anaspen

I am finishing a trip to Northern Italy with 5 days in the Dolomites. I am primarily interested in capturing some great dawn and dusk images for painting - Siror area and Puez Odle have some particularly appealing peaks from what i have found on the internet. I have not been able to find a place anywhere near Siror to stay. Puez Odle has the Puez Rifugio, but it doesn't open until June 20. Most of the other info I have found on rifugio reservations is in Italian. I didn't find the information in the "Shorter Walks in the Dolomites" book... any advice? other photo locations i should not miss?

I am guessing that i am much better off if i drive rather than take the train....?

Has anyone hired a local guide for to get them up to a photo location for sunrise? I don't want a week-long tour, nor that kind of price tag....

neckervd

Accommodation at Siror (why not San Martino?):
http://www.sanmartino.com/?l=en

The Puez Hut is closed until June because there is too much snow before. The easiest trail to reach it starts at Selva/Val Gardena.

Journeys like San Martino di Castrozza - Selva can be done by public transport (with many bus and train changes), but a car is much faster.

Be aware that it can be rainy in spring.

sandralist

The issue with rain in the Dolomiti is spring is not just about getting wet or impassably muddy trails, but also that the cloud cover becomes so low you cannot see the Dolomiti. When I visited in September, I was fortunate to have several days of good clear and sunny weather, but on the day I was leaving, it began raining and had I not already seen the mountains, I would not have guessed they existed at all. It was like being in a nice smelling pine forest anywhere in the world. No scenery to speak of at all.

So you might not want to lock yourself into going to the Dolomiti without seeing a very short-term weather forecast first. If make your last stop in Northern Italy before your final 5 days either Venice or Verona (or towns nearby like Padova), you can scoot up to the Dolomiti easily if you know it will be sunny there. But if the forecast is for rain, you can just as easily take trains other parts of Italy you haven't seen yet.

inigr

Unless you have a special reason to hire a guide, they are not necessary for just hiking. In general, I have found the Cicerone guide books useful for planning the trip and to use while there. We used several Cicerone guides, maps, and the internet to plan.We easily did our own hiking when we visited the Dolomites. If you are interested in doing via ferratas and don't have any climbing experience, you will want a guide.