I plan to spend a week in July in Italian Dolomites. Where are the nicest and easy high altitude walks (1-4Hrs.)? Where should I make a base close to trail heads and not far from major cities (for a rainy day)?

Hello Boris, <BR> <BR>Will you have a car? If not, your best base would be Ortisei in the Val Gardena IMO. This is perhaps the most delightful of all the Dolomite villages, - and is within easy reach of Bolzano, Merano and Bressanone, and even Trento. <BR> <BR>Cable cars and chair-lifts from Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva di Val Gardena give you a great choice of hikes into the Odle, Sasso Lungo and the Alpi di Siusi. I can recommend the hike from the top of the Seceda cable-car ride above Ortisei! <BR> <BR>If you have a car, head for the Sella Massif (cable-car from Pordoi Pass up Sass Pordoi, - breathtaking!) or Lagazuoi cable-car on the Falzarego Pass towards Cortina (- even more breathtaking!) Both of these take you up to nearly 3000m. for some of the most awesome views in the Dolomites. <BR> <BR>Oh dear, - I'm envious already. Can I come? <BR> <BR>Steve

Boris: Obviously Steve's comments are very well informed. However, I did pick up on "...easy high altitude walks..." Ther are excellent walks/hikes right out of the town centers in Cortina and Castelrotto/Kastelruth. Most everything has the Austrian and Italian name up here as the area has changed hands so many times. In Castelrotto, if you cross the road from town center and proceed directly up the hill, you will come to the trailheads of seven well marked, well maintained walks/hikes. Since Castelrotto is already at fairly high altitude, the views for all hikes are great. There is a hike out of Tagusens/Tagusa, a small hamlet (about six buildings and an old church which is worth seeing) which we especially enjoyed. You will need a car to get to the hamlet about six miles from Castelrotto on a winding two lane road. Park anywhere off the road. We pulled off in front of a barn with the farmer's permission. The trail is called Path #1. It descends through a two farms, then a meadow and finally a wooded area. The destination at the end of the path is The Castel Trotburg/Castel Forte built in the late 15th Century by Oswald von Wolkenstein. He was truly a renaisance man. He was wealthy, but not noble and built this Castle as his family's home. Since it is so far off the beaten path (either straight up from below or straight down from above to get to it), everything is intact and much as it was in the 15th Century. There are informal tours provided by local young people as the need dictates. No English, but a kindly Belgian fellow spoke Austrian and English and translated for us. What a find. You will seldom have a chance to see a castle (small but elegent) so much in it's original state. Took about two and a half hours not counting the time to get to the hamlet.

Wow! Great post Joe! What a wonderful find. Do you have any information about hotels in the area? I am looking at taking a group skiing to Italy in 2002 and Cortina is on the short list. Drop me an email if you have and ideas for a Family Pensionne with great food! <BR> <BR>JOHN

Boris, You have 2 great answers here. Take your pick--Ortisei or Castelrotto. <BR>Both are fabulous and not far apart. <BR>Find the web site for Val Gardena for all of the hotels and more.

In Cortina, we stayed at Hotel Mesina. The annex is very much like a ski chalet. More Austrian than Italian. Not a complaint, just an observation. The ownership and staff were very nice as were the comforters. Half board required and the food was good. <BR> <BR>In Castelrotto we stayed at Cavalleno D'oro. Wouldn't do that again. Nice, but stuffy. Across the road from town center, where the road to the hiking trails begins, there are a couple of new chalets up on the hill. Bit out of the way, but nice. I went up to talk to the managers to get information for a possible future trip and they were very pleasant. Also half board. One was named Tyroll. Don't remember the other. They recommended a restaurant, Lift Steubel (for the ski lift). Really cute Tyrollean type restaurant. Great food for the type and very pleasant owner. Had a roasted pork shank called "stink" on the menu. Complimentary glass of good grappa at dinner's end. All in all, a delightful place.

Thanks very much for the informative responses. I got some new ideas for further research. <BR> Boris