When I found out that we could enjoy the Dolomites, also known as the Italian Alps, without having to do the crazy hut-to-hut Alta Via, I signed up. As active seniors, we wanted to enjoy the best of the Dolomites without having to stay in bunk beds, carry sleeping bags, and make reservations months in advance. We found a better way to enjoy the Dolomites that didn’t require a rental car.
We picked Ortisei as our base to enjoy the Dolomites. Many of the cities in the Italian Alps have the same scheme–stay in a hotel, get a free bus pass, buy a gondola pass to get unlimited rides, and hike to your heart’s content. We picked Ortisei because it was easy to get to without a car, there were over a dozen lifts to use, and the area contained multiple UNESCO world sites. As full-time travelers who have hiked some of the best hikes in the world, the Dolomites surpassed all of our expectations.
This post shares our 8-day itinerary, including where we hiked, where we stayed, how much things costs, what we’d recommend, and what we’d avoid. We are active seniors, ages 59 and 65 who enjoy moderate hikes, wear trail runners, and wish we had poles but often don’t have them with us. We enjoy public transit and don’t rent cars in most cases. We like a good day hike that starts around 10 and finishes around 3 which has a good meal for lunch.
Welcome to our Dolomities Itinerary.
Where to Stay in the Dolomites
Because we wanted to do day hikes and take advantage of the Val Gardena gondola/funicular infrastructure, we based ourselves in Ortisei/Urtijëi. Google Ortisei and you’ll find us. With German, Italian and Ladin languages populating the area, you’ll find multiple names for places. We picked this location because we could walk/bus everywhere and there was plenty of hiking to multiple peaks to entertain us for the week.
The best website to use to book your accommodations is https://www.valgardena.it/en/book-directly-with-best-price-guarantee-in-val-gardena/. It is a bit slower than other sites, but you get the best prices. Take your time. We stayed at Apartments Erika. An 8-day rental in September for a 1 bedroom/2 bath/kitchen with swimming pool, laundry and Val Gardena Bus pass cost us €780. Booking at this website will get you a free bus pass to use throughout the Tyrol Valley.
Getting to the Dolomites without a Car
We took the train from Munich to Brassanone/Brixten. From there, we used the bus pass that our hotel provided us (included in the price of our accommodations) to get to Ortisei. We used the bus pass all week to get all over the Tyrol Valley. We then used it to go to Bolzano to catch the train to Venice.
Getting to the Trailheads in the Dolomites without a Car
Everyday we either walked to the gondola/funicular/lift or took a short bus ride. We used our Gardena Card to get to the trailheads. The pass cost us €360 for TWO of us for 6 consecutive days. We used it everyday and did a different hike/area each day.
Day 1 of Dolomites Itinerary.
We arrived in Ortisei and stopped at the local Despar to get food from the local grocery (most are closed on Sunday.) We then took the local 533.3 bus to our apartment and settled in.
Day 2 of Dolomites Itinerary.
We wanted to start easy. Since the Rescieca Funicular was right around the corner from us, we hiked the Rescieca.
When we got to the top of the mountain, we hiked trail 35 for about an hour, then turned around to take 10b through the forest to the Baita Cason Hut for lunch. Doing this trail first, we got acclimated to the altitude and were able to get a broad view of the valley and its major peaks. The trail uses a scenic, multi-use path in the Puez-Odle Nature Park which is relatively flat with one or two big gains and losses and gives views of the expansive meadows of Resciesa di Dentro. It skirts the ridge with dramatic views of the northern walls of the Seceda and Odle peaks on the way to the Brogles Hut.
We hiked about 5 miles. It can be shorter or longer depending on if you continue to Brogles or turn around earlier.
Day 3 of Dolomites Itinerary.
With our legs warmed up, we wanted a more challenging day than Day 2. We took the bus (533.3) from Erika to the Seceda Funicular. Whereas our first day of hiking saw few people, they all showed up at Seceda. The giant gondola whisked us up to 8200 feet at the Seceda ridgeline. From there, we hiked up about 500 meters to the summit to look out over the Odle/Geisler peaks. We started on trail 1 and followed it to trail 2b. Passing the Forcella Pana and by real donkeys to the Donkeys Ears of Pieralongia, we continued to trail 13 in the Puez-Odle Basin to descend to Rifugio Firenze where we had lunch. From there, we took trail 4 to the Col Raiser funicular to St Cristina, then took the bus back to Erika.
Although about the same amount of steps as our first day (about 5 miles), the day was harder with a constant, yet mild downhill trail through meadows and along ridges puncuated by the occasional short bursts of climbs through forests.
Day 4 of Dolomites Itinerary
With legs that needed a bit of a hiking break, we decided to rent e-bikes for the day. What a great decision. We picked up e-bikes at Sport Gardena. Fortunately, we got the last two ebikes that they had. Be sure to make a reservation. Steve got a regular e-bike, but they only had a suspension bike in my small size left, causing us to pay an extra ten euro. Total price for two bikes with helmets for one day, €179.
Their shop is at the bottom of the Alpi di Suisa gondola. We got the ebikes and rode right over to the gondola. We paid an additional €7/per bike at the ticket office then got in the bike line. (We also rode a ski lift down to St Christina where they charged us €5/per bike.) They loaded our bikes into the gondola, we hoped in, and fifteen minutes later we were on top of the mountain.
We asked them for the easy bike route. It’s pictured above. Most of the ride was either downhill or flat and well signed. Thank heavens for the ebikes because even though there was not a lot of elevation gain, what we did gain required a bit of a power assist. The e-bikes were fabulous. We grabbed lunch in Tirler. We biked 18 miles. We were back to the bike shop five hours later and many, many pictures taken. This is a super day and worth every penny, once again.
Day 5 of Dolomites Itinerary
We decided to tackle our fifth day a bit differently. Whereas the previous days we had a short walk or tiny bus ride to the trailhead, on this day we left at 9:00 to avoid the 10:00 rush. We took bus 354 to 471 to the base of the Sassolungo Passo Sela gondola, also known as the coffins. This 2-person gondola is no joke. You have to run to get into it, then you must hug up with your partner in the standing-room only space. It’s a 15-minute knuckle whitening ride to the top. But the views! Due to wind and time constraints, we didn’t stay long.
We then took the coffin back down to hike trails 526 to 526b to Mont de Sëura chairlift to Monte Pana chairlift into St Christina. The hike had a gentle downhill until it came to the scree and gravel and switchbacks. The final stretch is through a canyon and then up to the chairlift. I wish I had my poles with me. I am really glad we did this adventure today because we definitely hit a high in the Val Gardena infrastruture! Plus, Louis Vutton’s famous piece of art displays up there. If you go, you’ll know. Again we hiked about 5 miles.
Day 6 of Dolomites Itinerary
After five days of non-stop activity, we wanted an easier day today, and we wanted to be sure to take complete advantage of our Gardena Pass. Since it allows for unlimited rides on the gondolas, funiculars and lifts, we made today a focus on scenery and rides. Nonetheless, we still got in over 15000 steps. We took bus 354 to Wolkenstein then took the Dantercepies gondola to its top station. We then hiked along the promenade over to Jimmi Hut. It was a pleasant 20-minute walk to a very bougie hut. Reservations required! We caught one of the last non-reseved seats and enjoyed some hot drinks and a dessert. When I asked for cream for my coffee, they brought me a shot of whipped cream!
After enjoying the view, we decided we’d walk down trail 12A toward the midstation of the Dantercepies gondola. But we underestimated the length of the hike, so we turned around and hiked back up to the top station. So rather enjoy a nice saunder in return on the promenade, we took on about 1000 feet of elevation gain to get back to the gondola. But the day was gorgeous, so why not? We did find out that the chair lift to the right of Jimmi Hut is not included in the Gardena Pass because it takes you to the next valley over.
A Note about Where to Eat in Ortisei
Back in Ortisei, we met up with friends for dinner at Mauriz Keller for pizza. I don’t recommend it. Nice atmosphere but mediocre food. This was the only place we ate out in town the entire week because the bus up to our apartment stopped running at 6 pm. We simply didn’t want to climb back up to our stay after hiking all day, and we had a nice kitchen to cook vegan meals in. All of our eating out was in the huts on the mountains, where we found fabulous vegetarian Tyrolean food of dumplings and pastas. I do recommend the ice coffee at the Haiti Cafe next to the bus stop in downtown Ortisei.
Dolomites Itinerary Day 6
On our last day hiking in the Dolomites, we wanted to return to Rescieca and go the opposite direction from our first hike. We took the Rescieca Funicular up to trail 35 and went to the left out towards the edge past Rescieca Hut. There, we looked out over the valley next door, St Peter Valley. We then returned back along the relatively flat trail past Biata Cuson and onto trail 9. We continued for about 15 minutes through the alpine forest then found a place to enjoy lunch while overlooking the canyon and up to Seceda, for a total of about 4 miles of hiking.
We finished the day by returning to Wolkenstein via bus 360 to take the Ciampinio Gondola. At the top of the mountain, we grabbed a Radler and watched the paragliders launch out over the valley. It was a great way to end our week in the Dolomites.
3-Day Itinerary for Dolomites
If you don’t have a week, and you’re looking for our recommendations for what to do with three days of hiking in the Dolomites, I’d recommend Day 2, Day 3 and Day 6 to cover a variety of hikes and views.
What I Wore to Hike the Dolomites
Since I only travel with a carry-on that has everything I own in it due to my full-time traveling life, I have to be very selective with what goes in the bag. For the entire week, I basically wore the same thing every day and washed it out in the sink at night.
Cotton top (Yes, I like cotton instead of a tri-weave)
Zippered hoodie
Nano Air Puffer vest (I kept this in my backpack for rides on the chairlifts and while ebiking)
Patagonia Quandary Hiking pants
I didn’t find poles necessary, but if I would have had them, I would have used them a few times. Most of the trail were packed dirt with gravel and scree. There was more downhill than uphill.
A Few Ortisei Extras
Of course lots of hiking means a massage, right? I adored my 90-minute massage at Wu Thai Massage for €100. Steve wanted to soak and sauna, so he bought a few hours at Mar Dolomit for about €25. We bought a gift of chocolate at Ciocomiti for our host because she helped Steve get his backpack back from the bus after accidentially leaving it. Of course I had to buy myself a piece of dark chocolate bark with walnuts. It was quite good.
If you hike the Dolomites, won’t you share you pictures in our Facebook group?
Chris Englert, the Walking Traveler, believes walking is the platform for life. Wanderlusting since the age of 5, she’s since traveled all 50 US states and 62 countries. Chris shares her love of walking while traveling via blogs, books, and presentations. A natural storyteller, she invites you along as she explores the world, one walk at a time.
Currently, Chris and her husband, Steve, travel the world, full-time as nomads, with just their two carry-ons. They’ve been traveling since May, 2021.