Please help with Dolomites!
 

Hello everyone. I am planning an Italy trip for next year. One week in Tuscany and 1 week in the Dolomites. The Dolomites is new for me so I was hoping that those of you who have been could help me decide the best time for the trip. I am looking at the last 2 weeks of June or the first 2 weeks of September. I would like to avoid the terrible heat of summer while still having warm enough weather in the Dolomites. Any thoughts? We will have a car.

If you have any favorite places to stay in either area I would love to hear them!

Thanks, Cathy

Adelaidean's trip reports are great, and I admire her family's intrepid use of public transportation. But if you want to maximize your time and sightseeing in the Dolomites, I highly recommend you rent a car (which I see you will do).

We've only visited the Dolomites in late September and mid-October. On these trips we've been lucky with the weather, but if you want to ride a lot of chair lifts and cable cars you should see what dates they close in different places. We found enough that were open, but hiking wasn't a high priority for us so the rides were just to get to higher elevations for views and short walks. We were more interested in driving the passes and valleys for the views, seeing some WWI sights and the Ice Man (Bolzano). IMO, a visit with lots of hiking requires doing your homework, and Adelaidean's reports would be very helpful. We've stayed in Cortina and Ortisei and did overnights in Brunico, Bolzano, Moena and maybe another town (I'd have to look at a map).

We've also only been to Tuscany in the late September to early November time frame. I love traveling in the fall, but it is still very much high season in Tuscany, Umbria, etc. We've been lucky again with the weather in the fall, but some rain would not be out of the norm.

Have you been to Lake Garda, Verona, Padova, etc.? If it was a trip in the fall, I'd skip Tuscany and develop an itinerary that's smaller in overall area. Driving from Tuscany into the Dolomites could easily take 5+ hours.

Are you able to fly into one city and out of another? Say, into Venice or Verona and out of Florence, Pisa or Rome?

We've done two one-week trips in the Dolomites. The first was a week in mid-July based in Selva in the Val Gardena:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...ughter-796253/

The second, this year, was very end of August/early September, based in Vigo in the Val di Fassa.
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...n-2-a-1671512/

Both valleys (along with other parts of the region) offer lots of lifts with scenic views and exceptional hiking of all levels. We had pretty good weather both times, although it had been cold and snowing just before our visit in July. I was discussing this today with a work colleague who just returned - when we go back (note that I say when and not if!), I will probably aim for September/early October, before most of the major lifts close for the season.

There are lots of good resources online for hiking and planning, including:
https://www.valgardena.it/en/
https://www.fassa.com/index.asp?l=en
https://www.altabadia.org/en/

Depending on your hiking/walking interests, Cicerone Press and Sunflower Books have good guides.

On separate trips, we've visited Tuscany in early June/mid September and the Dolomites in mid-September, and were fortunate with great weather. September is a great time IMO for both.

In Tuscany, we split bases between Siena (for Chianti / northern tuscany ) and Montalcino (for val d'orcia / southern tuscany) and found that efficient in avoiding backtracking.

In the Dolomites, we split bases between La Villa (for Alta Badia) and Ortisei (for Val Gardena), though you could just pick one.

A word of caution : these regions are spectacularly beautiful, and will set the bar very high in choosing future holiday destinations!

Thanks to you all! After I have time to go over all the links you posted, II am sure I will have more questions. I think this trip will involve some extensive prep work to get all the transportation in place. We don't want a rushed experience.

Suggestions for accommodations in the Ortesei area would be very welcome.

I stayed at Hotel Grones and enjoyed it very much. Nice people, lovely hotel, good food, great location.

4 star Hotel Grones in Ortisei in Val Gardena

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8528cd4b82.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...db859efd61.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1cacf4da8c.jpg
From my little balcony. I booked a regular room and thought it was very comfortable and plenty spacious.

This is a bit off-subject but we had bedding like in the photo above when we stayed in Austria. It looked so strange to us - to have two smaller doonas on one big bed and the placement of the pillows in that way. Nothing wrong with it, we just thought it unusual. I wonder how these things come about?

Also we stayed in Castelrotto in the Dolomites and really enjoyed it. That was in May so few cable cars running and some snow still underfoot. We managed a wonderful day walking in the Alpe di Siusi after recommendation from the helpful host at our guesthouse. Peaceful with spectacular scenery.

Kay

We have stayed at the Hotel Grones a number of times over the past few years and love it.
Rooms facing the mountains are amazing, the service is excellent, the place is spotless, it is great to refresh in the pool after a long day out, the food is amazing and they readily help with suggestions for walking etc.

My wife and I have visited the Dolomites 4 times and the last 2, we have stayed the the Charme Hotel Uhrerhof Duer, near Ortisei. I can highly recommend this hotel, run by a wonderful family. The rates include breakfast and dinner. The food is wonderful and quite varied. Great view from the hotel overlooking Ortisei.

Huggy

It's just to show they've made the bed/replaced linen. You don't actually keep it that way.

The Hotel Grones is hard to beat----lovely family.

I wanted to jump in and offer one other great Dolomite hotel that we've stayed at twice. Uhrerhof Deur is probably the nicest place I've ever stayed. It's not cheap because it includes supper and some type of spa (although we've never used that part of the place). But the food is incredible and the Zemmer family there is wonderful.

Oh...and the view's not bad either.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...41ed02b75a.jpg

Wekiva:

Same hotel. Agree with your assessment. The family makes it special. The son gave us an accordion concert during our first visit. I think he was 7 years old then. Now he is about 10, concerned only with soccer.

Huggy

Those two hotels look amazing! I don't see air conditioning listed for either of them. Is it available? I would think you need AC in the summer months.

Hotel Grones has AC.

I don't think the Hotel Grones does have AC - we have stayed in summer and again recently in autumn and I even looked to see but think not.
I seem to recall that during a summer stay it was a little warm of an afternoon but cooled down quickly at night.
Best to check with the hotel.

I just messaged the Uhrerhof. They do not have air conditioning. Being so high up. looking over Ortisei really did not require air.

Have not stayed in the Grones, but I imagine either hotel will meet your needs, the area is special. We did look forward to dinner each evening at the Uhrerhof Duer.

We stayed in June of this year and found air conditioning not needed in the Dolomites. However, we travelled further north into Germany after starting our holiday in the Dolomites and found the temperature quite warm. Air conditioning would have been welcome especially had we travelled south as you are. I just retuned from Switzerland from a visit in late September and early October and found the temperature quite pleasant.

I was pretty sure Hotel Grones had AC because I stayed there in July, and in July in Italy I always book hotels with AC. But I looked back at my emails with the hotel and don't see a record of my requesting/asking about AC. Tripadvisor lists the hotel as having AC so not sure?

As an aside, I see that my room was the "small comfort room" instead of a normal double and it was more than big enough for me and think it would be plenty adequate for two people. Just in case cost is an issue.