I am planning a trip for a large group who have never been to Italy before. Naturally, I am obliged to do the usual 3 cities of Rome, florence and Venice, but I would like to include a side trip into the Dolomites before finishing off in Milan for the return trip back to Singapore.

I was thinking of spending 1 night (yes, I'm afraid it's only a quickie) in Cortina or perhaps Canazei so that we don't have to rush through the mountains within a day, but can anyone suggest another town to spend the night in which is both:

a) cheaper, and more importantly;
b) more picturesque and less of a tourist trap during the ski season?

The idea is to start of from Venice, go up to Misurina and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, then westwards towards Arabba, up through the Passo Campolongo for a spectacular view of Sassongher before heading down to Bolzano and on to Milan. We could effectively stay anywhere between Misurina and Canazei...