As has been mentioned a lot, we are treating our first trip to Italy of 17 days (late September-early October)as more of a scouting trip, and it includes time in Rome-Florence-Venice. We do want to get off the beaten path a bit and see the Dolomites, and I haven't found much on the Board about that region. We plan to rent a car when we leave Venice to drive up there. There is a very contemporary-style spa resort called Hotel Feldmullerhof that looks very inviting located in Sand-in-Taufers, a small mountain village, about an hour drive north of Bolzano. Is this too far and isolated for a 2-3 day stay? We are used to driving mountainous roads throughout the Rockies, how do the roads compare? Any particularly special sites or restaurants in the general area to recommend? Thanks - have really been enjoying this Board and all the wonderful advice!

I think you will find the roads in the Dolomiti excellent.....lots of hairpin turns as you climb but well maintained.

We spent a week in the Dolomites last year but stayed in Trento. We actually preferred the Trentino because of its "Italian-ness" but the scenery all over the area is quite striking.

You can read about our adventures on my trip report page. This is a link to our first day....

Zurers in Trentino

Keep clicking for successive reports.

I am not sure why you need to go that far to enjoy the Dolomites. That location is fairly isolated. I would prefer the Val Gardena and staying in either Ortisei or Castelrotto.

The Taufers valley - the northern tip of Italian territory - is a stub valley (it does not end in an open pass), on a side of the larger Pustertal/Val Pusteria. If you want to stay there the place is beatiful, if you want to get around you need a more central place, like Gardena, Alpe di Siusi, the Cortina area, Fassa valley or something like that. Even Dobbiaco/Toblach and S.Candido/Innichen in the main valley should offer more possibilities for touring and trekking.

Italians do not like very much the Taufers valley, as it was home to some of the most radical protestors of the Italian sovranity on south Tyrol. Still twenty years ago it was common to cut the tyres of Italian tourists there or giving them bad accomodation. This has come to an end and, of course, non-Italian speaking tourists were always welcome.

I agree with Jim and Bob, that seems to be a bit far to go and it will be very Austrian. It seems a long way to go especially since you only have 17 days and will also be visiiting Venice, Florence and Rome.

I like the craggy peaks of the main Dolomites area. The Tauferer region is farther north. Here's a map of the regions from the Südtirol tourist website. I would recommend either Val Gardena or the next valley Val Badia. Both are easy to get to from Bolzano.

I traveled the area in a bus and found the roads fine. They were very windy with lots of hairpin turns as Jim mentioned and narrow. I did get a little carsick on the bus and it was fun watching the driver navigate the hairpin turns.

We've been through the Dolomites a couple of times and I feel that, geographically, they are the most stunning region of the Alps. We enjoyed a short stay once in Val Gardena.

Last trip to Italy, we stayed in Congeliano, which is a village about 40 minutes north of Venice by train. From there we daytripped to Venice as well as the Dolomites. We stayed at Il Fae, a beautiful B&B which I have reviewed on this site.

Apparently, you are staying in Venice. From there, you only have to drive 30 minutes north on the expressway before you are into some very nice scenery. The foothills around Conegliano are very scenic and covered with Prosecco vines. From Il Fae we saw the Dolomites behind the foothills - there are layers of mountains to admire. We made a breathtakingly beautiful drive to Cortina D'A. This Dolomite destination is only a half day drive from Venice, and I recommend the journey to you. And if staying for a night just north of Venice fits your schedule, I recommend Il Fae.
Linda

Thanks for all the great input - we are definitely re-evaluating and the Val Gardena area does look wonderful!

Lol, I'm a little too much "partisan" about Dolomites

I can say just ...






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