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By carAlessandro Drago — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)South Tyrol and Belluno, Italy · Italy
A massif of pale rock that turns pink in the late afternoon, between South Tyrol, Trentino and the Veneto, where German, Italian and Ladin are all spoken. The Great Dolomites Road was opened in 1909 to link Bolzano with Cortina across the passes, and it is still the way to travel it. Here are the largest alpine plateau in Europe, the most photographed glacial lakes in the Alps and peaks whose north face was not climbed until 1933. And through these same mountains ran the front of the war of 1915 to 1917. VERY important notes, because access here is regulated and simply turning up does not work. LAGO DI BRAIES: in summer the road closes to private traffic for much of the day; you must book or park at the valley entrance and come up by paid bus. TRE CIME: the road to the Auronzo hut is a toll road, around forty euros per car, and requires an advance online booking. ALPE DI SIUSI: closed to cars during the day; you go up by cable car from Ortisei or Siusi. Times and dates change every year: check before setting off. Also, badly parked cars are towed in Ortisei and Cortina, on the passes you may only stop in marked pull-outs, and flying drones is forbidden in the nature parks. In winter, after a snowfall, the passes can close for a few hours or days.
Carezza, Passo Pordoi and Ortisei · 70 km
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A small emerald lake with the Latemar massif reflected behind it. Ladin legend says a wizard shattered a rainbow here trying to seduce a nymph, and the colours fell into the water and stayed.
A boardwalk takes you round it in twenty minutes and you cannot go down to the shore. It sits on the Great Dolomites Road, so it is a stop along the way, not a destination.
55 min to the next stop · 37 km
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A pass at two thousand two hundred metres on the Great Dolomites Road, the route that in 1909 linked Bolzano with Cortina across the passes. From here a cable car climbs the Sass Pordoi, at nearly three thousand metres, leaving you on a stone plateau with the Marmolada in view.
The bends on these passes are slow: for forty kilometres of mountain road allow a good hour, not half. And the cable car closes out of season, so check first.
50 min to the next stop · 31 km
This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder.
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This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright protection. It may only be used according to the rules mentioned here. This specifically excludes use in social media, if applicable terms of the licenses listed here not appropriate.
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The capital of the Val Gardena, where Ladin is spoken, a Romance language surviving in the valleys around the Sella massif that is neither Italian nor German. The town has lived off wood carving since the 17th century, and its carvers supplied figures to half of Europe.
Step into a workshop or the Val Gardena museum to grasp the craft. And mind your parking: in Ortisei badly parked cars are towed very readily.
Seceda, Alpe di Siusi and Val di Funes · 50 km
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A rock ridge sheared off vertically that plunges sheer towards the Val di Funes, with the Odle spires alongside. You go up by cable car from Ortisei, and at the top, at two thousand five hundred metres, there is meadow and level paths.
It is cold and windy up there even if it is summer below: take a jacket. And the best light is first thing, before the ridge turns to backlight.
This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder.
Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message.
This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright protection. It may only be used according to the rules mentioned here. This specifically excludes use in social media, if applicable terms of the licenses listed here not appropriate.
Please do not upload an updated image here without consultation with the Author. The author would like to make corrections only at his own source. This ensures that the changes are preserved.Please if you think that any changes should be required, please inform the author.Otherwise you can upload a new image with a new name. Please use one of the templates derivative or extract. — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)nature
The largest alpine plateau in Europe: fifty-six square kilometres of rolling meadow between sixteen hundred and two thousand three hundred metres, closed off on one side by the Sciliar peaks. It is not a viewpoint, it is a landscape you walk through for hours.
The road is closed to private traffic for much of the day in season, so you go up by cable car from Ortisei or Siusi, or by shuttle. Do not count on driving up mid-morning.
40 min to the next stop · 25 km
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The valley from which you see the Odle spires head-on, and in the middle of a meadow the little 18th-century church of San Giovanni in Ranui, with its onion tower. It is the most reproduced postcard of the Dolomites.
The church is private property: you take the photo for free from the path, and getting close to the church is paid, through a turnstile. Respecting that is not optional, there are notices everywhere.
Gardena, Falzarego, Cortina and Misurina · 90 km
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Two of the classic passes on the Great Road, skirting the Sella massif to the north and then dropping towards Cortina. At the Falzarego there remain galleries and trenches cut into the rock during the mountain war of 1915 to 1917, when the front ran right through here.
Park only in the marked gravel pull-outs: stopping on the verge is forbidden on these passes and fined. And in winter, after a snowfall, the passes can close for a few hours or days.
75 min to the next stop · 48 km
kallerna — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)culture
The capital of the eastern Dolomites, ringed by the amphitheatre of the Tofane, the Cristallo and the Sorapis. It hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and does so again in 2026, and that role as a showcase has given it a city air the other villages in the valley do not have.
The Corso Italia is the street where everyone strolls at dusk, and it is the only time on this whole trip you will see anything resembling a city. Park in the marked car parks: the tow truck works here too.
25 min to the next stop · 17 km
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A lake at seventeen hundred metres with the Tre Cime and the Sorapis around it, and a grand late 19th-century hotel leaning over the water. Because of its clean mountain air it worked for decades as a children's sanatorium for asthma.
The toll road to the Tre Cime starts here. If you are going up tomorrow, check today how the access stands and whether you need a booking.
Lago di Braies and Tre Cime · 90 km
STirol — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)history
A turquoise glacial lake wedged beneath a thousand-metre wall, with a wooden boathouse and rowing boats. And a story almost nobody knows: in late April 1945 the SS brought more than a hundred high-profile hostages to this valley, taken from concentration camps, and in early May they were freed at the lakeside hotel.
It is the most restricted site in the whole Dolomites. In summer the road is closed to cars for much of the day and you must book, or park below and come up by bus. Arrive before nine or go out of season.
60 min to the next stop · 42 km
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Three aligned rock spires whose north face drops five hundred metres sheer; it was not climbed until 1933. Around them runs a ten-kilometre circular path, easy though with the odd climb, and with mountain huts along the way.
The road up to the Auronzo hut is a toll road, around forty euros per car, and it requires an advance online booking. It is not optional and you cannot pay at a booth: sort it out before you set off.
This getaway is in the app, day by day, with every stop on the map, the drives between them and where to sleep, and the option to save it for when there is no signal.
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