The Dolomites span a huge area that cut across multiple districts and provinces. We love it – we’re five trips in now, and keep finding more to explore. Excellent, intermediate skiing with views, some of the best hiking to be found, and very good food.
I’ve started with the area we have focused on for hiking and skiing trips – the Central Dolomites, then the ski area around Brunico & the Val Pusteria, an exploration of the amazing historical sites and charming towns along the historic Brenner Pass, and finally the Eastern Dolomites and Cortina d’Ampezzo. While all of these areas are within a few hours driving distance, it would be difficult to cover all from a common base, particularly during holidays, when the traffic can get quite intense. Full map view here.
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Central Dolomites
Alpe di Siusi
The Alpe di Siusi may be the most beautiful place in the world – it’s a strong contender, at least. Stay at least two nights (ideally more), plan to do a lot of hiking or skiing, and be prepared for random, brief rainstorms in the summer. The hiking is incredible, best in the Alps in my opinion. The bus system is extensive and would make this very accessible even without a car. It’s also very popular for e-bike touring.
In the winter, it’s a beautiful landscape with lots of sun. Skiing in the Seiser Alm: absolutely incredible views, easy-intermediate, but lovely slopes. Large area and the Ronda is great. Not a place for snowboarders. Lots of huts and hotels to eat at. Great high speed groomers.
- ***Sport Hotel Platz, in Pufels. Run by an old family friend of Evan’s, in a beautiful spot. Fairly fit hikers can walk up to the Alpe di Siusi from here. It’s a pretty quiet berg (not really a town), but it has a few restaurant options. Ask for one of the pool house rooms if you have kids – more modern, two bedrooms.
- **Restaurant Tubladel (in Ortisei) was very good – a nicer dining experience, charming lodge-y interior, excellent staff, good wine list. Classics of the region with emphasis on seasonal ingredients.
- On the hill:
- **Edlweiss Hütte is especially cute – bustling, with a big playground and alpacas.
- **Laranzer Schwaighe-Baita: a nice setting with well-executed food. Bonus points for the extremely friendly Golden Retriever!
- **Malga Sanon: another large place, serves quickly, diverse traditional menu (think sausage, polenta)
- **Restaurant Panorama: Big, nice views, traditional food
The Sellaronda / Alta Badia
Alta Badia is a justifiably famous part of the Dolomites, including Corvara, Colfosco, La Villa, San Cassiano, Badia, and La Val.
The ***Sellaronda is arguably the most famous ski circuit in the region, circling the Sella group in the Dolomites mountains – covering four of the major “resort” areas under the Dolomiti Superski pass (Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Arabba and Val di Fassa), over a distance of 40 km.
Skiing here is really excellent. It runs intermediate and can be crowded, but the circuit was very enjoyable and the views are incredible throughout. You can ski in either direction; the full circuit takes about 3-4 hours. We preferred the green route for better sun exposure earlier in the day.
Food and Lodging
It’s worthwhile to stay near a lift, or at a hotel with a shuttle – the roads get very backed up and driving in from a distance could take a long time.
**Rifugio Plan Boè was excellent – wonderful pasta, sunny slope-side deck, delightly surly owner telling everyone what to do.
- **Rifugio Fredarola is a newer, fancy pirate-themed place. Nice balcony, loud music, extensive drink menu, food looked pretty good.
- **Rifugio Sun Bait (terrible name) is not very appealing on the outside, but the interior is shiny and new, and the pizza was excellent.
- ***Hotel Gran Ciasa. Great location. Our room was huge and recently updated in rather Nordic style. The spa was the real winner – huge (many saunas), pools, hot tub. Co-ed and enforced no-swimsuit code in the adult areas. Food was okay, not great.
- We had one dinner out at a very nice family-run restaurant specializing in local cuisine, **Ristorante Stria, around the corner from the hotel.
- **Jimmi Hütte has a great view, attracts a crowd. We didn’t try the food, but the drinks were good.
*Piz Boé Alpine Lounge is a busy place – it’s at the end of a long gondola, and you may be tempted to stop, but there are better options.
A pretty place to stay, requiring a bit more commitment to reach, distance wise. There’s a small downtown and a high volume of hotels and homes, including an Aman property. Think fancy! Better for adults than people looking for a bargain or nightlife. We stayed in a large apartment and liked our stay quite a bit.
- Aman Rosa Alpina is very grand and elegant, with slightly snooty service. We ate at the **Grill, which was good as expected (if not remarkable), and enjoyed the fancy cars outside. I wouldn’t stay here – the spa at Hotel Fanes looks much more expansive.
- Dinner at **Ciasa Salares was near perfect, in the perfectly charming Cocun Cellar Restaurant. A fancy meal in a historic location famous for their wines (which were indeed very good). There was one miss on the dishes, but otherwise very tasty.
- We had lunch at *Hotel Gran Paradiso, which was not great (not terrible, but fairly average for food and service was spotty). It’s not a bad-looking hotel, but I think there are better options.
- **Pizzeria Ristorante Bar La Vedla is clearly the local favorite – right in the center of town and packed. We found it entertaining – best when it’s warm enough to eat outside, as the interior is very small. Pizza was comparable to La Raisc.
- **Restaurant La Raisc has a huge pizza menu and a pretty, newer building with meadow views. Good for a more casual night.
*Diamant Spa Resort Hotel was perfectly fine. It probably deserves a two star, but there are so many places to stay, and this wasn’t quite as nice as Hotel Gran Ciasa, above. Big rooms, decent breakfast, big, if not fancy, spa. We didn’t have dinner. Very aimed at families.
*Restaurant Nives is a high end place, trying to be hip and fairly elite. It was not great, really loud, expensive, cheap wine served in small portions for high prices.
Brunico & the Val Pusteria
Brunico/Bruneck + Kronplatz
The most popular season in Brunico is winter, when the skiing area on Mt. Plan de Corones opens. It’s quite large, accessible from most sides (a single peak mountain), and packed with people. While we didn’t ski here, our impression was that it is very popular, very crowded, very Italian, lots of families. Beautiful views of surrounding mountains and peaks, encircled by valleys. Not high on our list for places to return to for skiing.
The town itself is oriented around the Castello di Brunico (now a Messner Museum), with a ring of walled streets at the base. It’s charming, with higher-end shops, and a great place for strolling.
- **Messner Mountain Museum Ripa: Perched on a hill overlooking the old town is Castello di Brunico, which is in beautiful condition. It contains the MMM Ripa, dedicated to the heritage, cultures, and history of mountain peoples worldwide, my favorite of the MMMs we’ve visited (more coherent and curated).
- **Messner Mountain Museum Corones, on the summit plateau of Kronplatz (2,275 m), has been on my list of places to visit for ages. Designed by Zaha Hadid, it’s a small but striking concept, with great views and interesting spaces. The collection is largely large-format paintings of mountains, with smaller assortments of mountaineering objects. Unfortunately, it’s just barely **. You’ll drop $50 per person for the lift ticket and combo museum pass, and for an okay 15 minute experience, I don’t think it’s particularly worthwhile.
- The other museum on the combo ticket is the *LUMEN – Museum of Mountain Photography, a short walk away. Again, a pretty building, but the collection is oddly theoretical. It’s as if they asked a curator to make a museum of nothing – the ideas are good, but nearly everything inside is a poster print, no originals.
We had a delightful lunch at **Hotel Restaurant Langgenhof, which feels like it’s in a normal neighborhood, but easy walking distance from the city center. Service and food were excellent in their pretty inner courtyard. I’d consider staying here.
Lago di Braies
*Lago di Braies is about 30 minutes from Brunico and clearly on the map – the parking areas seem larger than the lake itself. It’s a lovely spot I wouldn’t recommend, because of the massive crowds.
Maranza
We spent a lovely, relaxing week at **Hotel Milla Montis. It’s very ‘designery,’ each room featuring a bathtub with a view and private terrace. The location is relatively isolated (though not far from civilization), perfectly situated for dramatic sunrise and sunset views. There’s a spa that’s very popular – in particular for afternoon naps and reading – including a warm outdoor pool. The food is on the fancy side, five courses every night. My only complaint is the lack of a child policy – it really is not a great place for children, but they tolerate smaller visitors.
There is a ski area nearby, Gitschberg, but on our two most recent winter trips it didn’t have enough snow to be skiable.
Along the Brenner Pass
The Brenner Pass is lined with gorgeous little towns, castles, mountain hikes, and fine dining. Somewhat to our surprise, much of it is majority German speaking (including the parts in Italy). Brixen was our favorite for a lodging destination. At the southern most end you’ll find the lovely town of Bolzano, captured here.
Brixen/Bresannone
Brixen is the oldest city in Tyrol, considered to be at least 1000 years old. The town’s millennium-long history as the seat of the bishop has led to a rich architectural and artistic history. It’s beautiful, with large central squares and narrow alleys in a relatively compact central area. It’s a very pleasant place to stay for people looking for more dining options and activities for non-skiers.
- Brixen is known for one of the best Christmas Markets of the Tyrol. It is very festive, in Cathedral square, with handmade items and lots of food and drinks to sample.
- The most important sacred building is the **Brixen Cathedral, the highest church in South Tyrol. It’s opulent, with a lot of decorative marble and stone. The adjacent ***cloister was our favorite – featuring impressively preserved and colorful 14th century gothic frescoes.
- The **Hofburg Palace Museum is really good – it was the medieval city palace of the bishops of Brixen, built in the thirteenth century. On the upper level it has grand imperial living quarters, and below there is one of the best collections of religious sculptures I’ve seen. It’s also famous for a rather charming and extensive collection of creches.
- **Museo della Farmacia di Bressanone is better than you might expect – a history of a family run pharmacy, dating back to the 1600s. It’s small, but the audio guide covers a lot of ground, and the collection is interesting and intimate.
We stayed at **Adler Historic Guesthouse for four days and really enjoyed it. The property has been beautifully restored, with spare and elegant, modern furnishings. Rooftop pool and sauna, with a cozy relaxation area. Our room was large and comfortable. Very good breakfast.
- *Agorà21, in the Hotel Krone, was a disaster. We had a reservation and promptly gave it up on arrival – it was packed, chaotic, and full of screaming children. The hotel apparently offers half-board, and must have a huge number of rooms. If the restaurant is indicative, avoid!
- **Alter Schlachthof is a more hipster-casual brewery spot in a historic building facing the river. The burger was excellent, friendly service.
- *Decantei was a disappointment – we hope it was an off night, and would try again, because the setting is so cute. Fairly formal, lovely modern/classic interior design blend, excellent wine list. The food was all very high quality ingredients with simple preparations, aiming for elegant, resulting in very bland.
- **Hotel & Restaurant Elephant is a pretty, historic building – walk inside; on the left you’ll find a small museum with the history of the hotel and the elephant himself. The restaurant upstairs is charming, wood lined with carved elephants on the ceiling, sophisticated service, excellent food. Hotel wise, it looks like a high-end option on the edges of town with easier parking.
- **Fink Restaurant was very good – “monastic,” to use their term, aiming for spare and elegant, vegetable-forward. Pretty dining room, excellent choices in their serving dishes. The hotel looks like another interesting option to try.
- **Restaurant Finsterwirt was excellent – beautifully decorated rooms in a historic style, good food, good wine. For a fancy night out, dress up!
- We had an okay lunch at **Vinothek Vitis Enoteca. It’s a charming setting, food is on the fancier side, and a broad wine list that could have been a bit more adventurous.
There is a ski area just outside of town, **Plose – about a 10 minute drive up the hill. Medium high elevation at 2400 m, fairly short, groomed runs for on piste with a good angle for practicing carving. Some runs are steeper than others, but not much is vertical. If there is snow, the entire run is above treeline (other than the homerun), with wide open rollers and views of the Dolomites and Alps in all directions. Good infrastructure, enough huts, not fancy, very family and local oriented. *Rossalm is the most appealing dining option, but the service was just not good, frustratingly so.
Chiusa / Klausen
Chiusa is a well-preserved medieval village with a dramatic Monastery overhead (highly visible from the pass itself). While it’s predominantly German-speaking, this was the first place (from the North) on the Brenner Pass where the cuisine begins to lean more Italian.
The town itself is a great lunch or dinner stop – relatively flat, with picturesque buildings and quite a few restaurants. We arrived mid-afternoon and had better than expected pasta at **Stadtlcafè. Continuing on, you’ll find the extremely popular Gassl Bräu, a large and quaint brewery.
The hike to **Monastero di Sabiona is straight uphill for about 30 minutes. You can do it as a loop, with one path partially paved and the other largely a steep staircase. The site is very old – at least 350 AD, probably older, pre-dating (and including) the Romans. For more than three centuries – from 1687 to 2021 – this monastery was a Benedictine monastery, where nuns lived according to the rule of Saint Benedict of Nursia: “Ora et labora et lege” (Pray and work and read). It was closed in November 2021. This blog post is a good read for a lot more detail about the history: https://throneandvine.com/sabiona-monastery/. We loved the solitude and the views. While it’s not an easy walk, it’s appropriate for all fitness levels if you take your time.
Novacella
On the outskirts of Brixen, the **Kloster Neustift, or Abbazia di Novacella, is easy to miss (a bit hidden from the roadway), but very worthwhile for a detour. Give it an hour, or longer to taste the wines.
The Abbazia was founded in 1142 by the Augustinian Order of Canons Regular. While the centuries that followed have the usual complex story of fires, persecution, ownership changes, and more, the buildings today have some serious gems – and a significant source of income, in the form of rather good wine. The productions are thought to be among the oldest in the world, with winemaking records tracing back 850 years.
Architecturally, the restoration process has been long and difficult, but today there’s a major library, Kloster buildings, and an extremely ornate Church (cherubs everywhere you look). You can also taste the wines, and there are several good looking restaurants on and around the property.
Vipiteno
The town traces its roots to 14 B.C., when Nero Claudius Drusus founded a military camp called “Vipitenum” along the road between what are now Italy and Germany. Vipiteno was a mining center in the Middle Ages, and well-positioned along the Brenner Pass trade route, bringing the city considerable wealth and prosperity. A major fire in 1443 destroyed much of the town, and much of what you see today dates back to the impressive structures built to replace that lost.
It’s very pretty – a long central street with a striking tower entrance gate. It would be a decent town to stay in for a weekend visit, and is a good option for a road trip break/meal. There’s a very cute Christmas market, numerous restaurants, and high-end shopping. We liked the look of Restaurant Vinzenz. Just off the main street, we had a very good pizza in a modern setting at **Nepomuk.
Eastern Dolomites and Cortina d’Ampezzo
Cortina d’Ampezzo, the “Queen of the Dolomites,” is one of the more famous destinations in the region, and recently hosted the winter Olympics. We still plan to return to ski, but our summer visit was a bit of a dud and the energy felt rather low and overly touristy. The central downtown area is strikingly similar to Courmayeur.
Falzarego Pass
One of my favorite hikes was the trail from Mount Lagazuoi to the ***Scotoni Hut, which has some of the best food we had in the region, in a beautiful valley. We took trails 20 / 20A from the top of the Lagazuoi cable car (about 4.5 km to the Hut), and then continued down the mountain to Armentarola. Note that you’ll need a bus to complete the route, and in the off seasons you may need to call a cab. Check the weather – we had snow at the top in June.
The whole hike is in descent, with some steep parts, but not particularly difficult. It’s a good way to experience the Open Air Great War Museum without fully committing to the exposed sections – there are numerous caves and bunkers along the route.
