The two-stage lift from Ortisei — first the Furnes-Seceda gondola, then a short cable car — clears roughly 1,300 vertical meters in about 15 to 20 minutes total. First cabins usually run from around 8:30am in summer (check seasonal hours before you go), and a return ticket runs roughly EUR 35-40 as of 2025.

At the top, a 20-minute walk along the ridge brings you to the classic view: the saw-toothed Odle group rearing up on one side, the green flank of Alpe di Siusi rolling away on the other. Arrive with the first lift and you'll have the ridge nearly to yourself for 30 to 45 minutes before the day crowds start filtering up.

The three limestone towers of Tre Cime di Lavaredo are the most photographed peaks in the range, and the loop trail earns that attention without demanding technical skill. Most hikers start from the Rifugio Auronzo car park, reached by a toll road from Misurina — expect a parking fee of roughly EUR 30 for the day in 2025, and arrive by 8am in July or August or you'll be circling for a spot.

The full loop runs about 9-10 km and takes 3 to 4 hours at an easy pace, with Rifugio Locatelli marking the halfway point and the single best framing of the peaks from its terrace. Order the goulash with speck and a slice of apple strudel before the last stretch back.

This emerald lake beneath the Croda del Becco cliffs is genuinely as striking as its Instagram fame suggests — it's just also genuinely crowded by mid-morning. The lake's small car park fills fast in summer, and a paid park-and-ride system is in place on peak days, so the shuttle bus running from Dobbiaco (Toblach) or nearby Villabassa is the more reliable option, with buses departing every 15-20 minutes in high season for around EUR 5-8 one way.

Get there for 7am or earlier and you'll walk the lakeside path in near silence, watching the water shift from black to that unmistakable milky green as the sun clears the ridge. Rowboat rental opens once staff arrive, typically around 9am, at roughly EUR 20-25 per hour (2024 pricing) — worth it once, mainly for the view back at the Hotel Lago di Braies on the shore.

Alpe di Siusi is a broad, rolling high meadow that opens up beneath the jagged Sassolungo massif, dotted with wooden barns and grazing cattle. Private cars are restricted on the plateau during the day in summer, so most visitors come up via the cable car from Ortisei or Siusi, or by shuttle bus from Castelrotto.

The meadow is at its best in the two hours before sunset, when the light turns the Sassolungo's rock faces amber and the day-hikers have mostly headed down. Stay for dinner at one of the working farms turned guesthouses, like Sporthotel Sonne's restaurant in nearby Ortisei, and you can catch the last lift or shuttle down around 7-8pm depending on season.

Chef Norbert Niederkofler's St. Hubertus, inside the Hotel Rosa Alpina in San Cassiano, holds two Michelin stars and builds its tasting menu almost entirely around South Tyrolean ingredients — foraged herbs, alpine cheese, mountain trout. It's mountain cuisine treated with the seriousness usually reserved for coastal Italy.

Tasting menus run roughly EUR 200-250 per person as of 2025, before wine pairing, and tables here fill months out in ski season and high summer. If you want a spot on a specific date, book the moment your Dolomites trip is confirmed rather than after you land.

The drive from Cortina d'Ampezzo up to Passo Giau takes about 30 minutes and climbs through switchback after switchback to a bowl of grassland at 2,236 meters, ringed by peaks in every direction. Rifugio Passo Giau sits right at the top for a coffee stop with a view that needs no filter.

Loop back via Passo Falzarego, where a cable car climbs to Rifugio Lagazuoi in about 6 minutes and drops you at the mouth of a First World War tunnel network you can walk through with a headlamp. Lunch at Rifugio Nuvolau, reached by a steep 45-minute trail from the pass, gets you one of the oldest working mountain huts in the range and arguably its best panoramic terrace.

Val di Funes is the valley you've seen in every Dolomites photo without knowing its name — the little onion-domed church of San Giovanni in Ranui, framed against the Odle group, is one of the most photographed churches in the Alps. The viewpoint sits a short walk from a small roadside car park near Santa Maddalena, best reached in the first hour after sunrise before the tour vans arrive.

For a longer day, the trail up toward Malga Zannes and the Adolf Munkel path threads directly beneath the Odle's north faces, a relatively flat 8-9 km walk with close-up views of the peaks rather than the distant version most people photograph. Climbers with a guide can tackle the via ferrata routes on Sass Rigais itself, but that's a full-day technical outing, not a casual add-on.