Dolomites Journey

07/09/2026

Why I Started Dolomites Journey

When I planned my first Dolomites trip in 2010, the problem was that there wasn’t enough information in English.

Now the problem is almost the opposite.

There is so much information that people spend hours reading blogs, watching videos and saving Instagram posts...and somehow end up even less sure what to do.

Which village?
How many bases?
Which hikes actually fit their fitness?
Can these two places realistically be done on the same day?

That gap between having information and actually having a coherent trip is one of the reasons I started Dolomites Journey.

I build trips around the person traveling, their pace, interests, fitness level and the experience they actually want.
If Google currently has you opening 37 tabs, this might help. 😂
https://www.dolomitesjourney.com/trip-planning

Get personalized help planning your Dolomites trip — best towns to stay, hotel recommendations, detailed itineraries, and support tailored to your dates, budget, and travel style.

06/09/2026

My Biggest Planning Tip

If I could give someone planning their first Dolomites trip just one piece of advice, it would probably be: Stop trying to see all of it.

The Dolomites looks compact on a map, which makes it incredibly tempting to build an itinerary that hops from valley to valley collecting all the famous places.

After 16 years, I travel almost the opposite way.

I stay longer. I move less. I leave room for weather changes, long lunches, tired legs and places we discover once we’re there.

You usually experience more when you stop trying to see more. I wrote much more about that here:

https://www.dolomitesjourney.com/dolomites-without-the-rush

Are you a slow traveller, or are you secretly trying to squeeze 10 places into six days?

05/09/2026

The thing that surprised me most on my first trip to the Dolomites in 2010 was not the landscapes. I had seen enough photos to expect those.

What I had not expected was how different each valley felt from the next.

I still find this the single most important thing to explain to people planning their first trip. The Dolomites are not one experience. Choosing where to base yourself is not a minor logistical detail. It determines the tone of your entire time there.

And the other surprise - it snowed on our first trip!

If you are still working out where to stay, I have a base recommendation service on my website that might help. You can find it at the link below.

https://www.dolomitesjourney.com/trip-planning

Val Gardena DolomitesSüdtirol Alto Adige South Tyrol

04/09/2026

One of the easiest mistakes to make when packing for the Dolomites is thinking:
Italy + summer = summer clothes.

Then you step off a cable car at 2,000+ metres on a windy morning and suddenly that little sundress isn’t doing much for you. 😂

Even in July and August, temperatures at altitude can feel completely different from the valley below, and mountain weather changes fast.

I always bring layers now, something warm, something waterproof and proper shoes regardless of what the forecast looked like when I packed.

I put together a full Dolomites packing guide here:
📍 https://www.dolomitesjourney.com/dolomites-travel-tips/what-to-pack-for-the-dolomites.

03/09/2026

I came across this old photo from my first visit to Seceda.

The ridge was quiet. The lift had no queue. There was space to just stand there and take it in without managing a crowd or timing your position for the shot.

I am not writing this to be nostalgic about an emptier Dolomites. More people discovering this region is not a bad thing. But the contrast between then and now does tell a story.

It means that the planning advice I offer is not based on what I have read about. It is based on what I have personally watched change, season by season, for seventeen years.

Which is exactly why knowing how to time a visit, choose a base, and structure your days still makes such a significant difference to how a trip actually feels.

If you are planning a Dolomites trip, I am happy to help. You can find all the details at the link below.

https://www.dolomitesjourney.com

Val Gardena Dolomites Seceda-2500m

02/09/2026

NEW FREE GUIDE: 16 Years of Lessons from the Dolomites 🇮🇹🏔️

My first trip to the Dolomites was in 2010. Sixteen years later, I’m still coming back and I definitely travel differently now than I did then.

Over the years, I’ve learned what makes a Dolomites trip wonderful, what can make it unnecessarily stressful, and which things really aren’t worth worrying about.

So I’ve put some of those lessons into a new free guide: 16 Years in the Dolomites: What I’ve Learned.

This isn’t another itinerary or packing list. It’s about the things I wish I’d understood on that first trip, choosing the right base, not trying to see everything, being realistic about the hiking, building in rest days, embracing rifugio lunches, and leaving room for plans to change.

I’ve also included some of the places I still love after all these years.

If you’re planning your first Dolomites trip or your fifth, I hope there’s something in here that helps you enjoy it a little more.

Download the free guide here: https://www.dolomitesjourney.com/guides

And yes, I’m writing this while back in the Dolomites again. 😂 🇮🇹

02/09/2026

One of the things I didn’t understand before my first Dolomites trip was just how much I would love the rifugi. They aren’t simply somewhere to grab a drink halfway through a hike.

Some of my favorite days are planned around where we’re going to stop for lunch. You walk for a few hours, find a table outside, order something good, stare at the mountains and suddenly there is absolutely no reason to hurry anywhere.

If you’ve never been to one and aren’t sure how they work, reservations, food, sleeping overnight, what to expect, I wrote a first-timer’s guide here:
https://www.dolomitesjourney.com/dolomites-travel-tips/dolomites-rifugios-first-timers

Honestly, the rifugio culture is one of the things that keeps bringing me back.

Visiting a mountain hut in the Dolomites? Learn what a rifugio is, what to expect, what to order, overnight stays, and the customs every first-time visitor should know.

01/09/2026

In 2010 I booked my first trip to the Dolomites with a rough plan, decent boots, and very little idea of what I was actually heading into.

I had no real sense of the scale of the place. The way a single ridge can take an entire morning to cross. The way a valley that looks small on a map turns out to hold three villages, two cable cars, and a rifugio that has been serving the same soup for decades.

That first trip rearranged something in me as a traveller. Not just where I wanted to go, but how I wanted to travel. More slowly. With more time in fewer places.

Sixteen years later I am still going back. I still find things I have never seen before.

September on this page is going to be a little different. Less planning advice, more stories. Sixteen years of them.

If you are just beginning to think about your own first trip to the Dolomites, I would genuinely love to help you plan it well. The link below is where to start. https://www.dolomitesjourney.com

Gardena Val Gardena Dolomites Südtirol Alto Adige South Tyrol South Tyrol

31/08/2026

August or September - which is better for visiting the Dolomites?

For most visitors, my honest answer is early September.

August offers warmer temperatures, full summer energy and the widest choice of operating lifts and rifugi. September brings quieter trails, cooler hiking conditions and often more settled weather.

The important distinction is early versus late September. Most summer facilities are still operating early in the month, while later visitors need to check every lift and rifugio individually.

I’ve compared the crowds, weather, hiking, prices and trade-offs in my new blog:

https://www.dolomitesjourney.com/dolomites-travel-tips/august-vs-september-dolomites

30/08/2026

One Place I’ll Never Tire Of - Pralongià
There are places I love discovering for the first time. And then there are places I’m perfectly happy returning to again and again.
Pralongià is one of those.

I love the openness of it, those huge views in every direction, the rolling trails, the rifugi, and the feeling that you can just walk without needing to conquer anything. It’s beautiful, but it’s also incredibly relaxing. Some days in the Dolomites are about the big hike or the famous viewpoint. Pralongià, for me, is about simply being up in the mountains and enjoying the day.

After all these years, it’s still somewhere I look forward to going back to.

What’s one place in the Dolomites you’d happily return to again and again?

Alta Badia