Hiking in the Dolomites
 

Hello,

A group of friends and I are going to the Dolomites for a few days in August. We want to do some day hiking and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for trails around Bolzano, Selva Gardena, or Val Gardena? We are not super experienced hikers (looking for 6-12 mile roundtrip hikes), but definitely want to get to take in the scenery!

Any and all suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Lindsey
www.theeverydayadventurer.com

Also- if anyone has any other outdoor activity suggestions that are not hiking (but would still let us experience the scenery) I would love to hear those as well.

If you want to try something unusual which few foreign tourists know about, head to Mezzocorona (20km South of Bolzano towards Trento)and ask directions to the Burrone Giovannelli. This is approximately a 1 and a half hour hike with amazing scenery up the mountain to a small pretty locality called Monte where you can get decent food and wine/beer at reasonable prices at Albergo Ai Spiazzi. If you still have plenty of energy from the Monte you can walk up to the Malga Kraun (high Mountain pasture) which also serves food and drink. The Burrone is a proper hike with some step ladders to climb so not ideal if you suffer from vertigo but I've done it and I'm certainly no expert, also small kids do it all the time. The trek to Malga Kraun takes about another hour and a half and is very leisurely though uphill. From the Monte back down to Mezzocorona you can take the Funivia (cable car) which takes two minutes and will take you to the centre of the village.
If you are into wine there are some excellent small wineries in Mezzocorona as well as the mega Rotari Spumante establishment.

Sorry I was just told off by my husband! It takes about 3 hours to hike up the Burrone not one and a half : )

Carrom- thank you so much for the suggestion! It sounds like a great hike, and I like the idea that there is a place to eat lunch. I will be sure to try and do this! We all love wine... I will definitely google the wineries.:)

Here is what you want---the best.

http://www.onelittleworld.com/dolomites_1.html

Bobthenavigator- this is perfect! Thank you so much for sharing!

The best local wineries in mezzocorona, in my opinion, are De Vescovi and Dorigati. They are small family run. The best local red is called Teroldego - do try it!
Things to eat are "Torta di patate" a kind of large potato fritter served with ham, salami, beans etc and of course polenta and canederli.
We will be there in August so I will keep a lookout for you!

You are welcome.
They have the best reports, but I am biased--it is my son and his family.

Carrom- thanks again, I so appreciate the personal suggestions, it makes trips so much more fun!I will add the wineries to our itinerary.

We did two hikes from Ortisei, Val Gardena.
One, we took the fairly new train/ funicular up, hiked to the large cross.Beautiful, breathtaking.
Another hike was from the red gondolas. You will enter a huge meadow surrounded by
the high classic stone Dolomite peaks. Also breathtaking!I do not have more detailed info at hand as I am still traveling.
We didn't have hiking our hiking boots and did fine.

Thanks, Bob.

Lindsey, let me know if you have any questions. I can tell you that ms_go, DD and I all consider that to be one of our most enjoyable trips in recent years. The scenic splendor up on those trails is mind-blowing.

Also, if you'd prefer looking at pictures instead of reading about it...

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/f14888621

mr_go - thanks! love the pics (particularly the ones from day 5) ... I definitely like to read about everything as well. I am pretty excited to see the peaks, they do not look like any mountains I have ever seen.

Thanks again everyone for your suggestions- looks like I will have a pretty solid list before we leave!

Hi Lindsay,
Are you keen on hikes? May I ask you where you are going to stay since in suggesting eventual hikes it would be helpful to know where you have yourself booked in. If you do want to do hikes how fit are all members of your party? If I can suggest some hikes (let me know how long and what distances you want to hike) pls. feel free to ask, either here on this platform or in sending a mail to [email protected] . I am a local hiking guide and I am sure I can recommend you some wonderful hikes. Meanwhile have a look at some of my photos on https://picasaweb.google.com/111064870418881641859 , it will give you some ideas of what to expect. Being local I can assure you you will have a great time visiting this most wonderful area.

The Dolomites are wonderful in August, but there are going to be a lot of people around. Nevertheless, you won’t regret coming to see this place.

Gerd

Hi Gerd- thanks for reaching out to me! I will email you with what we are looking to do sometime today or tomorrow and see if you can suggest a few trails for us :)