I spent a little over a week in Italy in early summer 2024 with my sister and a couple cousins. We were all coming from different international destinations so decided to meet in Milan before embarking on our week in the Dolomites (Munich / Venice are other options to consider).
Our general itinerary:
While all of us enjoy being outdoors, I'd give our group a 5/10 in terms of physical strength and general experience with hiking/camping. So, we made this trip a mix of outdoorsy, "hut-to-hut" hiking balanced with a good amount of time at a very nice hotel. We traveled right around the summer solstice and were blessed with long, sunny days and only one evening storm (by then we were back in the hotel so it didn't impact our plans at all).
Our general itinerary:
- Day 1: Arrive in Milan, overnight there
- Day 2: Leave in the morning for Bolzano (initially we planned to take the train but due to a train strike we rented a car). Overnight at Como Alpina hotel.
- Day 3: Half day via ferrata.
- Day 4: Hike to Rifugio Bolzano, overnight there.
- Day 5: Hike to Rifugio Alpe di Tires, overnight there.
- Day 6: Hike back to hotel.
- Day 7: Full day e-biking around the area.
- Day 8: Back to Milan, quick stop in Bergamo for gelato!
- Day 9: Fly home :(
While all of us enjoy being outdoors, I'd give our group a 5/10 in terms of physical strength and general experience with hiking/camping. So, we made this trip a mix of outdoorsy, "hut-to-hut" hiking balanced with a good amount of time at a very nice hotel. We traveled right around the summer solstice and were blessed with long, sunny days and only one evening storm (by then we were back in the hotel so it didn't impact our plans at all).
Milan
I was really only in Milan for 36 hours total at the start/end of the trip so I can't say I have many specific recommendations. I enjoyed wandering around the Brera neighborhood which had lots of restaurants with outdoor seating for a quick lunch and people watching as well as boutiques for shopping.
Getting around:
- Milan was extremely walkable. We stayed just south of Milano Centrale (the main train station) which made our airport transfers and our theoretical train very convenient. From there we could easily walk to the Duomo area, Brera, etc. The metro system is easy to navigate and you can use Apple Pay / any contactless credit card to pay for tickets. Taxis are VERY expensive - Uber works but is more expensive than taxis, so if you're using Uber, select the taxi option which will be a little cheaper (seems like they just integrated the taxi app into Uber?).
- If you're flying in/out of MXP airport, the train to Milano Centrale is very easy and will save you ~90 euros!! You can buy a ticket online here or at the station and the trains run every 30 minutes or so. My understanding from some Googling is that the ticket is valid for ~6 hours after you purchase it, so I bought it on my phone when I landed to avoid having to get a ticket in person. There are little machines where you can scan your ticket before boarding (I couldn't get it to work on my phone).
Restaurants: We had two great dinners at Osteria Serafina and Bebel, both recommended by Jacqueline's local friend.
- Osteria Serafina was slightly nicer but still homey and straightforward, make a reservation at a table inside because the vibes are so nice in there. The octopus appetizer and gnocchi were our memorable dishes. They have a dish where they put pasta in a cheese wheel kind of like at Carbone - it was good but a little heavy as you might imagine and salty. So it's fun but not a must if you just want to watch them do it at a nearby table :)
- Bebel is more casual and had home-cooked meal vibes. We were probably the only non-locals there. I emailed (thanks Google Translate) to make a reservation. They have a nice covered patio area out back where we enjoyed our final meal in the city. We loved the pasta vongole (clams) and tiramisu.
Dolomites
When people say the "Dolomites" they can mean a lot of different places! Our hotel was in Compatsch and we mostly stayed in that area. We were SO lucky with weather - the forecast said it was going to rain every day but we had pretty much clear sunny days for our entire trip. Our understanding is that when it does rain, it's intense for a short period of time, so I recommend packing rain gear (jacket and pants as well as a backpack cover) with you during your activities.
How we got there: Given where our hotel was, our plan was to take the high speed train from Milan to Bolzano and then arrange from a taxi from there o to the hotel. However, there was a train strike so we ended up renting a car. Depending on your group size and preferred activities, having a car once you get to the mountains may actually be nice. We did use the car to get from our hotel to the town where our via ferrata excursion started from, so that would have been difficult (or just an additional taxi cost) if we didn't have our own car. If you're staying in one of the more populated areas, you may not feel like you really need one, so the train may save you the headache of driving, etc.
Where we stayed: At the recommendation of the Duncansons (our trusted experts in all things Dolomiti), we stayed at the COMO Alpina Hotel which was VERY nice. We all still dream of the breakfast buffet so do not book a rate without breakfast, you will regret it. The hotel is expensive but one thing to note is that they offer daily activities that are (mostly) free to join each day - yoga, guided hikes, ebiking tours, sauna experiences, etc. They also have a really nice indoor/outdoor pool and like 17 different types of sauna and steam rooms. We spent many evenings in the pool/spa area and it was extremely relaxing. There is also "tea time" every day from 3-5pm with free snacks and desserts in the lobby area. Another perk is they had day packs and hiking poles we could borrow.
We balanced out our time at the luxurious hotel with two nights staying in rifugios in the mountains. Jacqueline picked these, I think with help from the hotel concierge who recommended some nearby rifugios that were accessible by day hikes. This balanced out our costs as rifigios are like 50-80 euros/pp (depends on size of room), including breakfast. Some will offer a half board option that includes dinner as well (we just ordered a la carte). We opted for private rooms and it seems like most are even dog friendly. We really enjoyed our time at both rifugios. They are very clean (you need to bring "house shoes" to walk around) and are like hostels but without the excessive drinking, noise, gross bathrooms...so I guess nothing like hostels haha. In the rifugios we were among the youngest groups (some families brought young kids) and the vast majority of other guests seemed like European outdoorsy travelers.
Things we did:
Scattered recommendations:
Fun facts about the area:
How we got there: Given where our hotel was, our plan was to take the high speed train from Milan to Bolzano and then arrange from a taxi from there o to the hotel. However, there was a train strike so we ended up renting a car. Depending on your group size and preferred activities, having a car once you get to the mountains may actually be nice. We did use the car to get from our hotel to the town where our via ferrata excursion started from, so that would have been difficult (or just an additional taxi cost) if we didn't have our own car. If you're staying in one of the more populated areas, you may not feel like you really need one, so the train may save you the headache of driving, etc.
Where we stayed: At the recommendation of the Duncansons (our trusted experts in all things Dolomiti), we stayed at the COMO Alpina Hotel which was VERY nice. We all still dream of the breakfast buffet so do not book a rate without breakfast, you will regret it. The hotel is expensive but one thing to note is that they offer daily activities that are (mostly) free to join each day - yoga, guided hikes, ebiking tours, sauna experiences, etc. They also have a really nice indoor/outdoor pool and like 17 different types of sauna and steam rooms. We spent many evenings in the pool/spa area and it was extremely relaxing. There is also "tea time" every day from 3-5pm with free snacks and desserts in the lobby area. Another perk is they had day packs and hiking poles we could borrow.
We balanced out our time at the luxurious hotel with two nights staying in rifugios in the mountains. Jacqueline picked these, I think with help from the hotel concierge who recommended some nearby rifugios that were accessible by day hikes. This balanced out our costs as rifigios are like 50-80 euros/pp (depends on size of room), including breakfast. Some will offer a half board option that includes dinner as well (we just ordered a la carte). We opted for private rooms and it seems like most are even dog friendly. We really enjoyed our time at both rifugios. They are very clean (you need to bring "house shoes" to walk around) and are like hostels but without the excessive drinking, noise, gross bathrooms...so I guess nothing like hostels haha. In the rifugios we were among the youngest groups (some families brought young kids) and the vast majority of other guests seemed like European outdoorsy travelers.
Things we did:
- Via ferrata (climbing-lite - you are going up a mountain and hooking your harness to cables along the way). We booked with this company which was recommended to us. Our guide didn't really speak English so that wasn't great but it was ultimately pretty self explanatory. Not 100% sure the specific route we did but it was in Selva di Val Gardena which was beautiful.
- E-biking: this was very fun. We went with a group from our hotel since they have guided tours. Going downhill on gravel is not for the faint of heart but there are also paved paths you could stick to if you wanted to avoid those. We went ~20 miles towards the base of Sassolungo and then through a few of the small nearby towns (Selva, Santa Cristina, Ortesei) before taking the gondola back up to Compatsch. The daily rentals with the bike shops typically require you return the bikes by 5pm, but if you book from your hotel they might let you keep the bike longer and you could take it out for sunset after folks are mostly gone from the trails which is really peaceful! Our battery lasted all day and was only about half gone by the time we wrapped up.
- Hiking: day 1 was from our hotel to Rifugio Bolzano (trail); day 2 was Bolzano to Alpe di Tires (pretty short, mostly flat), then day 3 was back to the hotel with a pit stop for gelato and aperol spritzes at a nearby hotel (trail).
- We did not go paragliding but it seems like an amazing place to do it
Scattered recommendations:
- Download the Seiser Alm app which is a little glitchy but otherwise lets you map specific hikes you want to do, and importantly uses GPS to let you know where you are if you find yourself lost. One fun feature was we could see how much elevation we had left while we were hiking...important on our first long hike when it seemed like we were ascending forever.
- Aside from cash for some tips, we found that we were able to pay with credit card for pretty much everything.
- Sunscreen! We got sunburned even with sunscreen, so reapply and check the UV rating :)
- Hiking poles will be your friend - you can buy them at stores there if you don't want to pack
- Eat Kaiserschmarrn!!! It's like a pancake meets french toast meets a funnel cake but better than any of those
- The gondolas are not cheap - they were ~20-30 euros in our experience. So just budget a little for that if you plan on using those to get around or to reach higher trails.
Fun facts about the area:
- You'll see a lot of little wooden huts scattered around the fields. One of our guides said that you will typically see these in pairs. That's because the farmers would live in one and the other was to store hay. Nowadays, instead of farmers tending to their own land, he said that in Compatsch, there are only 7 major farming companies and they rent land from the local farmers.
- The food is more German/Austrian than what you'd normally think of as Italian (though Alpe di Tires did have some of the best pasta we had all trip)...think schnitzel and Tirolean dumplings (kind of like big matza balls).
- Stolen from wiki but "During the First World War, the front line between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Army ran through the Dolomites" and many of the via ferrata routes were created during that time.