Dolomites, Italy
The Dolomites had been on my radar for a while. I think I may have even inadvertently driven through the region when my sister and I were on the first leg of our European road trip from London to Croatia years ago. I had seen the photos and it looked like this serene, beautiful place. A region that you had to visit in order to truly appreciate.
Stay Here.
Hotel Lago Di Braies (Hotel Pragser Wildsee as it is also known as in German).
When I was searching for places to explore at the Dolomites, Lago di Braies came up and I just knew I had to visit. When we arrived to the hotel, it was pitch black with just the shadowed outline of the trees. As soon as we woke up the next day, I was like an excited child at Christmas. I went straight for the balcony and there was the pristine emerald, green lake surrounded by the mountains with the boat house. It was one of the most beautiful things I have seen. The hotel interior itself is also fantastic; it has a real Wes Anderson vibe to it. It was built is 1899 and still has a lot of the original pieces within the rooms.
I would recommend you book it with half board unless you are keen to drive to another town for a meal. The food here is good with the dinner offered being three course using the local produce. The menu design was also a highlight for me. The beds are comfy (and huge!) and it is close to walking trails for the surrounding area with friendly and helpful staff.
Rifugio Lavaredo.
If you are wanting to hike around Tre Cime di Lavaredo and the surrounding area then this is the hut for you. I did originally look to book Rifugio Locatelli however it was closed for renovations. It now looks to be open and will give you perfect views of the three massive rocks you come here to see. Rifugio Lavaredo is just behind them so it is still a great location. We stayed in a double room and I didn't want to leave the bed. It was so good after a long day of hiking. You do need to pay for a shower however G and I shared a token as we didn't use much water. Email ahead to book and bring a towel, bed linen and crocs are provided.
The food is decent (dinner more so than breakfast) and the staff are friendly, even letting us drink a bottle of rum with our new friend Peter from the Czech Republic who decided to bring it down to share with us (mainly G).
Faloria Mountain Spa Resort.
Ok, so this wasn't in the original itinerary. We had intended to stay at Rifugio Son Forca as we had hiked up to see Monte Cristallo. Unfortunately, our timing wasn't great. We were the only ones booked in for the night and it was their last day of the season so we were very kindly offered a ride back down to our car in their ute. What a way to experience Italian driving first hand… crikey!
We were looking for last minute places to stay in the surrounding Cortina d'Ampezzo area and found this spa. The idea of a spa was heavenly after the hiking we had done over the past three days and it was. The facilities were great - sauna, steam room, pool and even a foot spa - with robes and slippers provided.
Visit Here.
Cerdevol Curnila.
I love the thought of wild swimming and always propose it to G where there is the opportunity. Even though we visited in mid-September when the heat had definitely faded from Summer, I didn't want to give up a chance to swim here. I can imagine it would be a whole lot busier in the Summer but luckily when we visited, noone was there so we had the area to ourselves. There is quite a current that comes through the creek so I would recommend this for confident swimmers unless you are just dipping your toes in.
Lago di Braies.
Emerald of the Dolomites. There is a trail around the lake which is great for a stroll or if you don't have time to explore the surrounds however there are also other hiking paths in the area. We went with the trail called Tour of Monte Nero. This starts just behind the hotel on trail number 20 then if you follow trail numbers 61, 22 and 19 this will take you back to the other side of the lake. It is an "easy" hike although there are moments of decent elevation to get your heart pumping. The scenery is awesome and you will get a view of the lake at the highest peak of the trail. You also pass huts that are there for shelter with working stoves and other bits that people have left behind like oil, water and whittled cooking utensils. It takes around 3 - 3.5 hours which we timed so we would have lunch at Grünwaldhütte (more on that in the Eat Here section).
We woke early on the second day so we could see sunrise over the lake. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy however just as the sun rose, some of the cloud cover burnt off so we could see the beautiful Seekofel mountain. The boat house is locked so if you are wanting photos on here, then you will need to wait until it opens although it looked like some people climbed in there for a shot. I wasn't really that desperate…
Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
This is one of the main sites to see when in the Dolomites region. The three peaks. It was one I also really wanted to see. We parked our car down in Misurina and got a bus up however in hindsight I would have driven up to Rif. Auronzo as it would have cost about the same for entry into the park. It didn't look like you had to pay extra to use the carpark up there.
The walk from Rif. Auronzo to Rif. Lavaredo is flat and easy, offering some great views of the valley below and surrounds.
Throngs of people went straight towards Tre Cime so we ventured to the right along trail number 104. It takes you down through a beautiful path towards Lago di Cengia. It is so quiet that all you can hear aside from your own footsteps and breath, are the soft bells of the donkeys grazing in the valley below.
As you pass the lake you then make your way back up the mountain towards Rif. Pian di Cencia. This was our lunch stop before we were to finish with the huge Tre Cime in front of us.
That would have happened if we didn't hit a slight glitch in that I didn't notice we were heading the wrong way until we came to another hut, Rif. Zsigmondy - Comici. We had to make our way back up the mountain with an incoming weather front. You actually have to go back on yourself after Rif. Pian di Cencia, along trail 101 that leads you down the other side of the mountain towards Rif. Locatelli.
Snow started to fall at times and some of the trail was quite icy making it a bit of a gnarly hike down.
Again, the scenery was absolutely beautiful with the mountains enveloping us from every direction. We could see Rif. Locatelli ahead, closed for renovations but sighed in relief that we had made it to the correct marker with plenty of time to get back to Rif. Lavaredo. The only downside, the peaks of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo were no where to be seen. The clouds had come in just over the top of them and as we walked down to our hut for the night, that cloud made visibility very limited. It just shows you how quickly weather on the mountain can change so always be prepared.
Through not following the crowd, we missed seeing the very mountains we came here to marvel at however as the old saying goes - it's not about the destination, it's about the journey.
Monte Cristello.
I don't think I read enough on this mountain as I was anticipating a hike with use of the via ferrata however this was not to be.
We hiked from Passo Tre Croci along trail number 203 up to Son Forca. It was an easy hike offering some nice views of the area. Upon reaching Son Forca we realised you couldn't go up any further as the chair lift was shut. With us not staying in the rifugio for the night, we wouldn't really have enough time to hike up the chair lift path and come back down in time. The lady who ran the place said that it had been particular bad weather that year, with the bridge being destroyed by a fallen rock and a fatality down in the below town. I was a bit disappointed that we couldn't go up any further but alas, it meant we could spend an afternoon in a spa.
Eat Here.
Grünwaldhütte
This place is perfectly placed after a solid hike around the mountains of Lago di Braies. As you stagger down the mountain on trail 22 you will see this eatery, packed with hikers. The menu wasn't in English so we just asked our waiter who could speak every language thrown at him what he recommended. We were sold on the polenta with melted, local cheese and sausage, as well as the spinach spaetzle with funghi. Both dishes are local to the South Tyrol region and were absolute delicious. We wanted to finish the meal off with some strudel however we instead ended up with apple pancakes to share which were divine. All of this plus a small beer cost about €20 each.
Rifugio Pian di Cengia.
You can also sleep here but we entered the small, cosy restaurant longing for food about half way through our hike at Tre Cime di Lavaredo. We settled on trying the local bread dumplings, canederli in Italian, in an assortment of flavours - beetroot, spinach and cheese which is then topped with a hot butter sauce. It was unbelievably simple yet super tasty. We also tried the goulash which warmed us right up. For the two dishes, a beer and a shared piece of strudel it came to just under €20 each.
Baita Fraina, Cortina D'Ampezzo.
We went here when we stayed the night at Faloria Mountain Spa Resort and this made the detour of not staying up the mountain all worth it. The food here is incredible. We wanted to try everything and had a good crack at eating something from every course. The pasta was up there as my favourite only because it was home-made to perfection and just full of flavour. We rolled out of there a little bit lighter in the pocket but with a very full and satisfied belly. I rate this place 10 out 10 not only for the food but also for the service and atmosphere. Our waitress was the absolute sweetest and I am so sad that the restaurant is so far away from me.
We experienced only a teeny slither of what the Dolomites has to offer and I am already dreaming of when I can return to discover more. There is so much to this region whether you are interested in hiking, wild swimming, enjoying the beautiful views of the mountains that surround you and, of course my favourite, eating.
This trip has made me love Italy even more.
There are a couple of options to get to the region from London.
You can fly into Innsbruck, Verona or Venice. We flew with EasyJet into Venice in mid-September. I would have flown to Innsbruck however I found car hire cheaper from Venice. If you don't drive, there are bus and train options available that connects to the Dolomites area. Best to look to Skyscanner or Kayak to compare flights.
As mentioned above, I found car hire to be cheaper in Venice however this could have just been around the dates we were booking or when I looked into it. Look to a car-hire comparison website to check out what is best for you.
Whilst Italy is not the known for being cheap, it will totally depend on where you want to stay and eat. A lot of the places we stayed at included breakfast and dinner which helps as there are not a lot of options for eating when you are in the mountains. Most lunches were €20 and under. You can definitely find options to suit your budget.
