Pre-hike: Fly into Venice ( Hotel Ca’Pozzo), followed by bus transportation to Cortina.We engaged Mac’s Adventures to make our rifugio reservations, which included half-board (breakfast and dinner) and custom route cards). We walked the length of the AV1 but variations are possible. We approached the Cinque Torri rock formation, visible from Cortina, on Day 4. If you decide to make your own reservations, the rifugios are listed in the Cicerone guidebook. Macs was apologetic and refunded our night’s stay. Since Macs Adventures is well-known, no payment was expected and they worked it out. In each case, the hosts made room, sometimes using creative methods, to accommodate us. It’s unsettling to pay the fee to the service, hike all day and arrive at a rifugio in pouring rain to find that they have no record of a reservation. Our only issue was that there were a few glitches with reservations, with each of three couple having a missing reservation at one time or another.

based contact who was very responsive and being relatively local, time zone differences were minimized. They provided us with the Cicerone guidebook so there is no need to purchase one if you decide to use a service. We chose Macs Adventures to suggest a route, make reservations and provide us with custom trail information. Friends who decided to join us later could not get reservations at all for the first few days so they joined us the afternoon of Day 3 and did a five-day hike.ĭepending on your budget and style, you can make reservations on your own or use a service. We made our reservations in January and still didn’t get everything we wanted. English is spoken by many, but not all, people in hotels, restaurants, shops and rifugios.Īn unexpected snowfall in August at Rifugio Coldai. Due to shifting borders at different times, German, Italian and Ladin (an ancient language) are spoken in the region. The Dolomites were named after geologist Deodar Dolomieu, who identified the calcium-magnesium carbonate composition of the predominant rock.ĭuring World War I, the boundary between Italy and the Austral-Hungarian empire ran through the Dolomites, leaving behind a fascinating collection of tunnels, foxholes and artifacts along the trail. We did the trek in 9 days but there are many variations in how the route can be divided. The Cicerone guidebook divides the AV1 into 11 stages. The elevation gain, however, is significant at 21,833 feet (6665 m). Altitude sickness is not a concern for any but the most sensitive individuals. Overall, the elevation is not particularly high compared to other classic trails, reaching a maximum of 9,029 feet (2752 m). Most people start at Lago (Lake) di Braies near the town of Dobbiaco and head south to the end near the town of Belluno. The Alta Via 1 is approximately 70 miles (112 km) long. Between Rifugio Averau and Rifugio Citta di Fiume About the Alta Via

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