We're headed to Ortesei, Italy for 7 days in late January. Staying at the Allpenhotel Rainell. What other activities other than skiing does the area offer? The scenery looks fantastic, and I assume the nearby towns deserve a visit.

A friend suggested that we take a day trip to Verona. Does anyone know how long a trip that is, and what we should do in Verona once we get there? I assume we would take a bus or train, if available.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Verona is quite far away for a day trip. I'd rather go to Brixen (a really nearby historic town with cathedral and beautiful old town, monastery Neustift too), Merano or visit one the castles in the area.

Bolzano (Bozen) is quite lovely with a medieval city center and an Archaeology Museum that houses Otzi, the Iceman. It is only about 50 km from Ortisei, so not that far. From here you can go to Merano.

Heading the other direction, Cortina d'Ampezzo is another nice ski town with a pedestrianized centre, wonderful for just walking around.

We've skied twice in the Dolomites (staying in Val Gardena both times) and I would also recommend Bozen/Bolzano as well as Brixen/Bressanone. Both are very pretty towns and Otzi and the archaeological museum are very interesting.

If you go to Brixen/Bressanone you can ski a different part of the Superski area - also it has an extremely long sled run that looked fun, although I didn't try it. I think there must be a ski bus up to the slopes which are quite high above the town (you actually ski in the next valley over), but I'm not sure.

We had a car both times, so I don't know about public transportation, but I'm guessing you'd take a SAD bus from Ortesi into Bolzano and then you could train it or bus it up to Bressanone pretty easily.

It's definitely beautiful and fun. I personally wouldn't take time to travel all the way to Verona during your 7 days there. Bolzano would be a nice day trip.

Thanks to all! Just the kind of info I needed.

There are buses direct from Ortisei to Bressanone/Brixen as well as to Bolzano. Castelrotto too is nearby (- 15 mins by ski-bus from Ortisei).

If you want to make a full day of it you could combine Bolzano with Trento or Merano.

Have a good trip.

Steve

If you visit Brixen/Bressanone, check out the Diocean Museum.

www.brixen.org/en/town/museums.html

www.brixen.org

Paul