7-Day Dolomites Itinerary & Hut-to-Hut Hiking Guide

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I’ve been coming to the Dolomites for the past four years, and this 7-day Dolomites itinerary includes the prettiest day hikes I’ve done, as well as a portion of my favorite 4-day hut-to-hut hike (which is a great intro to hut hiking!).

👉 What Makes This Itinerary Unique: The focus is on the best views and it includes a portion of the Alta Via 1 trek (AV1), one of the most famous hut-to-hut routes in the Dolomites!

Best of all, the route is super accessible to the average hiker. While some days are a bit more challenging (specifically the Alta Via 1 hut-to-hut trek), with some prep and training beforehand, I think most people can do this route. For example, I’ve seen families with kids on every one of the day hikes and couples in their 70s do the Alta Via 1 trek with us.

QUICK GUIDE: 7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

For some context, I’ve hiked in the Swiss Alps, the Carpathians in Romania, through fjords in Norway, and scrambled up many coastal hikes on the islands of Madeira, Mallorca, Sardinia, and Sicily – and the Dolomites remain my favorite.

I think these are the most stunning mountains in all of Europe—with all their craggy shark-tooth peaks, they look straight out of a Lord of the Rings movie. The food here is local farm-grown and a fantastic mix of Italian and German traditions.

Most everyone speaks English, but you’ll also hear Italian and German. And if you go in the summertime, from July to September, you’ll have some of the best weather for all sorts of adventures.

I will share some pictures of each day’s hike along our road trip below that will speak to their beauty.

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7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

7-Day Dolomites Itinerary Map

Here’s the visual of where the 7 Day Dolomites itinerary will take you. The blue is the driving route around Cortina d’Ampezzo and Ortisei, our main hubs for the road trip. The red hiking symbols are the huts we visited either on our day trips or our hut to hut hiking adventure.

🚗 Cortina Long-Term Parking: We parked our car in Cortina for 4 days here while we did the hut-to-hut portion of the trip. It cost us €50 for the whole time. From Cortina, we drove to Santa Maddalena and Ortisei for the leg of our trip.

A fair warning to those who have not driven in the mountains – while the distance between Cortina and Ortisei is short, it’s a 2-hour mountain drive across mountain serpentines. This means you’ll really want to plan out your hikes and road trip logistics beforehand, or you’ll get fucked on the drive times.

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7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

Where To Stay Each Day

If you are booking things yourself and not going through a Trek company, I recommend you start contacting the Rifugios 4-5 months before your trip, as they book up fast. I’ve included some alternative rifugio options in the Detailed Itinerary, in case these more popular ones are full.

Dolomites Itinerary	Overnight Booking Link
Day 0: Arrive in Dolomites	Dobbiaco – Hotel Cristallo (mid) – Hotel Tschurtschenthaler (budget)
Day 1: Alta Via 1 [Stage 1]	Rifugio Sennes* – Send a reservation request on their website page (contact page).
Day 2: Alta Via 1 [Stage 2]	Rifugio Fanes* – Send a reservation request on their website page.
Day 3: Alta Via 1 [Stage 3]	Rifugio Lagazuói* – Check availability on their website page.
Day 4: Alta Via 1 [Stage 4]	Cortina d’Ampezzo – Hotel Cortina (luxury) – Park Hotel Victoria (mid) – Hotel Corona (budget)
Day 5: Tre Cime	Cortina d’Ampezzo – same as above
Day 6: Val di Funes	Santa Maddalena – Hotel Tyrol (Luxury) – Pension Sonia (Mid) – Fallerhof (Budget – I stayed here & liked it.)
Day 7: Seceda	Ortisei – Casa al Sole (Luxury) – Hotel Hell (Mid – I stayed here & loved it.) – Chalet Hotel Hartmann – Adults Only (budget)
Day 8: Leave Dolomites	Fly Home

Full disclosure, because it was my first ‘through-hike,’ we used a self-guided tour company called Alpine Exploratory for the hut-to-hut portion of our trip, and we loved it because they took care of our hut bookings.

That said, if I were to do another hut-to-hut hike in the Dolomites, I would probably just plan and book things for myself. I found this Alta Via 1 Facebook Group incredibly helpful for a lot of my questions.

👉 Tip on Booking Refugios: The average prices for the Rifugios range from €30-€150 a night, including dinner and breakfast. Once you email them, and the staff confirms your booking request, you’ll likely be asked to transfer a deposit to make the reservation.

This is normal, and you can use the WISE app to do this if you’re from outside Europe—you will need the Rifugio bank account name and number and the address.

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7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

How To Get To The Dolomites

🚨 Spoiler alert: There is no Dolomites Airport, so you’ll have to land at a nearby airport, rent a car, and drive to the town you’re staying in. The bus system is quite good too, but I think having a car in the Dolomites is way better.

This time around, we started from Munich and drove 4 hours to Cortina, where we parked our car here for 4 days while we did the hut-to-hut Alta Via 1 part of our Dolomites itinerary.

If you’re flying from abroad, look for flights to these international airports.

• Marco Polo International Airport, Venice, Italy – 2 hours drive from Cortina
• Munich International Airport, Germany – 4 hours drive from Cortina
• Milan Malpensa Airport, Italy – 4.5 hours drive from Cortina

If you’re flying from within Europe, also look for flights to these airports:

• Bolzano Airport, Italy – 2 hours from Cortina (but only 45 minutes from Ortisei if you wanted to do this route in reverse, this would be a great airport option)
• Treviso Airport, Italy – 2 hours drive from Cortina
• Innsbruck Airport, Austria – 2.5 hours drive from Cortina
• Valerio Catullo Airport, Verona, Italy – 3 hours drive from Cortina

👉 Tip for Driving in the Mountains: While the distances are short on a map, it will take a long time to drive because you’re driving windy mountain roads. Here’s where I go into more about How To Get To The Dolomites.

7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

Renting A Car In The Dolomites

I usually use Discover Cars to compare rental car prices and pick what works for me – I look for a small, automatic car and try to rent from a cheaper city to start the trip if I can swing it (ie. Munich is cheaper to rent compared to Milan sometimes).

Check Rental Prices for Your Dates Here:
▶️ DISCOVER CARS ◀️

✔️ International Drivers License

You will need to have an International Drivers License (IDP) to rent a car in both Italy and Germany. This is essentially a translation of your license, and you will have to carry both the IDP and your actual license while driving.

I got my International Driver’s License at a local AAA office back in the States. It cost me $20 and expires after one year. There are also apps that do this service

✔️ Driving In The Dolomites

I love driving in the Dolomites – think serpentine roads, new magical mountain peaks at every turn, tons of viewpoints to pull over at, and chalets to stop into for long European lunches.

Generally, the roads are in great condition, and the only real thing that sucks in the summertime is traffic and congestion caused by hordes of bikers you’re sharing the road with.

On a positive note, I feel like you see a lot more stuff when you drive yourself than when you rely on public transportation.

PRO TIP: I tend to get car sick on these types of roads if I’m the passenger, so I highly recommend popping a Dramamine if you’re susceptible to nausea on serpentines.

✔️ Navigating Tolls in the Dolomites

There are a few toll roads across Italy and in the Dolomites. When you enter a toll road, it’s sort of like the United States, but more manual. There will be the first round of gates, where a machine will give you a paper ticket, which means you’ve entered the Toll Road.

When you exit the toll road, you’ll drive through a second set of toll gate. Here, you’ll pay your toll with either cash or credit card (have cash on you just in case).

Most of our tolls were under €5 each.

✔️ Dolomites Itinerary Without A Car

If renting a car is not your vibe for whatever reason, the Dolomites has an amazing public transportation system of buses and cable cars. This website was immensely helpful even though we had a car: SudTirol Mobility.

As a heads up, the first 4 days of this 7 day Dolomites Itinerary does not require a car as you’re walking in the mountains to the different rifugios. The car really came in hand when we wanted to get to the Tri Cime hikes and Ortisei on our own time, usually super early in the morning before the busses ran.

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7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

7-Day Dolomites Itinerary [DETAILED]

We arrived in Cortina the day before we started our road trip. Cortina is known as the “pearl of the Dolomites,” is a popular tourist hub, and is also where our AV1 trek ends.

So, we parked our car here for 4 days and took a quick bus to Dobbiaco, a town near Lago di Braies, where we spent the night excited about our hut hike.

👉 PRO TIP: We booked all our bus tickets ahead of time at SudTirol Mobility app, and were glad we did – it was fully booked in July.

Dobbiaco is a super cute Tyrolean town where locals speak both Italian and German (and English). It has a small town center with restaurants and shops for last-minute gear needs – which was great because I needed a knee sock!

Day 1: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 1]

📍 Route: Lago di Braies to Rifugio Sennes
⏰ Distance: 9.4 km (5 h 30 min)
⛰️ Height Gain: 920 m, Height Loss: 300 m

To start our trip, we grabbed breakfast in Dobbiaco and took the 30-minute bus to Lago di Braies. From here, after the obligatory photo shoot in front of Braies, we started our AV1 hut-to-hut trek.

Around lunch, we stopped for soup and a beer at Rifugio Biella, and finished our day at Rifugio Sennes around 3pm.

This was probably one of the nicer rifugios we stayed at, with some of the best food. It probably helped that we booked a private room and didn’t have to deal with other people snoring in a dorm.

🏠 HUT TIP: If Rifugio Sennes is fully booked, you can walk another hour to nearby Rifugio Fodara Vedla – also super pretty and surrounded by fields of cows!

Day 2: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 2]

📍 Route: Rifugio Sennes to Rifugio Lavarella
⏰ Distance: 10.1 km (4 h 30 min)
⛰️ Height Gain: 530 m, Height Loss: 570 m

This was our easy day, so we took our time and hit the trail by 9 am.

Our first stop was at Rifugio Fodara Vedla (which is close to Sennes) for a quick morning snack and an Elderflower cordial. This is actually a super cute hut, and highly recommend it if Sennes is booked.

From here, it was a pretty long descent to Rifugio Pederü for lunch and a water refill break. I’m glad we had our walking poles for this one.

After lunch at Rifugio Pederü, we hiked up the mountain again to our hut for the night, Rifugio Lavarella. While it was an “easy day,” the ascents were no joke today either, but we adopted the “one step at a time” mantra and were happy to take our time.

🏠 HUT TIP: Rifugio Lavarella is also the highest local brewery in the mountains, and we loved their IPA!

We stayed in a 6-person dorm room in Lavarella, but it had a private bathroom, and nobody snored!

Day 3: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 3]

📍 Route: Rifugio Lavarella to Rifugio Lagazuói
⏰ Distance: 14.8 km (6 h 30 min)
⛰️ Height Gain: 1,325 m, Height Loss: 630 m

This was our longest and toughest day on the hut-to-hut adventure. We started at 8am and reached our hut for the night around 3pm.

Our first 6 km were some of the most beautiful scenes I’ve seen in the Dolomites. From here, we had a steep descent and a steep ascent to Rifugio Scotoni, where we had a quick lunch.

Then the hardest bit started. From Rifugio Scotoni up to Rifugio Lagazuói was a bitch and a half incline for almost 2 hours. I think we made it harder on ourselves because we didn’t have a proper lunch, just a Coca-Cola and a tiny protein bar.

Either way, we made it to Rifugio Lagazuói in time for a summit beer and a 30-minute session in their dry sauna.

Rifugio Lagazuói is the highest hut on the Alta Via 1 trail and the one with the best views, in my opinion, especially for sunset and sunrise! We stayed in a 16-person dorm, which was a bit shit, but again we were blessed with no snoring!

Dinner was a 3-course meal of traditional Tyrolian food, followed by a few too many juniper grappas on my part.

Day 4: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 4]

📍 Route: Rifugio Lagazuói to Cortina d’Ampezzo
⏰ Distance: 11.6km km (5 h)
⛰️ Height Gain: 350 m, Height Loss: 1,420 m

We woke up early to see the sunrise over the Dolomites from Rifugio Lagazuói, and I know I say this a lot, but this was the absolute highlight of this entire Dolomites itinerary.

From Rif. Lagazuói, we headed down through the Pian dei Menis valley and up to visit Rifugio Scoiattoli and the famous Cinque Torri rocks. Lunch at Rifugio Scoiattoli was decadent to say the least, and the views were giving.

After lunch, we headed down further down the mountains to the Cian Zope bus stop, and on to Cortina d’Ampezzo to spend the night.

The fun part is that Cortina was hosting a luxury old car show, and we got to see a pretty amazing car show right before dinner near Hotel de la Poste.

Day 5: Tre Cime Circuit & Cadini di Misurina

📍 Day Hikes: Tre Cime Circuit & Cadini Di Misurina Viewpoint
⏰ Distance: ~15 km km (5 h)
⛰️ Difficulty: Moderate

Another early morning – we started today at 6:30 am so we could get to the Tre Cime parking lot at Rifugio Auronzo before it filled up. There is a toll right before you go up to the Rifugio of €30 per car.

From here, we hiked the Tre Cime Circuit first and had the most authentic hut lunch of our trip at the Manga Langalm cabin – deer sausages and some sort of fresh cow cheese and onion salad! I loved that they had a pile of dead drones to welcome guests with the instructions, “enjoy paradise!”

After our lunch, we hustled to do the Cadini di Misurina out-and-back trail, which is a short 1 hour from Rifugio Auronzo. We tried to do it first thing in the morning, but it was too cloudy. We had better luck in the afternoon.

While Cadini is not a well-known trail compared to the Tre Cime circuits, it’s becoming more popular since I first discovered it a few years back. This time, to go out on the ridge, there was a line of 10 people waiting! This is why I recommend going early.

Our afternoon was back in Cortina, where we spent the day window shopping and doing our laundry.

Day 6: Val di Funes

📍 Day Hikes: Adolf Munkel Trail
⏰ Distance: 9.5 km (3 h)
⛰️ Difficulty: Moderate

We left Cortina D’Ampezzo in the morning and made the 2-hour drive to Val di Funes through the most amazing valley road in all the Dolomites, Val Gardena. I got a little sick on the serpentines because I wasn’t driving, but we went slow and enjoyed the views nonetheless.

After checking in and a nice lunch at the hotel, we headed out to our hike. The parking lot where you start the Adolf Munkel trail is here, near Zanser Alm.

PRO TIP ON FOOD: Unlike the US, hotels in the Dolomites actually have really great authentic food. Beyond these, the rifugios will come second in my book for amazing home-cooked food.

It’s best to do the Adolf Munkel Trail counterclockwise and start around 3pm. This way, you get the sun setting on the mountains, lighting it up pink. We stopped at Geisler Alm for a beer and a tiny photoshoot before finishing the route.

PRO TIP: Geisler Alm and a lot of the Rifugios will close at 5pm, so keep that in mind if you want to have that celebratory beer.

Since the days are so long in the summertime, you’ll have plenty of time to finish the trail and get back to your car.

Day 7: Seceda

📍 Day Hikes: Seceda (point-to-point optional hike)
⏰ Distance: 13.4 km (4 h)
⛰️ Difficulty: Moderate

On the last day, we woke up at a decent hour and had a long breakfast. The idea was to take it easy today.

From the town of Ortisei, there are two main gondolas that I recommend:

• The gondola that goes up to Seceda Ridge (my favorite)
• The gondola that goes to the opposite mountains towards Alpi di Suisi, the highest alpine field in the Alps.

Both are beautiful and if you have more time, both are worth exploring.

🚡 GONDOLA TICKETS: You will have to plan your day a bit around the gondolas. One way up or down is €33, but a roundtrip ticket is €45. If you’re thinking of doing the hike from Seceda down to Ortisei in the afternoon, than simply buy the tickets going up. If you’re not sure, it’s a better value to buy the roundtrip.

We were so tired from our hiking week that we took the gondola up to the Seceda Ridgeline and had a long lunch at Sofia Baiuta Hut. The views from here are spectacular, and you can spend the afternoon meandering the paths at your leisure.

If you are keen on an afternoon downhill hike, there’s a nice 13 km hike from Seceda that takes you from the top of the ridge all the way down to the town of Ortisei.

We wrapped up our little adventure with a pizza dinner at Turonda (make a reservation the day before on their terrace because it gets packed) and wine at my favorite little wine bar, La Cercia Enoteca.

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7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

Dolomites Itinerary: No Hut-to-Hut?

If you have fewer days, I would ditch the hut-to-hut hike experience and just focus on the best day hikes.

Here’s my recommendation if you’re doing a Dolomites quicky trip without the hut-to-hut.

3-Day Dolomites Itinerary

I recommend flying into the Marco Polo Airport in Venice, renting a car, and heading into Cortina d’Ampezzo. This is a great home base for a long weekend trip specifically because you have some pretty incredible hikes around you.

• Day 1: Tre Cime Circuit & Cadini Di Misurina Viewpoint (early wakeup, easy hikes)
• Day 2: Lago di Sorapis (early wakeup, beautiful but tough hike) & Lago di Braies in the afternoon.
• Day 3: Cinque Tori & Rifugio Averau/Nuvolau (easy hike day, can be combined with a bike ride or afternoon shopping & happy hour in Cortina)

Where to Stay in Cortina d’Ampezzo:
📍 Luxury: Hotel Cortina – Right in the city center, this hotel has an old-school feel but has been modernized inside. There’s a lawn where you can sit and enjoy a drink overlooking the mountains, which I think is beautiful!
📍 Mid-Range: Park Hotel Victoria – A 4-star hotel with average prices around €300 a night, it’s right in city center. I like the wood finishings, and the sauna is a nice touch after long day hikes.
📍 Budget: Hotel Corona – Also super cute, with clean comfy rooms. It’s also a perk that it has easy parking.

4-Day Dolomites Itinerary

If you have one more day, I would still make Cortina my home base, and add the following to your Dolomites itinerary:

• Day 1: Tre Cime Circuit & Cadini Di Misurina Viewpoint (early wakeup, easy hikes)
• Day 2: Lago di Sorapis (early wakeup, beautiful but tough hike) & Lago di Braies in the afternoon.
• Day 3: Via Ferrata Brigata Tridentina (you can rent the harness and gear at any sports shop in Cortina, it’s best if you’ve done at least one via ferrata before going, but I loved this one.)
• Day 4: Cinque Tori & Rifugio Averau/Nuvolau (easy hike day, can be combined with a bike ride or afternoon shopping & happy hour in Cortina)

Where to Stay in Cortina d’Ampezzo:
📍 Luxury: Hotel Cortina – Right in the city center, this hotel has an old-school feel but has been modernized inside. There’s a lawn where you can sit and enjoy a drink overlooking the mountains, which I think is beautiful!
📍 Mid-Range: Park Hotel Victoria – A 4-star hotel with average prices around €300 a night, it’s right in city center. I like the wood finishings, and the sauna is a nice touch after long day hikes.
📍 Budget: Hotel Corona – Also super cute, with clean comfy rooms. It’s also a perk that it has easy parking.

5-Day Dolomites Itinerary

When I first came to the Dolomites, this is how long I stayed. Five days is a good amount of time because you can really do a lot of the most iconic stuff near Cortina d’Ampezzo as well as near the town of Ortisei in Val Gardena.

• Day 1: Cortina D’Ampezzo – Tre Cime Circuit & Cadini Di Misurina Viewpoint (early wakeup, easy hikes)
• Day 2: Cortina D’Ampezzo – Lago di Sorapis (early wakeup, beautiful but tough hike) & Lago di Braies in the afternoon.
• Day 3: Cortina D’Ampezzo – Cinque Tori & Rifugio Averau/Nuvolau (easy hike day, can be combined with a bike ride or afternoon shopping & happy hour in Cortina)
• Day 4: Ortisei – Morning drive to Ortisei via iconic Val Gardena pass, afternoon Adolf Munkel hike
  • 🤩 Insider Tip: Do the hike counterclockwise because the pink light as the sun goes down hits the mountains just right from this direction.
• Day 5: Ortisei – Lunch at Sofia Baiuta Hut and afternoon Seceda point-to-point optional hike down to Ortisei

Where to Stay in Cortina d’Ampezzo:
📍 Luxury: Hotel Cortina – Right in the city center, this hotel has an old-school feel but has been modernized inside.
📍 Mid-Range: Park Hotel Victoria – A nice 4-star hotel with average prices around €300 a night, it’s right in city center.
📍 Budget: Hotel Corona – Also super cute, with clean comfy rooms. It’s also a perk that it has easy parking.

Where to Stay in Ortisei:
📍 Luxury: Casa al Sole – A beautiful modern upscale hotel right in city center.
📍 Mid-Range: Hotel Hell – I stayed here and loved it, it’s a nice 4-star hotel with tons of amenities right outside the town, but still within walking distance.
📍 Budget: Chalet Hotel Hartmann – Adults Only – Also very neat, comfy and clean. I love this hotel because the decor is so homey and cabin-chic.

6-Day Dolomites Itinerary

Here’s how to spend 6 days in the Dolomites, which might be my favorite route ever.

• Day 1: Cortina D’Ampezzo – Tre Cime Circuit & Cadini Di Misurina Viewpoint (early wakeup, easy hikes)
• Day 2: Cortina D’Ampezzo – Lago di Sorapis (early wakeup, beautiful but tough hike) & Lago di Braies in the afternoon.
• Day 3: Cortina D’Ampezzo – Cinque Tori & Rifugio Averau/Nuvolau (easy hike day, can be combined with a bike ride or afternoon shopping & happy hour in Cortina)
• Day 4: Ortisei – Morning drive to Ortisei via iconic Val Gardena pass, afternoon Adolf Munkel hike
  • 🤩 Insider Tip: Do the hike counterclockwise because the pink light as the sun goes down hits the mountains just right from this direction.
• Day 5: Ortisei – Take the cable car up to have lunch at Sofia Baiuta Hut and an afternoon Seceda point-to-point optional hike down to Ortisei
• Day 6: Ortisei – Take the cable car up to the Alpi di Suisi plateau and explore the largest alpine pasture. This Monte Piz – Schgaguler Hut via Monte Sëuc is a great hike for all sorts of levels, kids included.

Where to Stay in Cortina d’Ampezzo:
📍 Luxury: Hotel Cortina – Right in the city center, this hotel has an old-school feel but has been modernized inside.
📍 Mid-Range: Park Hotel Victoria – A nice 4-star hotel with average prices around €300 a night, it’s right in city center.
📍 Budget: Hotel Corona – Also super cute, with clean comfy rooms. It’s also a perk that it has easy parking.

Where to Stay in Ortisei:
📍 Luxury: Casa al Sole – A beautiful modern upscale hotel right in city center.
📍 Mid-Range: Hotel Hell – I stayed here and loved it, it’s a nice 4-star hotel with tons of amenities right outside the town, but still within walking distance.
📍 Budget: Chalet Hotel Hartmann – Adults Only – Also very neat, comfy and clean. I love this hotel because the decor is so homey and cabin-chic.

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7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

Dolomites Itinerary: Have More Time?

This is for the folks who really want to do it all! Here’s what I recommend to get a sampling of both the mountains around Cortina d’Ampezzo and Ortisei and experience a portion of the Alta Via 1 hut-to-hut hike.

10-Day Dolomites Itinerary

• Day 1: Arrive in Lago di Braies
• Day 2: Lago di Sorapis & Lago di Braies
• Day 3: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 1] – Lago di Braies to Rifugio Sennes
• Day 4: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 2] – Rifugio Sennes to Rifugio Fanes
• Day 5: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 3] – Rifugio Fanes to Rifugio Lagazuói
• Day 6: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 4] – Cinque Torri
• Day 7: Tre Cime Circuit & Cadini Di Misurina Viewpoint
• Day 8: Val di Funes – Adolf Munkel (counterclockwise)
• Day 9: Seceda Ridgeline
• Day 10: Alpi di Suisi – Monte Piz – Schgaguler Hut via Monte Sëuc

This would mean the following for booking your lodging:

• 2 nights in Lago di Braies
• 1 night in Rifugio Sennes (or Rifugio Fodara Vedla just off-trail)
• 1 night in Rifugio Fanes (or Rifugio Lavarella as an alternative)
• 1 night in Rifugio Laguazuoi
• 2 nights in Cortina d’Ampezzo
• 2 nights in Ortisei

📍 Where to Stay in Lago di Braies: Hotel Lago di Braies (2-night minimum)
📍 Where to Stay in Cortina d’Ampezzo: Luxury: Hotel Cortina Mid-Range: Park Hotel Victoria, Budget: Hotel Corona
📍 Where to Stay in Ortisei: Luxury: Casa al Sole, Mid-Range: Hotel Hell, Budget: Chalet Hotel Hartmann – Adults Only.

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7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

Dolomites Trip Planning Advice

A few pieces of advice on what to pack, when to go, and what to do in the Dolomites beyond hiking.

✅ Hut-To-Hut Hiking Packing List

• Walking boots with good tread
• Walking socks (don’t skimp on this)
• Rucksack (we had a 23L and a 28L respectively)
• Day Pack (for the day hikes)
• Walking shorts & shirts (no cotton)
• Waterproof jacket
• Waterproof pants (I didn’t need to use them, but you’ll hate yourself if it starts raining and you don’t have them)
• Fleece (gets cold at night)
• Hat and Gloves (again, it gets cold at night)
• Warm Layer (puffer jacket or long sleeve)
• Wash kit (toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, deodorant, minimal toiletries)
• Water bottle (2 liters minimum)
• First aid kit (simple one to treat blisters)
• Sunglasses
• Sun hat
• Sunscreen (50 spf)
• Headtorch
• Whistle
• Walking poles
• Personal Items (medicine, credit card, cash, passport, phone)
• Battery pack & European plug adapter/chargers
• Sheet liner
• Lightweight towel
• Earplugs
• Sandals (for hut)

✅ Best Months to Go to the Dolomites

The best time to go hiking in the Dolomites is between July and September. The weather is warm, the huts have opened up, and the gondolas are in full swing.

Another good time to visit the Dolomites is in the winter for a ski vacation – I recommend January.

Here’s a bit more detail about the best time to visit the Dolomites and what the heck to do in each season.

✅ What To Do In the Dolomites Beyond Hiking

Especially in the summer months, there are quite a few other things to do in the Dolomites beyond hiking:

• Explore the Pretty Mountain Lakes – my favorites are Lago di Braies and Lago Sorapis.
• Try a Via Ferrata – My favorite is Via Ferrata Brigita Tridentina in Val Gardena, but there are so many, from beginner to the more advanced. You can rent gear and get guidance from any sports shop in major towns like Cortina or Ortisei.
• Go Paragliding – I especially like Fly2 in Ortisei, because there are options to paraglide from the Seceda Ridgeline or the Alpi di Suisi side of the mountain.
• Explore Small Dolomite Towns – My favorite is Ortisei but there are tons of cute small towns in the Dolomites worth a visit.
• Rent a Bike and Cycle – Some of the best cycling is done in Val Gardena, and you won’t be the only one – this is a huge sport in the Dolomites!
• Lunch at the Best Rifugios – You don’t need to hike to get to the Dolomites, as alot of my favorite Rifugios are accessible by gondolas. These include Rifugio Lagazuoi, Sofie Baita Hutte, and and Rifugio Scoiattoli.
• Go Skiing in the Winter around Val Gardena and Cortina d’Ampezzo areas.

✅ Languages Spoken in the Dolomites

The Dolomites are spread over 3 regions in northeastern Italy: South Tyrol (Alto Adige in Italian / Südtirol in German) is the region closest to Austria and the one I was mostly in.

In South Tyrol, they speak German because in the past, they used to be part of Austria. Italian is also and official language, so you’ll see signs written in both German and Italian.

In other surrounding regions, the primary language is Italian. In smaller communities, especially in Belluno, Ladin is spoken – this is a regional Rhaeto-Romance language. I can understand a bit of Italian, and a bit of German, but sure as hell Ladin is a weird one.

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7-Day Dolomites Itinerary

Conclusion: 1-Week Dolomites Itinerary

In conclusion, this 7-Day Dolomites itinerary is great for first-timers to the Italian Alps, and people who love hiking beyond the day trips.

The road trip includes all of the prettiest hikes and views, a hut-to-hut experience, and time in both Cortina d’Ampezzo region, as well as the Ortisei.

Here’s the route and what you’ll see:

• Day 1: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 1] – Lago di Braies to Rifugio Sennes
• Day 2: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 2] – Rifugio Sennes to Rifugio Fanes
• Day 3: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 3] – Rifugio Fanes to Rifugio Lagazuói
• Day 4: Alta Via 1 Trek [Stage 4] – Cinque Torri
• Day 5: Tre Cime Circuit & Cadini di Misurina
• Day 6: Val di Funes – Adolf Munkel
• Day 7: Seceda Ridgeline

I had the time of my life, and can’t wait to come back next year to finish the Alta Via 1 hut trek!