7 Days in the Dolomites: Wine, Meadows & the Great Passes

Arrive by train or pick up the car at Verona or Innsbruck and ease into Bolzano, South Tyrol's bilingual capital where Italy and Austria meet at the table and on the street signs. Spend the afternoon under the medieval arcades of the Laubengasse and among the stalls of Piazza delle Erbe, the daily produce market, before the climb into the mountains begins in earnest. Let the first dinner set the tone: speck, canederli dumplings, and a glass of the local Lagrein red. Pace it gently; this is a soft landing by design, and the high days come soon enough.

Start at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology to meet Otzi the Iceman, the remarkably preserved Copper Age mummy found in a glacier above the valley, then let the rest of the day stay easy. Ride the Renon cable car straight from the edge of town up to the sunny plateau, where a little narrow-gauge train trundles between villages and the famous earth pyramids stand like organ pipes above the meadows. From here you get your first long view east to the Dolomites proper, a fitting preview of where you are headed. Book a timed entry to the Otzi exhibit ahead of time, it is the city's most popular sight and slots sell out, and treat the whole day as gentle acclimatisation before the peaks.

Make the short, steady drive up from Bolzano into Val Gardena and base yourself in Ortisei, with the Sassolungo and Odle framing the valley. Ride the cable car and gondola up to Seceda, where the tilted, knife-edge ridgeline of the Odle delivers the most photographed skyline in the Dolomites, then walk out across the meadows and break for a rifugio lunch. The light here is best early, before the haze and crowds build, so this is the morning to set an alarm and catch one of the first lifts up. Check the lift's operating window before you go; mountain stations open later and close earlier than most travelers expect.

The Alpe di Siusi is Europe's largest high-alpine meadow, a vast green plateau of easy, jaw-dropping walking beneath the Sassolungo and the Sciliar. Ride the cable car up from Ortisei and pick any of the gentle loops between the wooden huts; the terrain is forgiving and almost every path frames the towers. The meadow road is closed to most day traffic during the day, so the cable car or an early start is the way in, and going early also buys the best light and the quietest trails. Save the afternoon for the spa or a long lunch back in the valley, banking some rest before the passes tomorrow.

Drive the scenic Passo Gardena out of Val Gardena and over into Alta Badia, a string of hairpins beneath the Sella massif that is a highlight in its own right, so take it slowly and stop often. Settle in at Corvara under the pointed Sassongher, then ride a lift up and walk a high trail to one of the region's celebrated gourmet mountain huts. Alta Badia is the Dolomites' food capital, where some rifugi cook at a level you would not believe at altitude, so book the table ahead, the long lunch is the point of the day. Leave plenty of time on the pass road; the views and the photo stops will slow you down more than you plan.

Drive the great Passo Falzarego from Alta Badia toward Cortina, one of the legendary Dolomite roads, with the option of riding the cable car up to the Lagazuoi for an open-air look at the First World War tunnels and trenches blasted into the rock. Lower down, ride the chairlift to the Cinque Torri and walk among the climbing towers and the preserved open-air trenches, an easy and moving wander. Time it for late afternoon so the towers catch the gold before sunset, then drop into Cortina for the evening passeggiata, the slow ritual stroll along the Corso Italia among the shop windows and gelaterias. Take the pass slowly and keep an eye on the weather, mountain afternoons can cloud over fast.

Set the alarm for the Tre Cime di Lavaredo loop, the most famous hike in the range: a roughly half-day circuit around the three iconic towers, passing a couple of rifugi where you can stop for lunch or a coffee. The walking is moderate with one steady climb, and the reward is the classic head-on view of the great north faces from the far side of the loop. The toll road up to the trailhead and its parking fill fast, so reach the gate by 8am in peak season or take the shuttle bus up from Cortina to skip the queue. Finish the loop, then point the car back toward Verona or Innsbruck, ending the trip on its single most famous view.