My trip to the Dolomites
When you havenât been to the mountains in a long time, you forget how eventful a trip there could be. While I was planning my 2024 summer trip to Europe, I knew for sure that the Dolomites would be on it because of all the activities it would add to the trip but honestly, I wasnât super pumped about itâ I had this lingering thought that mountains everywhere are not very different.
Thankfully, I was very wrong and that is also why I am writing this post now, to put into words all the experiences I was fortunate enough to have. I went there with Shivanjan, a very good friend of mine and an exceptional human, and we rode horses up the hills, hiked exciting terrains, drove through a menacing cloudburst at night, lost our minds adoring the lakes and spent a shit ton of money on cable cars âșïž.
Okay, hereâs how the rest of the post will look like. I will start with a TL;DR of the itinerary for those of you who canât stand my writing and then Iâll talk in detail about all the experiences we had and what you should not miss out on, for your trip to the Dolomites.
Itinerary
Every time I set out to make a travel plan, I first look at all that I want to do and then design my trip around those activities. Of course, it also has to make logistical senseâ Which town do I start from? Where do I end up? Am I repeating paths? All of these factors dictate how the final plan looks like.
This Dolomites trip spanned three days, and I have the maps for all of them below.
Day 1: Venice to our campsite through Auronzo and Cortina dâAmpezzo
We started off from the Venice International Airport where we picked our car and then drove to Auronzo, stopping for questionable snacks on the way.
Entering the mountains is always a feeling I loveâ you start with the lush green hills, the roads get curvier (who doesnât like curvy), and you start spotting a peak or two welcoming you from afar đ«¶.
Auronzo is as pretty on the ground as it looks on the map. The road leading to it, bends to reveal the stunning blue lake surrounded by the pretty townâ it forces you to park the car and adore it for a while. And so we did.
I found this spot by looking at the map around the directions from Venice to our campsite. You can learn how I do this from the post I have written about it: I know a spot. Youâll also find the lakeside as a spot in there.
After spending some time driving around the town, we headed west towards Cortina dâAmpezzo. This road (marked with B-C-D on the map) is an amazing drive; you have mountains and forests on both sides, and you get a view of the Cimon del Froppa in your rear-view mirror, which looks magnificent as the late afternoon sunlight embraces it. I had wanted to get a shot of this view ever since I saw it on Googleâs Street View and this is the best I could manage that day.
We had time so we decided to check out Lake Misurina which falls right by our path. I wasnât very excited for it, to be honest, from the pictures I had seen but it wouldnât hurt to see it in person, I thought. Entering Misurina changed my mind. The road leading up to it climbs steadily while you have forest cover on both sides acting like a horseâs blinkers: forcing your eyes to be on the road and your mind to not expect anything worth enjoying. A slight turn and this cover abruptly clears and your horizon expands to include stunning meadows on both sides, with a mountain right in front of you.
We then head to Cortina dâAmpezzo; the road descends on the hill offering great views of the town below. Itâs a nice, posh town with really pretty houses and a vibrant community and we decide to go eat pizzas (of course) from a small local takeaway.
As evening falls, we start driving to our campsite. It had become dark but there was a reddish hue in the sky far west as we descended another hill to finally get to our campsite, Sass Dlacia. Lucky for us, it was music night at the outdoor bar, and we retired with a beer each, one that Shivanjan was more than elated to have opened without a bottle opener.
Day 2: Hiking to Lake Sorapis and chasing the sunset
We started off early in the morning, one, because we had to arrive early at the trailhead to avoid crowds and two, because we were woken up by the biting cold because we forgot to bring any warm clothes or blankets to the mountains đ
The hike to Lake Sorapis takes about 3.5 hours and is one I would highly recommend. The lake is one of the prettiest I have seen, especially with the striking white limestone mountain in the background. I have enough pictures of the trail to write a separate post on it but there are enough guides on the internet that do a great job.
What you can check out is the post I will write about a spot I found near the lake, which you can reach by an adventurous scramble along a narrow ledge.
After Sorapis, we headed to Cortina for a much craved-for (and unjustifiably expensive) breakfast before deciding to take a cable car to watch the town from really high up.
Cable cars are amazingâ you get to the highest peaks in no time, while also saving the hills from getting excavated. I think we should have these in India too, in place of the mega highways and flyovers that we are currently building in Himachal Pradesh. It makes no sense to have those structures in a beautiful place like the Himalayas, especially since they are a new mountain range and susceptible to human activity in ways we donât fully understand. I feel so strongly about this but thereâs little I can do about it đ€
I think this was my first cable car ride, and these beasts are really powerful. Watching your altitude rise, all the way to the highest station is a nail-biting experience. I was very excited to see the view from the deck up there, and here it is for you to enjoy too đ„°
We also had the chance to visit the highest pizzeria in Europe and got some⊠coffee and much-needed water from there.
The next stop was Passo Giau, one of the best passes and roads you can drive on, in the Dolomites. We stood at the pass for a while, observing vehicles as they make the slow turn up the hill (except for some crazy bikers that put up a show).
It was starting to get late so I put my maps hat on to figure out where we could enjoy a beautiful sunset. We eventually settled for a place closer to the campsite, after having explored hills around Passo Giau. This spot was fantastic, it had views of a monumental mountain on one side, a wonderful setting sun in front and a distant mountain that soaked in the orange light as we progressed into the night. There will be a post with more details on this soon.
We retired at the campsite for yet another night of music and interesting exchanges between all the amazing people there.
Day 3: Stunning views of the Seceda, Val di Funes and Alpe di Suissi on foot and on horseback
I was really looking forward to this day as I always wanted to ride a horse by myself in the mountains but everything else also equally amused my mind. We started off with a cable car to Seceda, the famous ridgeline that I had seen many a times on Instagram and elsewhereâ we could finally see it in person!
The ride to the top was again through a cable car which I am super fascinated by, now. The ridges on the mountains looked unreal and other-worldly and walking along the tilted terrain was a joy to me, even as I stumbled more than a few times đââïž
We then headed to another spot (yay!) that had been on my list for a while (marked as C in the map) following which we set off for the quaint town of Saint Magdalena. There were very few tourists there (and I hope it stays that way đ ) which made the experience more relaxing. Watching the fangs of the jarring Odle Peaks while sitting beneath a tree on a hot summer day is an experience I would recommend highly. This is also a spot I write about in my I know a spot series.
Heeding the call of hunger, we stumbled across an old Germanic town called Chiusa. I was amazed by how well-built the buildings were, grounded in traditional housing practices. Walking through the streets paved by cobblestones in a fan-shaped pattern, with the mountains stealing a view from behind the colourful Tyrolean buildings, I realized that this town deserves more than a pit stop for food. Perhaps, for a later trip!
Finally, we were on our way to the stable! I had heard that Alpe di Suissi was a great place to be in the evening and so I planned this stop accordingly. We got on our horses and trekked through some terrain all the while enjoying stunning views of the Alps. This was my first time and I had received just enough information to not trip. My horse, DJ, was very compliant, I feel, while Shivanjanâs was perpetually hungry. Seeing our image in that horse, Shivanjan let it grab a snack every once in a while.
The dark clouds had gathered and after bothering my friend Ritvi to make payments for us because our cards wouldnât work, we finally headed back to the campsite. It was a treacherous drive: no visibility and an unfathomable amount of downpour through the meandering roads, but we made it back safely.
Back to Venice and goodbye to Italy đ
The next morning, after failing to make payments again and having to borrow Pradyumanâs card, we rushed back to Venice. I remember overtaking a Porsche, and a BMW while (maybe) driving north of 160 kmph just so we could make it in time for our bus to Munich.
The roads there are so well-built, and people follow traffic rules to the book which make you confident in driving at fast speeds and you donât even feel it.
The highways in Italy are a joy to drive on, and youâll find me complimenting them throughout my posts
And thatâs a wrap! I did not intend to fill this page up like I did, just for the itinerary, but I wouldnât allow myself to let this piece be solely an information guideâ Iâm writing a story after all, and it deserves all my love. Just like you do đł.