The Italian Alps! WOW! I could go on forever about these mountains, and I only saw the smallest section of them. Not only was this area the absolute highlight of my trip (so far) but I was also fortunate enough to spend my 22nd birthday here with friends. Even though we didn’t have the best of luck with the weather, we still had the most amazing time.
The Italian Dolomites consists of quite a widespread area, we stayed in Ortisei which is about an hour bus ride north of Bolzano – a gateway city to the Eastern Dolomites. Without a car, we were pretty restricted on where we could go and what we could do, but we made it work. From Ortisei there were a number of nearby towns, and cable cars that provided access to a range of hikes and mountains. I knew that there were two main areas that I wanted to visit here, Alpe di Suisi, and Seceda, both had been on my bucket list for quite some time. So let’s get into it!
An interesting thing about this region – the South Tyrol region in Italy is that because it is so close to the Austrian border, both Italian and German are fluently spoken. This means that most places have at least two different names, an Italian one and a German one. This definitely made it confusing. On a side note, Ortisei, also known as St Ulrich is a cute mountain town with pedestrian only streets and adorable shops. It is worth a visit in itself, as are many of these mountain towns.
Day 1 – Alpe di Suisi
We had 3 full days to make the most of, so the first was dedicated to Alpe di Suisi. Alpe di Suisi is Europes highest alpine meadow, it is widely known for skiing and hiking. It was truly stunning. With lush green fields, and gentle, rolling hills, littered with cows and horses, it was incredibly tranquil. The photos don’t do it justice, it was unreal. A scene straight out of a movie or book. We took the Mont Seuc cable car from Ortisei, and then a chairlift down into the meadow. After some quick math we invested in the 3-Day Gardena Pass for 103€ ($180NZD), this gave us unlimited access to almost all of the cable cars and chairlifts in the region. While expensive, it was good value for money as each individual cable car costs at least 20-30€ ($35-$55NZD) return. There loads of hiking trails in this area, so we just walked and walked, mix and matching the trails. In the end, we walked 30km over about 8hrs. There were some pretty decent uphill climbs, it was no easy feat. But well well worth it. See the map below for the loop-like trail we walked. The weather was pretty good all morning, up until mid-afternoon when the cloud started to roll in pretty rapidly. At this point we had to start making our way back to the lifts, as they close around 5pm, and we did not want to be left hiking back down into Ortisei. Luckily we made it back with about 30 minutes to spare.
Day 2 – RAIN ☔️
Unfortunately the weather on day 2 was miserable. To be honest, the forecast for this day hadn’t looked good for a while so I didn’t plan anything too specific for it just in case. We headed out in the morning and took the bus to Selva Gardena/Wolkenstein, with the intention of taking some cable cars and seeing where we end up. Once we got to Selva, we took a cable car through dense cloud and rain, only to get to the top of the mountain and find out all the other cable cars and lifts were closed so we headed back down to Ortisei and had a chill, relaxing afternoon. We did take the Resciesa funicular up from Ortisei, there were no views due to the cloud, but we stopped and had lunch at a restaurant here.
Day 3 – Seceda
Our final day in the Dolomites was looking pretty touch and go. After the crap weather the day before, it still wasn’t looking great but all we could do was hope for the best. So we headed for Seceda – bucket list item number 2. Getting here required two cable cars from Ortisei, the first being 2.5km long and rising 450m, the second then being 2km long and having a rapid incline of 700m. The second cable car here was insanely steep, you literally rose up against the cliffs. It was unlike anything else. Once in Seceda we walked to multiple view points, and along the ridge-line before finding a hut with an incredible view for lunch. Eventually we started to head back, we aimed for the chairlift to take us back up to the ridgeline – we had come a long way down the valley. As we were riding the open chairlift back up (another 1.9km) not only did it start to rain, but it quite literally started hailing down on us. As we sat there in the open, we got pelted by hail and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. What a memory.
Final thoughts
I have recommended the Dolomites to absolutely everyone. I would love to go back and see more of the area, and I would love to return in winter. It looks to form an awesome winter ski resort! That being said, it is not cheap. Most of our food was brought from the small and expensive supermarkets, and we found one affordable restaurant (Cascade Ristorante) which served fantastic pizza and drinks. Regardless of fitness level, or capabilities, for anyone interested in the outdoors, this is one of the best locations you could visit! It’s for sure an experience I will treasure when I’m older and reminiscent.
~ Nikita’s Nomadic Notes
Nikita’s Nomadic Notes 