Two days in Dolomites, Italy

I recently visited a few towns in the Dolomites mountain range in North-East Italy. It was a small two day weekend trip, but since it is the ski season and the towns now have snowy grounds and sunny days, the timing could not have been more perfect! It was a short but surreal road trip, and a definite recommendation to anyone planning for a mountain getaway.

HISTORY

The Dolomite mountain range are the southern part of the Alps range, also called the "Rosy Alps" or the "Pale Mountains". These names are derived from their rock foundation, which is of carbonate rock. During the day, the sun rays make the mountains look pale and pinkish, thus the short names. 

The Dolomite range has many towns, famous mostly for offering really good ski slopes, in between the months of November and March. There are beautiful hikes as well, ranging from low to high difficulties and catering to all kinds of hikers. The Dolomite range is also a UNESCO Heritage site, and consists of many National Parks, passes and spots that offer breathtaking views of the range. Even summer is a good time to visit as the greens offer perfect shade from the direct sun while you hike and picnic at the top of the range. 

The Dolomites, located in the North-east corner of Italy, is where the country shares a border with Austria, and hence the region has a lot of German culture and language influence as well.

TRAVELLING AND ACCOMMODATION

To travel to the Dolomites from Milan (my city of residence), I searched for a bus or a train. The distance by train/bus or a combination thereof was anywhere between five to seven hours, and since this is the ski time (meaning a hugely popular tourist season), the prices were really high! Also, both the modes of transport went to Bolzano, one of the bigger towns at the foothills of the Dolomites in the South Tyrol region. From thereon, we had to find separate buses for visiting any other towns higher up on the mountains.

Since we were a group of seven people, we decided to rent a car for two days as it seemed like a cheaper option (per person). We rented a car from Sixt and got a BMW 2 Series Grand Tourer. The car was comfortable and drove nicely, though for seven people the third row of seating was a little cramped. (Side note: Remember to carry only backpacks and as less stuff as possible, as there is hardly any space in the back, at least for seven seaters). The cost came to be about 45 euros per head, which was cheaper than buying a train ticket, and also gave us the freedom to plan our itinerary, as well as change it on the way.

From Milan we travelled to Bolzano, which was a three to four hour drive (depending on the time you leave and the traffic on the road). We had booked a seven person apartment at Ariston Apartments in Bolzano itself, which costed about 25 euros per head. Since the apartment had a functional kitchenette with utensils, microwave and a kettle, we planned to cook dinner to cut down on expenses and enjoy a cozy night in.

DAY ONE

We reached Bolzano around 01.00 pm. Since the apartment could not be checked in till 04.00 pm (even the reception was closed), we decided to have a short coffee break and then continue on to Ortisei, a small town famous for its ski resorts and wood crafts. It was a forty minute ride from Bolzano, and we went straight to the Ortisei-Seceda cable way office, where you can enter a cable car that takes you up to Furnes, and then on to Seceda (which is about 2500 m above sea level, at the peak), both of which can be used by skiers can start their descent. The ticket can be till Furnes or till Seceda, for which you have to change the car at Furnes's stop. The cable car ticket cost 34 euros per person.

The views from the steep cableway were ethereal, but the views from the Seceda peak were absolutely something else! The skiers were rushing past us, but we could not move because we were so astounded by the beauty. Surrounded by a very very thick layer of snow and ice that sparkled with the direct sun rays, looking down at the mountains dotted by shadowed coniferous trees, we were mesmerized. After taking a bazillion photos and roaming and playing around in the snow for a while, we sat down at the one restaurant right above the cableway station. The pizzas were really good (or maybe we were just cold and hungry), but the hot chocolate was definitely one of the tastiest I have ever drank! 

The last cable car goes down at 05.15 pm, so we tried to see as much of the setting sun as possible, and then began our way down to the town of Ortisei. We roamed around the town a bit, which looked like a fairytale Christmas town with the flickering lights and the thick layers of snow. 

The night's dinner was cooked by us at the apartment, which was quite spacious and comfortable. The managers had made sure that the linens and utensiles/cutlery were enough for seven people, and we really appreciated that.

DAY TWO

We checked out of the apartment in the morning, and began our drive to see the Passe Gardena, or the Gardena Pass, which was to be a 1 hour 15 minute drive. It is one of the beautiful mountain passes in Dolomites, and the one recommended the most as it lies almost in the centre of the range so it offers really good views. On our way we passed the town of Ortisei and another ski slope like Seceda. Ortisei is a really beautiful town with an old-charm vibe, having wooden sloping houses that look extremely warm and inviting. Here and there you can see boutique hotels that have the same materiality but really contemporary architecture!

By some misunderstanding of the way, we ended up first at the Sella Pass, which connects the Val Gardena in South Tyrol and Canazei in the Fascia Valley in Trentino. There was another ski slope there, and we parked our car to take in the surroundings. Under the sun, we could understand the short names for the Dolomites, that of the Rosy Alps and the Pale Mountains - the higher peaks were visibly pale and pinkish, and looked like something that we had never seen before!

From there we drove towards the Gardena Pass, where the sun disappeared and everything just looked white and blue - extremely wintry but really exciting! It was higher up and more surrounded by mountains than the Sella Pass, and below there was another ski slope. We could honestly see the entire valley and it was extremely beautiful.

As we had planned to visit either Lago di Braies (Lake Braies) or Lago di Carezza (Lake Carezza), we chose Carezza as it was on our way back (we were a little behind schedule during the morning detour). Even after appreciating all the snow, none of us realized that the Lake would be frozen too! We still made the most of our drive by driving around the town a little bit, and then settling in a local restaurant for lunch. 

The food was delicious and local to the Italian-German town, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. (Side note: If you are a vegetarian or a vegan, that is you eat no seafood, eggs or meat, be sure to remember that you won't get a lot of options for eating out, especially in smaller towns).

Since it was already late, we started our drive back to Milan. We had planned to stop at Sirmione or Verona on our way back, but because of the time crunch we decided to plan separate day trips for these areas.

The total trip cost around 150 euros per person, which was the maximum budget we had set for ourself. This included the entire travel (the car rent, the petrol, tolls and parking), the accommodation, eating out twice, the cable car, and the food we bought to take along with us. 

We did not visit a lot of places, but we had a really good trip. The Dolomites has so many more areas that are worth visiting, like the Thermal baths in Merano, the hike to Tre Cime (the Three Peaks), Lago di Braies, Cortina d'Ampezzo, the other mountain passes, and obviously snow-sport activites. Since we had a time crunch, we decided to see and enjoy as much as we could. But the next trip is already underway!