Things to do
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Alta Via 1
The classic Dolomites traverse, about 120 kilometres from Lago di Braies south to Belluno over eight to twelve days, sleeping in huts. No technical climbing, but long days and real exposure on some sections.
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Cinque Torri
A cluster of five rock towers above the Falzarego road, ringed by restored Italian trenches and tunnels from the mountain war of 1915 to 1917. A chairlift saves the climb and the open-air museum is walked in about an hour.
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Civetta
Its northwest face is about twelve hundred metres of vertical limestone and has been called the wall of walls since the 1920s. The routes on it are long, committing and among the most storied in the Dolomites.
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Cristallo, a Luxury Collection Resort
Open since 1901 on the slope above Cortina, with the Dolomite walls filling the windows. It is the hotel the town's reputation was built on.
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Ferrata Ivano Dibona
A cabled route along the Cristallo ridge following the Italian front line of 1915, including a suspension bridge at around 2,800 metres. It needs a via ferrata set and is a full day.
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Lagazuoi
A cable car from the Falzarego pass lifts to 2,752 metres and one of the widest views in the Dolomites. The descent can be made through the war tunnels driven into the mountain, which needs a torch, a helmet and a head for exposure.
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Lago di Braies
A green lake under the wall of the Croda del Becco, with a level path of about three and a half kilometres around the shore and wooden rowing boats for hire. Summer access is controlled and cars are turned away at peak times, so come early or take the bus.
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Lago di Sorapis
A milky turquoise lake under the Sorapis massif, reached on a path with exposed ledges and fixed cable in places. The colour comes from rock flour and it fades as the summer goes on.
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Marmolada
The highest peak in the Dolomites at 3,343 metres and the only one still carrying a glacier, which is retreating fast. A cable car from Malga Ciapela reaches a terrace and a museum of the mountain war fought inside the ice.
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Museo Paleontologico Rinaldo Zardini
A collection of fossils from the reefs that became these mountains, gathered by a local shoemaker who became a self-taught palaeontologist. It explains what the Dolomites are made of better than any viewpoint does.
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Passo Falzarego
The pass at 2,105 metres between Cortina and Alta Badia, the front line between 1915 and 1917 and now the departure point for the Lagazuoi cable car. The tunnels either side of the road are open to walkers.
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Tre Cime di Lavaredo
Three near-vertical dolomite towers standing clear of everything around them, and the most recognisable rock in the Alps. A mostly level circuit of about ten kilometres goes right round them from the Auronzo hut, which a toll road reaches in summer.