Bolzano Travel Forum

We are planning a 10 day trip that I have only dream about. Seeing and hiking in the Dolomites would just be awesome. Best air fare from UK is to Venice Treviso. We will hire a car and as we have never been into the area before thought that Bolzano would be a good place to make base. Any recomendations as to where to stay? Self catering chalet with a view would be great. If not, decent size hotel preferred. Any advice appreciated!

Hi

I wouldn't recommend to stay in Bozen. If you do like the fantastic mountain scene go somewhere closer to the Dolomites. Not far away from Bozen you will for instance find Kastelruth or a little bit further St. Ulrich, St. Christina and Wolkenstein.
Bozen is a nice goal for a day trip when the weather is not too good.

Have fun

Jaap

Jaap

Thanks for your response. I will do some homework and check where the places are that you mentioned. looking around it seems that the prices for hotels maybe are more than we want to pay so will have to look at pensions? Not sure how these compare to British Bed and Breakfast - maybe the same kind of thing.

Ciao

PS I have found Pesto, Ok so I am 53 yrs of age and I have only just found Pesto but I am a Brit after all - naive.

Bolzano is quite hot in the summer (it's in a bowl-shaped valley, at the junction of two rivers). But nearby you have loads of nice places where you can do excellent hiking: Caldaro, Predazzo, Merano, and so on.
Caldaro is particularly good since they have an excellent lake and a good local wine.
Cheers,
mac

Hi

Just some more info about the Dolomites and (perhaps) your trip.
As you are arriving in Trevisio, you may consider staying in two different places in the Dolomites.

Depending on your flight schedule you might reach one of the villages in the eastern part of the Dolomites like Dobbiaco or San Candido (now in Italian, so you may find them easier). This places enable you to visit perhaps the Dolomiti di Sesto and Tre Cime de Lavaredo (very imprssive mountain range).
The second part of your stay could be more among the classic Dolomites like Sella, Sasso Lungo, Sciliar and Alpe di Siusi With the places I mentioned before: Selva di Val Gardena, St. Cristina, Ortisei or Castelrotto.

(personally I think places like Meran and Caldaro are too far away from the real Dolomites, although also very nice)

Jaap

Bolzano for a base is a wrong idea. You should stay in one of the three villages where you can just walk out and start hiking. All hotels and self catering apartments in all the villages are very decent size. Out of the three villages, Selva is highest in altitude and Ortisei is lowest. We stayed in Ortisei 2 weeks ago and enjoyed the accommodation and the beauty of the view, but when we come back in the winter for skiing and next summer for hiking, it will be Selva. Ortisei is beautiful but not high enough and still has too much of a city feel for my husband's taste.

There are a lot (and I meant a lot) of apartments that are not advertised on the Net, and unless it's in the top of of the high season, I was told that it's not difficult to find a place to stay without making a reservation ahead of time. The hotel where we stayed 2 weeks ago cost us 56 Euro for a very large double room with A/C (our own control), refrigerator, a private balcony looking down to the river and a full view of the mountain. Breakfast (very ample) was included.

Many thanks indeed for the responses. We have moved off the idea of Bolzano..The comments we have had from you have helped us to focus on what we want to do, which I guess is what VT is all about!
Due to my wife being a teacher, we have to go in the High Season. A UK Company we have come across specialise in the Dolomites and they have a couple of lcations they use, one in Arabba and the other in Pedraces, so we are looking at self catering accom there.

I just can't wait, fulfilling a long held dream/ambition, call it whatever, is quite grand.

Hello Friends,

I have also bolzano-hiking related question, therefore I've decided to post it here.

We are as well planning hiking vacations in Dolomites (2 weeks, starting from mid September). We will go by car from Vilnius, so we are quite flexible. I understood, that for stay it's better to choose smaller village.

I wanted to ask about hiking routes - now I am downloading all possible info from the net, but I am not sure, that it will be enough. But I guess at least in Bolzano it is possible to buy maps and/or descriptions of the routes (hiking time, level of difficultness)?

We are planning mostly one day hikes - i.e. to drive with the car to the starting place, and finish the hike in the same place the same day. Is it good idea, or we miss something by not walking from mountain hut to hut (but we are not sure if we are strong enough to carry the bags with us).

Any other suggestions also very much welcome - we have never tried hiking yet.

Thank you!

Hi Mbx

A couple of comments on your posting:
- of course you miss something not hiking from hut to hut, but if it is your first time hiking in the mountains I would recommend to start with day trips
- mostly it is no problem to go by car or bus) to the starting place; otherwise you can take public transportation to go back to your car
(for instance if you decide to cross the Sella you have to use other transportation)
- you can get information and buy maps in every town/village in the Dolomites; it is not necessary to go down to Bolzano

- you should also post your thread in the Dolomites forum (I suppose there is one; I think you get more replies on this specific questions

Have fun in the beautiful Dolomites

Jaap

(if you need more information feel free to ask)

philngill,
you have already decided for Arabba and that is certainly a convenient location next to "Sella" mountain, to the NW, and "Marmolada" to the south.
Roads are rather crowded and our motorcycle got stuck more than once in August. Try to drive in early morning to your day destination to avoid vehicle traffic frustration.

Mbx,
hiking trails and mountain huts are basically everywhere. High quality and best maps are locally issued "Kompass" brand (Kompass-Fleischmann) which you can conveniently buy on-site in several stores.
I'm an addicted mountaineer and, sadly, I admit the area is too crowded for me to enjoy during peak summer months. In any case, you will enjoy spectacular views.
If you decide to hike, as a beginner try to limit your hikes to a maximum 3-hour time. Posted signs usually indicate the time to destination, not the distance like otherwise posted in other countries. Consider that the indicated time is the estimated required time to destination for average-paced hikers. If you are slow-paced, which is a remarkable quality to enjoy your days, it may take some 20% or 30% more to reach your target.
Welcome to our Italian mountains!
Ciao
Antonello

This year it's likely to be less crowded: the Bolzano provincial administration just decided to put tolls on the most crowded mountain roads, which is likely to deter some of the masses.
Cheers,
mac

friends,
thank you very much for info.

do you have any good tips ragrding campings (or maybe you know some good ones in the region?)

I just come back from south sweden and I can tell that it is very important to find good one (price, noise level, water, etc).