The mighty Dolomites July 2024

When thinking about a quick escape from grey Brussels, it was decided that Dolomites would be a perfect location for early July. The schools holidays had not started yet in France and Northern Italy so there was a chance to see this magical place without being too crowded. 

If you drive in one go, you can reach Dolomites in 10 hours or so from Brussels. We wanted to have a short break on our way and chose to stay in a small village by lake Constance. A perfect place for the first snitzlel and aperol spritz that does not cost a leg. And in very beautiful surroundings. The area really surprised us - beautiful villages with flowers everywhere, nice views on the lake, wine yards and actually very good Bodenzee wine!

When thinking of Dolomites you can divide the area in eastern and western part. We chose to stay in the very north and also very east to avoid very touristy areas like Cortina. While this comes with more authenticity, it also means that you are a bit further from the famous hikes and need to drive more.

Driving can be challenging. Although we were not in the very high season, the roads very already pretty full and there were loads of stupid drivers that would not respect any rules, especially motorcyclists would play with their lives at almost every bend of the road.

Our first base was Chalet Salena - a true hidden gem and everything was perfect, including local restaurants and hikes.

Although touristy like hell, lago di Braies, was on our list. This spot is famous for a reason but if you want to enjoy it, you have to come here around 6 am. Yes! That early. That’s what we did. We left the car at the cheapest parking place (P2) which is a 5 min walk from the lake and we paid 8 euros only. The ones who did not do homework checking the best options, ended up paying 20 eur a day and could park just next to the lake. Note that as from the second week of July you actually have to book a parking spot online before to have access to the area.

The lake is a real Instagram influencer magnet. And no surprise, it is a very, very beautiful place.

Most of people will just go to see the boats or rent a boat (I think it was 45 eur an hour). But you can walk around the lake and there are also several nice hiking trails around. We walked around the lake clockwise, starting at the boat house. 

At 6 am there were already photographers there and a bride and groom waiting for their individual photoshoot. We were one of the few who actually hiked around the lake. You don’t need walking shoes, sneakers will be sufficient. The views are very nice, of course even better with a clear sky. Our big and nice surprise were cows! They were just chilling there, drinking water, eating grass and posing for curious tourists.

At 9 am the crowds were already big, several Asian wedding photoshoots taking place and a very long queue of you wanted to rent a boat. We opted for a cappuccino with a view. To our surprise the price was only 3 eur! 

Note that drones and swimming are forbidden there as it is a national park. Of course there were idiots that were ignoring this fact. 

When we left the place at 9:30 it was already a total chaos, parkings were full and people were everywhere. So we were happy about our choice to start the day very early.

The next day the weather was a bit tricky. So we decided to explore local hiking trails. It all started well with a nice hike through a forest, the views were nice, flowers everywhere!

I even managed to make a flower crown and then it started to rain…

And nobody looks weird at you if you have a snitzhel and then a tiramisu for a dessert.

Not far from chalet Salena was a hidden gem - Moos  Alm. Located just by the forest and in a middle of a meadow it offered great food with very reasonable prices too. Aperol spritz was 4.60 eur!

The hike to the famous Tre Cime was also on our bucket list. Again - if you want to enjoy it, you have to go super early. We arrived around 7 am at the entrance booth and there was a very long queue already, when we went to the parking around 500 parking spots were left. Around 9 am the road is closed and one can enter only if cars leave. The day pass is 30 eur for a regular car. You can also hike up all the way if you are very motivated. There is also a bus but looked very crowded from what we saw. The hike itself is wooooow! 

Just you will not have it for yourself. It’s a very popular one and there are people everywhere. There are three rifugios on the circular hike where you can have a snack. 

There are also passages that are less busy and are worth exploring. If you go anti-clock wise, the first half of the hike is very easy. It’s later that it is becoming a bit more steep. We thought that the main passage offered the best views and was the easiest. The total length is about 10 km. You definitely have to check out the caves above the rifugio Locateli. Hiking poles were handy here as it was steep. What a view!

If you take your lunch with you, there are many possibilities for views to enjoy. We opted for a lunch in a meadow with some reflections on the tre Cime. Wooooow!

Wherever you look while you are on the trail the views are just amazing! 

Before you head back to the parking you have wonderful views on the cadini di Misurina. These razor sharp peaks are very impressive. 

There is also a hike with a view point that goes there but we skipped it. As it was a hot day and there was no shadow at all, we had enough of walking.

Note that there is only one wc at the parking lot and you need to pay 1 eur in cash. There was a crazy man working there screaming on everyone. A very weird experience. And the wc is Turkish. Plus you cannot drink water from there so take enough with you or buy in rifugios.

After our walk we headed in the direction of Auronzo lake. We passed the lake of Misurina, it was so busy there, no place to park or visit anything there so we were happy to get out of craziness and enjoy the beauty by the Auronzo lake. Surprisingly there were not many people there. The lake has an impressive blue colour, it is actually a dam.

Our next stop was agriturismo boton d’oro. It is on the very East side of the Dolomites, up the hill and with a very impressive view. 

As if you could touch the mountains in front of you by hand. The agriturismo is famous for its farm and local products so no surprise that the dinner was fabulous.

The next day it was raining and we decided to sleep in. At 9:20 when we went for breakfast we got scolded that we were too late and breakfast was over… excuse me???

The weather prospects did not look very good. The beautiful view was hidden by rain clouds so we decided it was a good day for shopping and stock up local goodies. 

The closest bigger village was Calalzo di Cadore and it did not disappoint - local products, sports shop with very attractive prices and a very delicious pizza!

We also checked out a local Lidl - if we had a truck, we would have filled it up with prsecco, tomato sauce and olive oil 🤣. 

The weather started to look a bit better and we could enjoy lago di Cadore… again a beautiful colour and very calm surroundings with only a few locals around.

We were very intrigued by the village Dante that we saw the day before across the valley. So high up in the mountains! Was really impressive indeed! Local school, some small shops, not many hotels… but the views!!! 

Woooow! Must be very harsh in winter though with those windy roads…

Our short trip was almost over, final cappuccino with a view, a few pics in the meadow and we were ready to head back home.

We decided to drive straight - 12 h and home!

A few weeks later we got an unpleasant surprise- it turned out that in addition to Austrian highway vignette, we also had to buy a special pass for the road to Innsbruck. The fine was 120 eur. Of course this info was not very visible on the Austrian road homepage. Well, now we know. Now we know also why Austria is so rich!

Observations

The mix of German, Austrian and Italian cultures is really fascinating. Also everyone speaks German and Italian and also pretty good English.

Prices are very acceptable. The most expensive aperol spritz was 5 euros. You can have a goulash soup for 8 euros and a very good local steak would cost you 24 euros.

For the parking you need to pay everywhere.

We did not use any gondolas or chair lifts but they can add a considerable cost to any trip.

When the weather is bad, sauna is the answer. More and more hotels and air b&bs have their private ones so you can really enjoy the experience.

I was impressed with the industry of wood in the area, each village has its own wood production company. And no surprise - the forests around are impressive.

If leaving from Belgium, there are quite some pay roads via France, also in Italy, it’s something to factor in for the final costs.

The weather was pretty tricky, although there is a belief that on the Italian side it’s more stable. On the Marmolata mountain (the highest peek of Dolomites), it was actually showing! This year the paths were full of snow till end of June. The excessive rain had also caused some damage to the local infrastructure

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