After Stresa, we hopped on yet another series of trains for six days in the Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. Both Grey and I were very excited about this destination. We planned on doing a lot of hiking, eating delicious food, and drinking unique Alto Adige wines.
Photo by Greyson Howard
Where to Stay
After a bunch of research, we decided to base in Selva di Val Gardena. It was easily accessible by transit, close to the hikes we wanted to do, and it was a little less busy than the main city of Ortisei. We stayed at Hotel Jagerheim below the iconic Seceda Ridgeline. I may have booked it due to the incredible outdoor hot tub with clear views of the surrounding peaks, but the location next to the Col Raiser cable car and a very convenient bus stop didn’t hurt. The hotel offers half and full board (breakfast only or breakfast and dinner). We did half board, which I’d recommend. The breakfast is excellent, but having only half board gives you the opportunity to try more local restaurants. Also, Hotel Jagerheim has cake hour every day in the afternoon with delicious cakes!
We also considered Grand Hotel Wolkenstein in Selva or Hotel Grones and Hotel Villa Park in Ortisei.
Where to Hike
For our first hike, we headed up to the iconic Seceda Ridgeline. If you picture the Dolomites in your head, there’s a significant chance that you’re picturing that view. To get to the Seceda Ridgeline, there are quite a few options. We chose to take the Col Raiser cable car up to Odles. From there, we hiked up to Seceda following the well marked but steep trails. After wandering around and taking lots of pictures, we took the Fermeda-Seceda chairlift down to save some pounding on our knees. From the bottom of that chair, we hiked back to the top of Col Raiser and rode that back to our hotel. This was about 4.8 miles with 1,8457 feet of climbing (the distance includes the chairlift we took down.
Other options from the Col Raiser stop include hiking all the way from the bottom or taking the Col Raiser cable car and the Fermeda-Seceda chairlift up to the top. You’ll still need to traverse between the top of Col Raiser and the bottom of Fermeda-Seceda doing it this way. This hike is really popular, and was quite crowded on a beautiful Sunday. Note: to walk across the Seceda Ridgeline, you’ll need to pay to cross the private property the trail traverses. We chose not to do that - we thought the views were plenty good from where we were.
Our biggest hike was the Sassolungo Group Circuit. While it was longer, steeper, and wetter than advertised, the experience was incredible. The circuit can be accessed via a few different cable cars or road crossings, so it was occasionally busy close to those places and near the refugios, but cleared out considerably between. We got on the trail via the Monte Pana and Monte Suera chair lifts.
Sassolungo Group Circuit Stats:
12.11 miles
3,189 feet elevation gain
Watch my Sassolungo Group Circuit video here
Where to Eat
We ate at a couple of great refugios on our hikes. Odles Baita Hutte was near the top of Col Raiser cable car on the way to and from Seceda Ridge - highly recommend the goulash burger! After hiking around the Gardena Pass area (from the Danterceipes cable car) we loved the apertivo, focaccia, and spritzes at Jimmi Hutte.
For dinner, we loved Villa Sella Pizza so much that we ate there twice! The pizza, pasta, and salad we had were all great. Another good dinner was pasta and schnitzel at the restaurant at La Tambra Hotel. We enjoyed hanging out outside at Bar Oswald for bruschetta and spritzes while we waited for the bus in Selva one beautiful afternoon.
Other Dolomites Recommendations
Many of the local hotels (including Hotel Jagerheim) have a partnership with the Tourist Association of Val Gardena which gives you access to the Val Gardena Guest Pass, which allows you to take public transportation for free. If you have that opportunity, definitely use it. We didn’t have a car in the Dolomites, and didn’t feel like we needed one. If you’re going to be doing a lot of hiking, I’d recommend getting the Gardena Card. We paid 124 euros each for unlimited access to lifts for three consecutive days, and definitely got our money’s worth. There’s also a six day option.
