the boundaries of each of the parks, but I have no doubt that the peaks, passes and dramatic scenery are all within one of the parks. The parks are also considered national heritage sites and are designated UNESCO World Heritage sites.