Cicerone Press 2023
- 50 short walks and all-day hikes in the Italian Dolomites
Guide to day walks in the Italian Dolomites. The 50 graded walks range from short leisurely strolls to full-day high-mountain expeditions, each designed to fit into a single day. The Dolomites offer fantastic walking from June to September and can easily be reached from Verona, Treviso, Venice and Innsbruck airports.
This guidebook describes 50 spectacular walks spanning the breadth of the Dolomites mountains in northeast Italy. Carefully selected to give walkers a taste of the unique character of the local area, each walk can be tackled in a single day, allowing visitors to travel light and return to their accommodation at day's end. Graded from easy to strenuous, there are walks for all abilities, ranging from 3km hour-long lake strolls and lift-assisted short walks to 20km full-day high-altitude hikes. Most routes take in mountain huts offering refreshments and accommodation, and the guide includes notes on food and drink, history, folklore, nature and geology. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Dolomites are easily accessible by train via Austria and Italy, and by air via Verona, Venice, Treviso and Innsbruck airports. From the iconic peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo and throne-like Pelmo to the Queen of the Dolomites, the Marmolada, and the fairytale Brenta Dolomites, this guide includes the key valleys and gateway towns for accessing the mountains, along with details of public transport options to reach the trailhead.
Seasons
July-September best for walking with good conditions and all lifts, public transport and huts open. Low altitude routes from May if winter snowfall has been light; paths are quiet in October
Centres
Cortina d'Ampezzo, San Vito di Cadore, Sesto, Misurina, La Villa, Ortisei, Alpe di Siusi, Vigo di Fassa, Passo di Costalunga, San Martino di Castrozza, Alleghe, Forno di Zoldo, Madonna di Campiglio
Difficulty
Selection of walking routes from Grade 1 simple strolls, Grade 2 routes over rocky mountain terrain requiring some experience and fitness, to challenging Grade 3, sometimes with a little exposure and extra distance. Some routes contain aided sections.
Must See
Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Brenta Dolomites, Civetta; old smuggler's route Viel del Pan, high altitude Piz Boè circuit; Ammonite fossils on Puez-Odle and dinosaur tracks on the Pelmo; sparkling lakes Carezza, Misurina and Sorapiss; alpine wildflowers; marmots, chamois, ibex, birds of prey
