Need advise on a hiking town - Austria, Germany, Italy
 

We plan to hike in the Dolomites in the beginning of June,. However, would like to start hiking in mid May and we are now looking for suggestions for towns, accessible by public transport, that we can base ourselves for 4-7 days and do day hikes. We have the option of flying into Zurich, Munich or Vienna and would like towns that are on the train routes to Ortesei. Thank you for your suggestions

I've used Garmish Partenkirchen as a 1mo base town and loved the easy access to many hikes. My favorite hikes were taking the cable car to the top of the nearby mountains and hiking downhill.

Keep in mind that there may still be snow at higher elevations.

The closest train station to Orteisi is Waidbrucke/Ponte Gardena. From there you'll need to take a bus to Orteisi.

You might look into the towns of Chiusa/Klausen (Italy) or even Innsbruck (Austria).

If you're willing to make a detour, Fulpmes (or another town in the Stubai Valley) and Mayrhofen (or another town in the Zillertal) are hiking meccas, although I have no idea of the conditions or operating schedules of cable cars there in May.

https://www.tyrol.tl/en/tyrol/stubai...pptal/fulpmes/

https://www.mayrhofen.at/en/

I'm not sure of train connections, but you might also consider Mittenwald or Berchtesgaden, Germany. Then there's Seefeld, Austria...the options are endless.

We're hikers, and we're planning a +month long visit to Italy and Austria in the fall.

We're first visiting Solden, in the Otzal, which is known for it's skiing and hiking. Then we'll head to the Dolomites for stays in Vipiteno, Colfosco, Bressanone, San Candido, and then head back to Austria for a stay in Kufstein before heading back to Munich. We plan to fly in/out of Munich, which we've found quite handy for trips to Austria/Italy.

In May, hiking is fine in Val Venosta (Waalwege), South of Bolzano/Bozen (Lake Caldaro etc.), around Trento and at many places on Lake Garda.
All these areas are situated between the airports of Venice and Munich and not very far away from Ortisei/Urtijei/St. Ulrich in Groeden.
There are tons of spectacular hiking possibilities in Switzerland too (Riviera Lemanique/Montreux, above Sion, Sierre, Leuk, Brig, Domodossola, Locarno, Lugano.......). But you would need a whole day for the journey from there to Ortisei.

Thank you. Garmisch is on our list. We stayed there a few years ago and had some good walks

Much though I enjoyed walking from Neustift-im-Stubaital, I have to say that if memory serves, the cable cars (or at least those going up to the highest points) may not be operating in May. That said, there are some lovely lower-level routes:
https://www.stubai.at/en/activities/hiking/

Thank you. I am going to look into Stubai Valley and Mayrhofen. Also, will look into the towns you mentioned in the Dolomites and Kufstein. Last summer, we hiked ij Kitzbuhel and Schladming Austria. The Schladming Summercard is quite good - free busses and lifts, including he lift to the Dachstein Glacier

Thank you. Lower level routes should be fine for us.

Thank you. Great to have these options so we do not have to delay our trip until June

I've been to both, and both are great for hiking. But both my stays were in mid-summer and I did high level hikes.

I would second the suggestion on Lago di Garda. It is a small detour from Munich to Dolomites but it should be more suitable for hiking in mid May than some of the places in Austria. In July I would have gone there. In May or October Garda would be more suitable.

Thank you. Have decided to delay our hiking until early June. I am going to look into hiking in Lake Garda area