We are traveling by car from Venice to Dolomites in mid Sept. We will have 3 nights there before heading to Lake Como area. We will rent a car from Venice to drive the Dolomites. We love scenic drives & easy to moderate day hikes(3-4 hrs.) Would like some hikes / cable car rides to a refigio to have lunch. Any rec. on refigio choice? Can anyone rec. a good home base for lodging? We do not need fancy, as we will be busy & don't want to spend alot on lodging. We like a small quaint town with a few choices of bars, or enoteca, & a few good restaurants. But one that is a good location to hike & drive from. And we are open to Agriturismos.

Thanks for any advice~ Joan

We spent a week in Ortisei in early oct last year and lived it.

You can see our pics here and I will post our trip report in a minute

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gir...7636058614266/

Just make sure you check when the cable cars are open as they start to close in September

Here is our trip report

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

Happy planning!

Beautiful pics jamikins!

We stayed in Meran/Merano when we drove from Lake Como. It's a 30,000 population town with a moderate amount to see, but we took wonderful drives and had terrific German food. We didn't hike the Dolomites much as we were on our way to Venice.

If you want a hair-raising drive to Lake Como take SS38. Hairpin turns winding up and down mountains. At one point we took a wrong turn and were in Switzerland. Good times, except that we were low on gas and the stations are few and far between.

Hi Joan - My favourite base for the Dolomites is Ortisei in Val Gardena. There have been lots of threads about this beautiful area - these might help -

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...r-414655-2.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-daughter.cfm

Steve

I will join others in suggesting Ortisei but other smaller towns nearby would work as well. There are several lifts on either side of the valley which will take you up and allow you to hike to various refugios--spectacular!
We stayed at a very modest place--Garni Irma--which had a fabulous view of the mountains, good breakfast and terrace with views all within a short walk of a lift.

You are in for a treat.

For more info on the Val Gardena - accm., lifts, hikes etc checkout out -

valgardena.it

http://www.valgardena.it/fileadmin/t...h/_MG_4880.jpg

Hope this helps ...

The whole Dolomites area is a kind of square with side lengths of some 70 miles. There are tons of different Valleys and highlights, not only in the Ladin speaking area, but in the German or Italian speaking parts as well.

Urtijei/Ortisei/St. Ulrich in Groeden/Val Gardena/Val Gherdeina is a nice place, however. The most scenic way to reach it from Venice goes via Lake Garda (40 miles long scenic road along the Eastern shore), a Lake that many people find nicer and more interesting than Lake Como, BTW.

Here's another vote for Ortisei. My DH and I stayed there Sept. 10-14 2011 and hiked 3 of our 4 days. Centrally located to lots of hiking trails. On the day we didn't hike we drove the Alto Adige wine trail, which we made into an almost-all day trip and lots of fun. Be aware, many B&Bs are shutting down by mid-September; we were just about the last guests at the place we stayed at (name escapes me at the moment.)

Well, from Venice I would surely drive north to Cortina for lunch and then take the Dolomite road via Arraba to Val Gardena for the best of the Dolomites.

Lake Garda is nice, but that is another trip.

Great Dolomites slide-show, jamikins! Brought back memories of great holidays there

Steve

bob- thanks for the route
hikrchick- thanks for tips
neckervd- i will research garda
steve j- thanks for the website
macanimals- I made note of Garni Irma....what a cute place
googs- I wrote down the route, sounds like our kind of drive
jamikins-thanks for tips & amazing pics!!!!

I'm also deciding where in the Dolomites I can go for a vista-filled 2.5 days in early July. I had narrowed it down to two towns outside of bolzano I can reach by cablecar. San Genesio and Renon. But now I have heard about Ortisei. Can anyone comment on San Genesio vs. Renon?

I'll be traveling by train from Mantova thru Verona.

Ortisei is an easy bus ride from Bolzano if you use public transport.

Hi Jean - If you want vistas, head for the Val Gardena cable-cars

- Mont Seuc/Alpe di Siusi & Seceda/Fermeda (- from Ortisei),
- Ciampinoi & Dantercepies (- from Selva),
- Saslong & Col Raiser (- from S Cristina)

etc... - you're spoilt for choice! Ortisei is a good base

Steve

P.S. Renon/S Genesio are not high enough to give you panoramic Dolomite vistas compared to Val Gardena/Alpe di Siusi

Thank you for input. Will check out public transportation to Ortisei. Hotel recommendations?

How much do you want to spend?

I've been very pleased with both of these:

www.hotelvillapark.com
www.hotelcosmea.it

You can find the Ortisei accm catalogue - and lots of other useful stuff - at:
www.valgardena.it

Hope this helps ...

Steve