Hi ! We are visiting italy in the latter part of May . We want to spend 3 nights in riva/ selva/st cortina/ ortisei towns. We are fond of natural beauty of the hills, taking long walks( not too strenuous) and enjoying gourmet food. Please advice which town/ village is really pictursque and we should make our base to travel around. Also we plan to be in this area around 20 th may. Will restaurants/ cafés/ bars/ hotels be open? If not please suggest some alternate town.

Hi - My favourite base for the Dolomites is Ortisei
http://www.valgardena.it/fileadmin/t...h/_MG_4880.jpg

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

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

I’ve been very pleased with both of these guest houses

www.hotelvillapark.com
www.hotelcosmea.it

Hope this helps ...

Steve

adityadain - where did you end up staying? Three of us will be in that area next May. We also like easy to moderate walks/hikes and gourmet dining.

We spent the first week of Oct in Ortisei last year and loved it! We enjoyed the good good as well (we are big foodies)!

You can read our trip report here (second half) http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-dolomites.cfm

And see our pics here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...7636058614266/

Happy planning!

The Hotel Grones in Ortisei had the best hotel food I have ever had in 29 trips to Europe. Nice hotel too.

According to the official Fodor's online guides to hotels, the Hotel Grones is closed in May.

http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/i...ew-607570.html