The Dolomites are a massive mountain range in northeastern Italy and are divided into eastern and western regions. Dolomites get over 300 days of clear sunny skies with unlimited hiking trails, over 200 chair lifts to accommodate various winter and summer adventure sports.
Innsbruck (INN) and Venice (VCE) are the closest airports (3 hour drive to Cortina d’Ampezzo) for exploring dolomites with good international airport connections for US-based travelers. I recommend first time Dolomite visitors to try VCE airport, since business class award flights to Venice are easily available.
Rental cars are a must when exploring dolomites and one should compare the prices between both airports before finalizing the flights.
Eastern Dolomite Attractions
Cortina d’Ampezzo serves as the base to explore the eastern dolomites attractions like Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Lago di Braies, Lago di Misurina, Cinque Torri, Croda da Lago and Lago Federa. Cima Tofana cable car from Cortina d’Ampezzo will take you to one of the highest peaks in the area and offer incredible views along with dining options at several restaurants and visit Tofana di Mezzo view point.
Cortina D’Ampezzo Best Cable Car Rides
I reviewed eastern dolomites in an earlier article (https://awardcracker.com/dolomites-italy/) and western dolomites is the focus of this review.
Western Dolomites Attractions
Val di Funes, Santa Magdalena (featured image), Val Gardena or Ortisei can serve as a base to explore all the attractions.
Trips easy to take from Val di Funes
Val di Funes can serve as a base for hiking in the Puez-Odle Nature Park and is located within about 40-minutes drive time to explore the cable car systems of Col Raiser, Mount Seceda and Alpe di Siusi.
Trips easy to take from Ortisei
I recommend staying in the Ortisei area to explore Pordoi Pass, Passo Fedaia & Fedaia lake and Marmolada.
I highly recommend staying 3-4 nights in each place close to the important attractions in dolomites to properly experience the hikes and avoid long periods of driving. It is easy to find well reviewed accommodations on Booking.com that offer free parking. We went in the month of September for 3 weeks and never felt bored of the scenery or the hikes.
Dolomite Super-Summer Lift Pass
Interested travelers can look through various unlimited lift pass options and choose (https://www.dolomitisuperski.com/en/SuperSummer/Purchase-ticket) the one that suits the travel duration.
Puez-Odle Nature Park
Puez-Odle Nature Park can be reached within 30 minutes from Val di Funes and has some excellent hiking trails (https://www.alltrails.com/parks/italy/south-tyrol/parco-naturale-puez-odle) after parking in a very large paid lot. I recommend going early in the peak summer months.
Alpe di Siusi (Seiser Alm Compatsch)
It is the highest alpine meadow in Europe and can be reached after taking a long cable car ride. Rental cars and bikes are only allowed to enter Alpe di Siusi between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm. However, there is no driving hour restriction if your accommodation is located inside Alpe di Siusi.
First time visitors will not believe their eyes when they see the massive area encompassed by Alpe di Siusi. There are long bike paths along with hiking trails as far as the eyes can see surrounded by the mountain range. There is a small town with several hotels, restaurants and more cable cars that can take you to different heights. There are several hiking trails (https://www.alltrails.com/parks/italy/south-tyrol/alpe-di-siusi) and I highly recommend finding an accommodation up there and spend 3-4 days exploring the region.
Col Raiser
After you drive to the cable car station and park your car, Col Raiser can be reached by a quick cable car ride. It is a unique place that is surrounded by dolomite mountain range. There is a hotel on the top of Col Raiser (Almhotel) where interested travelers can spend a couple of days.
I highly recommend planning a day trip to experience the unique beauty of this place and complete the Seceda hike (https://www.alltrails.com/trail/italy/south-tyrol/col-raiser-seceda-rifugio-firenze?u=i).
Seceda can also be visited by taking a different cable car from Orteisi in the summer months (see the image below).
We first arrived to Innsbruck and rented a car there and drove to Val di Funes which has breathtaking views of western dolomites (featured image).
Below is our accommodation in Val Di Funes from Booking.com.
I posted some views from our inexpensive accommodation below.
Dolomites Scenery
Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee)
St. Magdalena Church View
Tre Cime Di Lavaredo
Summary
Western dolomites have saw-tooth-appearing mountain peaks which are different when compared to the eastern dolomites. There are over 1000 hikes listed in the entire region of Dolomites and I recommend interested travelers to plan separate trips to cover both eastern and western regions.