Italy - The Dolomites

Well, the vacation that I spent the better part of 2.5 years dreaming of and planning has come and gone. In the blink of an eye. We were thrown smack dab back into the middle of a blazing hot Texas summer, and while I love Texas, I already miss the Italian sun, the smell of jasmine everywhere, the sound of tiny espresso cups clinking against porcelain saucers, and the promise of gelato around every corner :) Oh Italy, how I love you so!

I’ve had many requests to share the details of our incredible two week trip through Italy and quite honestly, I don’t even know where to start! I feel that I am just about a walking thesaurus on planning a trip to Italy so if you have any questions after reading everything, please feel free to ask! If there’s anything I love talking about more than food and fitness…it’s Italy :)

I think the best way to tackle this and share all the deets is to break it down by each location. That way you can easily have all the good info divided up by location for your own planning purposes! In this segment, I want to talk all about the majestic Dolomites and the surrounding region!

The Dolomites

Hands down one of our favorite parts of the trip! We were so sad to leave this area and are already talking about when we can go back. This region of Italy is not to be missed in our opinion, as you get an incredibly fascinating mix of cultures and jaw-dropping scenery all in one!

Getting there - we rented a car and drove ourselves from Lake Como to the Dolomites. If I’m being honest, I was suuuuper nervous about this. We were prepared with our directions and our International Drivers License from AAA (you have to have this for driving in Italy), but I was so nervous about traffic and navigating. Surprisingly, everything went very smooth! Hats off to my dad and Bryan for tag-teaming and getting us to our destinations with absolutely no issues or wrong turns! The only minor issue was trying to figure out the toll booths in a foreign country and foreign language….but we managed :) Just maybe do some research on pumping gas and paying tolls before you go!

Where to stay - the actual geographical area of “the Dolomites” is quite large and it can be difficult to choose where to stay. After doing a lot of research on the hikes and sites we wanted to see the most, we chose to stay in Cortina d’Ampezzo. It was closest to the Lago di Brais, Lago di Sorapis, Tre Cime, Cinque Torri, and was an easy drive away from Ortisei and Venice (our next destination). Our second location choice was Ortisei which also would have been great! We chose an apartment on VRBO, which turned out to be great! I’ll link it here. The view. Oh my gosh that view. I could have just staying on that wrap-around porch and sipped on Italian coffee for the rest of my life.

What to do - Let me preface by saying we barely even scratched the surface of what this region has to offer. Like really, “scratch the surface” is probably even too generous. We ended up only being able to do one major activity on my never-ending list, but it was my top must do and I’m so grateful that we were able to do it! Below is the list of sites and hikes that I researched and compiled:

• Seceda Ridgeline (do not miss): Cable car ride up to the mountain ridge

  • Hike to Baita Troier Hutte - the bacon goulash was so good! We all loved our food. Don’t leave without indulging in the apple strudel with vanilla custard and a coffee. It’ll be the most scenic lunch and dessert you’ve ever had.

• Drive Passo Gardena - must-drive road in the Dolomites, very scenic

• Hikes

  • Lago Di Brais– easy, paved walk around the lake

  • Tre Cime (rocky, jagged peaks, 6 miles, 4ish hours)

    • If not accessible by car, you can hike from the free pothole-ridden car park at Lago d’Antorno. This takes around 90 minutes and involves a considerable amount of elevation gain (ca. 500 meters).

  • Cadini de Misurina (45 min to view point)

  • Lago Di Sorapis (Gatorade blue glacial lake, 8.4 miles round trip, take trail 215)

  • Lago Federa from Passo Giau - starts and ends in different places

  • Cinque Torri - 3 mi, 2-3 hrs, open air great war museum

  • Hike to Geisler Alm Rifugio near Seceda - https://www.geisleralm.com/en/summer.html

  • Alpe di Siusi

  • Val Di Funes

What to eat - because we visited riiighhtt before the official start of the summer season, we did have trouble finding places that were open. If you visit in off season, be aware! Even though I knew this and tried to plan around it, we still ran into some issues! The important thing is to be flexible and open to alternatives!

One of those alternatives happened to be a really cozy restaurant in the heart of Cortina that we all enjoyed, Dolom'eats all'Aquila! My mom and I had the weekly special, a bacon and pumpkin flower risotto and yes. I will be dreaming of this dish with a tear in my eye the day the evening temperature drops below 50 degrees. It was so warm and comforting and delicious, yet not too heavy. Sooo good.

As mentioned above, Baita Troier Hutte was so so good and has the most beautiful setting. If you can, visit when Seceda is open and sit on the deck overlooking the surrounding mountain peaks and grassy meadows. Like I said, I had the bacon goulash, beer, and then finished it off with apple strudel with vanilla creme sauce and a coffee. It was pure heaven.

On our second night we swung by Latteria Cortina, a local meat and cheese shop, to pick up some yummies for a charcuterie-style dinner! We really enjoyed that! *One tip, don’t be afraid of trying to communicate with non-English speaking Italians! Just do your best and be really friendly, often they respond back the same! It was a little tricky trying to order specific cheeses and meats in specific quantities from someone who didn’t understand English but it was part of the experience!

For our breakfasts, we just picked up some fruit, eggs, bread, and snacks at a local grocery store. I don’t know why, but I loved getting to go into grocery stores and check out all the cool things they have and how they do things differently than here in the US. I think it’s a great way to immerse yourself into everyday culture!

When people ask us what our favorite place was, we all agree it was the Dolomites! The mountains are just breathtaking, and the mix of cultures make it a really fascinating region. I had soooo much on my list for the Dolomites and we just didn’t have enough time. But if you can get yourself there for even just a day, I highly recommend it! We will most definitely be returning as soon as we can plan a trip!