6 days in the Dolomites - Camping

I am planning a 13-day trip to the Dolomites this Sept and will arrive from the East Tirol side of Austria (direction of Lienz) by car. So, naturally, my first stop is to visit Tre Cime, after which I will travel to see the Odle Group of the Dolomites. How many days shall I spend in this area? I am thinking of about 3-4 days, to account for likely rainy days that renders hiking along the Tre Cime di Lavaredo loop trail impossible. In this case, I can also enjoy some of the Alpine lakes and smaller towns. My questions:

1. It seems that Cortina is the most popular choice of a home base in this region. However, there is no accommodation choice that fulfills my requirements and budget (at a low level of about $170 per night max). Also, I am worried about potential construction noise and dust from construction for the future Olympics. Where else is a good base for 3-4 days? For example, is Padola too far? My next stop will be in the Val Gardena or Val di Funes area. I will have a rental car, but have not driven in Alpine mountains much.

2. Which cable car or gondola rides do you recommend in the Tre Cime area?

3. Beside the loop trail, what are the other easy and enjoyable Tre Cime trails?

4. What other nice places should i visit in this area? Lake Baies is one.

5. Will I need hiking poles for the Tre Cime loop trail? Should I buy some here in the US or buy them in Austria? I don't hike much, if at all, in the US. Even when I do, I won't need any poles.

Once this segment of my Dolomites trip is planned out, I will plan the Val Gardena/Val di Funes part. This is a bigger area and there appears to be more moderately priced lodging options.

Any further advice is appreciated. Thanks!!!

Hi! I want to try, for the first time, staying in a tent for a couple of nights, in a camping site. I am not certain if in this sites the tents are provided or I have to bring my own. Also, any suggestions for the south coast? Thank you.

Just looking for some additional advice or recommendations - here is what we have so far;

8/26 - Arrive at FCO 745am, will take car service to our hotel (Hotel Martis Palace) to drop luggage and start exploring Rome.

8/27 - Rome. Vatican museum.

8/28 - Rome. Colosseum tour.

8/29 - 710am Fresciarossa train to Milan. Arrives 1050am. Already booked the tickets. Pick up car rental and drive to Lake Como. Staying in Diamond Apartments in Bellagio.

8/30 - More Lake Como. Staying same place.

8/31 - Driving to the Dolomites. Staying at the Hotel Angelo Engel in Ortisei.

9/01 - Dolomites. Won’t bore everyone with the list of hikes, but the hikes and scenic pass drives are the main reason for coming to the area. That and some of the lakes in the area.

9/02 - Dolomites

9/03 - Dolomites

9/04 - Dolomites, then driving back to Milan, staying at the Sheraton airport hotel that is literally in the terminal.

9/05 - 1020am flight back to US.

I think having basically 3 full days/nights in Rome is this plenty. Not sure that a day and a half (2 nights) will give us much time in Lake Como, but we’ve never been and would like to check it out unless someone has a better option. I think our time in Dolomites will give us enough time to do some hikes and explore the area. Obviously I’d rather have weeks to spend in each area, but unfortunately that isn’t an option haha.

Any suggestions or recommendations for these areas?

Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a short hike around or near Tre Cime (knee issues can only hike an hour or two -not the four hours required for the best hike)

Can you recommend where to start and any info on the hike🙏.

If not is there a cable car or a way to drive to the best view point.

Thank you so much!

Hello! I am planning to go in the Dolomites next week and I want to camp with my own tent. I tried to contact the campsites but they hardly answer the messeges of the phone. One of them doesn’t make bookings and you really need to show up early, another one answered it’s full and the others don’t answer.

Based on your experience, what would be the best options? Are there many places where you can just show up on the day?

Any suggestions are more than welcome.

Thank you!

Hello!

My active, 12 year-old son & I are going to The Dolomites for 5 nights at the beginning of July. We'll be based on Ortisei & I wondered if someone might share top activities to do & great nearby towns to see. We're bringing our bikes & we'd love some easy to medium-difficulty hikes. I don't know much about the gondolas or via ferrata & our hotel hasn't given us any suggestions beyond the local pool.

Also, we have 1 extra day/night before we drive to Milan. Can anyone suggest a great town to visit on the drive down?

After cancelling our 2020 Italy trip, I've just booked a trip for spring 2022. We fly into Venice in late April and will be in the country for 21 nights before leaving from Rome. I've booked accommodations online but everything is cancellable so I'd love to know you suggest any changes to my itinerary. And I have a few questions. Any input would be much appreciated as I've never been to Italy!

Here's what I've booked:

3 nights Venice - Wander, see Doge's palace & St. Mark's Square

3 nights in Sirmione, Lake Garda - explore Roman ruins, drive around lake, maybe boat trip to Isola del Garde

3 Nights in Florence - Museums & sights. Rent car when leaving & drive to Montepulciano via Chianti.

3 Nights in Montepulciano - Wine tasting, explore hill towns in Tuscany (& maybe hot springs?)

4 Nights in Sorrento (day trips to Capri & Amalfi Coast & maybe Pompeii, but that would be all the days and I want to just relax & wander in Sorrento too)

4 Nights in Rome - Colosseum, Vatican, and maybe day trip to Tivoli or Ninfa Gardens (though my husband won't be that excited about the latter so may skip it)

Does this look like a good number of days / nights in each place?

Also, I have a few other questions... From Venice to Sirmione - Would I be better off to simply take the train from Venice to Desenzano and rent a car there, meaning I could drop it at the end of my Sirmione stay and not pay one-way charge? Or rent a car in Venice and drive to Desenzano? And when we leave Montepulciano to go to Sorrento, am I better off dropping the car in Chiusi and taking train from there to Sorrento, or driving back to Florence & dropping it there, taking the high-speed traing?

Or should I re-order the whole trip, driving from Venice to Sirmione and then to Montepulciano, then take the car back to Florence, spend 3 nights there and then train to Sorrento?

I've noticed that a lot of accommodations are booking up already for next spring so if my itinerary isn't logical, I want to switch it around now while there's lots of options. I know there's plenty of time for booking cars & trains, but does the order make sense? Thanks in advance for any input!!

Hello - we are a mid-30's couple who enjoy lots of outdoor activities (hiking, sailing, rock climbing), and good food. We are planning a trip to Rome/Amalfi coast over a ten day period in early September and I could use some help on where to stay. The plan:

Sept 4 - Fly into Rome and take the train + car to get to the Amalfi coast

Sept 5 - 10: Spend on the Amalfi coast. This would include: visiting Capri, Rock climbing for a day in Punta Campanella, Visiting Positano and Ravello, Doing the Path of the Gods Walkway/Hike, maybe another hike and visiting a nice beach.

Sept 10-12: Train from Salerno back to Rome, Spend 1.5 days in Rome before flying out.

With this itinerary, I'm trying to figure out:

- Is there one location that we should stay in on the Amalfi Coast or is it better to split it up (e.g. few days in Sorrento before heading to either Positano, Amalfi or Ravello)? Note: I know Sorrento is not Amalfi Coast. I'm also interested in thinking about great restaurants for dinner and if one location would be better for nice dining (and not having to deal with catching the ferry/bus too late.

- Is it worth considering one night in Capri, and if so, the best way to work this into the logistics? I've been there before and definitely felt rushed on a day ferry from Sorrento.

- Is there anything else I'm missing from the list?

Thanks for your help!!

Hi! I'm planning on doing a long holiday in Italy from the end of September until November. I will be doing most of my transport via public transport, but biking/hiking or renting a car every now and then might be an option too.

What I'm currently thinking about:

- Enter sicily by train, hop off on the east coast. Visit Taormina, Catania, Siracusa, and possibly Ragusa as main sites. 5 days?

- Take the ferry from either Pozzallo or Augusta to Malta

- Spend about a week on Malta

- Take the ferry back, see (possibly Ragusa here) Valle dei Templi, and the north and west of sicily. About 10 days?

- Take the ferry from Palermo to Cagliari

- Spend about two weeks on Sardinia (not sure what places yet)

- take the ferry from Porto Torres to Barcelona

Is this a feasibily itinerary? The suggested staying times for these places seem to be all over the place (e.g. 5 days enough for Sicily, two weeks in Malta) so I'm wondering if I'm taking it easy enough or if I could include Amalfi for example. Is two weeks in Sicily enough if I go by public transport? I want to see the main sites and take some relaxed days off too. I don't need to spend days in every town exploring every alley.

I plan on staying in hostels and cheap hotel rooms mostly. I can also bring camping gear but I'm not entirely sure if it's worth it as I think a lot of campings will already be closed in October. I don't particularly have a set budget but I prefer to spend my cash on good food and perhaps some guides. I don't have a need for luxury hotels or driving a car everywhere.

My family and I (3 people in total) are flying into Rome on the evening of July 28. From there, we will be spending all of the 29th in Rome and then driving down south in the evening. We will be spending 2 days on Amalfi Coast and eventually making our drive to Puglia on July 31. We have a masseria booked near the town of Grottaglie from the 31st until August 6 (a beautiful but isolated masseria that we stayed at before Covid but it's pretty far from the major cities). However, despite the beauty that our stay offers, what is worrying us is that we have already visited the main attractions and towns near our masseria on our trip to Puglia pre-Covid). On our last trip we visited:

- Lecce, Nardo, Taranto

- Ostuni

- Matera

- Alberobello

- Bari

We have included Monopoli and Brindisi in our itinerary as of yet. We would love to explore new places and towns that we have not seen before. Please give us any recommendations where we should go and what to include on our itinerary. Would love if anyone could share any hidden gems around our location. We would also appreciate if anyone can share beautiful beaches around the region.

Thank you in advance!