Optimistically planning a month long visit to Austria and Italy in December.

Our initial plan was to spend five nights in Val Gardena (have booked an apartment in St Cristina) and five nights in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

We're now considering spending five nights in Dobbiaco/Toblach or San Candido instead of Cortina, as I've been told the landscape is entirely different than Val Gardena and it will provide a nice contrast. It also looks like its easier to get to (we're traveling by train and bus).

I'm having trouble finding apartments in Cortina that won't break the bank, and I get the distinct impression that Cortina is sort of the St Mortiz of Italy. Correct assumption?

We prefer quiet, laid back areas. We will not be skiing, but rather winter hiking, and it looks like both areas offer plenty of winter hiking options.

Thoughts on differences between the two and which would provide a more low key holiday would be greatly appreciated (we'll be there from December 17-22 if that makes a difference).

Should we choose to forgo Cortina, is there any reason to choose Dobbiaco/Toblach over San Candido, such as easier access to cable cars that lead to groomed hiking trails, etc?

I liked Cortina. But I don't know what preparations are underway in anticipation of the 2026 Olympics, and I wouldn't want to be amidst a lot of construction projects. You might want to try to find that out. We haven't stayed in the Dobbiaco area.

I don't remember a lot of cable cars in the Dobbiaco area, but I may just not have been paying attention.

You might include the Moos/Moso area in your research... the Val Passiria.

> Cortina is sort of the St Mortiz of Italy. Correct assumption?

Correct assumption.

Ingo

Thank you Jean.

I've spent the afternoon researching and my head is officially spinning. So many beautiful places, so little time.

“My head is spinning” ...I hear you, Mel! I don’t know if I can help at all, we opted for San Candido after a lot of deliberation, I had my elderly mother with me, so was looking for a charming town but relatively flat, and on a train line. The little towns are really lovely and I enjoyed wandering them, and Brunico, which is larger. The valley is fairly wide, and quite trafficked with trucks, cars, busses and trains.
There was a single cablecar from town that we took for a local walk, and we also walked or trained to the nearby towns and used other lifts. Lots of walkers around.

The drive to Cortina was spectacular, narrow roads and really ‘in’ the mountains. It felt much more upscale and resort like, very charming, and I could well imagine basing there. Stormbird did stay there several times and has reports on TA.

I dug out some photos not on my Flickr album to give some more perspective.



Val Pusteria




Val Pusteria




The road to Lago di Braes ..... lots of walks around this valley, too.







Village in Val Pusteria



Road from Dobbiaco to Auronzo, by Durrensee I think. Lots of walking options.




Val Pusteria




Mountains surrounding San Candido




Mountains surrounding San Candido




The Tre Cime trail



Road through valley from Dobbiaco to Auronzo : lots of walking trails here



Mountain views from Tre Cime


I envy you travel planning.
We can’t even count on travelling interstate.
So I will enjoy reading about your decisions.

Well, it’s 8:30 pm and I wrote you a reply about 8 hours ago.... this moderation business is really annoying.

Thank you Adelaidean, very helpful. Lovely photos. Someone on TA mentioned Brunico too, any thoughts on whether it would make a good base?

It's a whole new world out there...planning, but not sure if we can actually travel. Lenient cancellation policies are driving our decisions on apartment rentals and it's proven a bit challenging.

We booked flights yesterday - was surprised to find a reasonably priced fully refundable fare!

We're off to Switzerland in late September for a month (COVID gods willing).

I think about my Aussie friends often, and wonder what it'd be like if we'd still lived there when COVID hit the fan. Being halfway across the world from family with no way to visit would have been awful, although I guess distance doesn't really matter as Australians have been unable to visit family within their own country and often within their own states. I admire how well the Australian government has kept a lid on things there, but I can only imagine how tired of it all you must be.

Hang in there, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Mel, I wouldn’t choose Brunico as a base. It’s a very charming town, but not quiet and close to walks. South to Corvara or east along the valley, or somewhere more in the mountains. I imagine Cortina would have more buzz and there’s local walks, funiculars, bus options. It definitely has the high end stores, but there were lots of ordinary hikers having a lovely €8 tortellini in broth lunch
A town I really loved was Bressanone. The historic quarter is away from the road and train line, it’s so well served with transport and walks, great restaurants and open markets (maybe Christmas markets?), and we will definitely revisit another trip.

Mel, this may seem very superficial of me, but regarding Cortina--we always remember the local pizza! Real good. And we're picky.
Don't miss Lago di Braes and the val Pusteria, as shown well by Ade above.
I am done. the end

Thanks again Adelaidean, I'll take a look at Bressanone.

As it happens zebec, we love pizza!

San Candido it is! Just booked!

Great Mel!
We had 8 nights there, it’s a lovely town in a lovely region.

I look forward to your report....we are in lockdown, so I’m enjoying everyone else’s travels instead...

Adelaidean, hopefully, the delta variant won't put the kibosh on either of our planned trips, but I'm not as optimistic as I was when I booked the tickets.

Transportation:
train and bus or direct bus from Bolzano/Bozen to Val Gardena (Sta. Cristina etc.): every 30 min.
Innsbruck and Bolzano/Bozen - Fortezza - Toblach - Innichen (San Candido): trains every hr
Toblach - Cortina d'Ampezzo: bus about every 2 hrs
Prepared winter hiking trails can be found everywhere.
Closest intercontinental airport: Munich (MUC)

Thanks neckervd, we'd figured most of that out.

However, I may want to pick your brains about suggested transport routes for our planned trip to Switzerland in September (as you had some suggestions for us after-the-fact in 2019 that would have been helpful). I've sent you a private message in the past, but received no response. Would you rather I post the questions here on a new thread for Switzerland?

Hi Mel,

I plan on travelling this July to the Dolomites with 3 adults and a toddler for 5 days. I am thinking between Ortesei (center) or San Candido (farm stay 5 min away). I know you travelled in winter, but I was wondering what your thoughts were between the two. Did you have a preference? Was one busier than the other?

valerialanda -

We loved San Candido...so much so that we're planning a return visit in the autumn. It was very much our speed - quiet and sedate with plenty of conveniently located shops and resturants (we stayed in an apartment directly across the street from the Tourist Office - perfect location)

We visited Orteisi twice from St Cristina, where we spent five nights. Orteisi was quite busy one day, and near deserted with most places closed the next (a Monday I think). It has a lovely pedestrian center with plenty of shops and restaurants and a couple of conveniently located cable cars and ropeways right in town (closed during our visit).

If we were to base in Val Gardena again, we'd choose Selva or St Cristina over Orteisi, with a day trip or two to Orteisi. It's very easy to get from one to the other within minutes (we used the bus).

We plan on staying in Vipiteno, Colfosco, Bressanone and San Candido for our autumn trip. We might visit Orteisi from Bressanone and Cortina from Colfosco (we've not yet visited Cortina).

Good luck with your plans!

My trip report can be found here if you're interested

The Alps are calling, we must go

Hi Mel, thank you so much for all the useful information. Both sound like beautiful places. But it is great to know that you are going back to San Candido. That says a lot. I hope you have a great time.

No worries - both are beautiful, you really can't go wrong.