The Dolomites from Venice: How To Plan Your Mountain Escape

Getting to the Dolomites from Venice is probably easier than you think, and definitely worth considering. The lovely mountain town of Cortina d'Ampezzo is the obvious gateway if you're coming from the east, and by the time you arrive, the air will feel fresher and the food will taste more Alpine.
 

One day is enough to get a crush on the mountains over a long lunch by a lake with peaks all around you. Stay a night, and there's every chance you'll fall hopelessly in love. This guide will help you pick the places worth your time and work out how long to give them, whether that's a day or a long weekend.

Venice is all water and soft light, with nothing standing taller than a bell tower. The Dolomites are a complete contrast. They're vertical, brightly lit and strange enough that pictures look photoshopped even when they aren't. Getting from your Venice base to your mountain bolthole means crossing the flat Veneto plain, then climbing up through forest into somewhere that feels like another country.

Cortina d'Ampezzo makes that transition an easy one. It's a proper town, with a main street worth pottering along and restaurants that expect you to take your time over lunch. How much do you want to do? Your call! Walk round a lake in 20 minutes if that's your speed, or put some miles into your legs on a mountain circuit and boast about it on socials.

Cortina is about 162 km from Venice by road, usually around 2.5 hours if the traffic and the weather behave.

The best thing about the following four destinations is that they're not remotely alike. You can have a lazy stroll by a lake or tackle one of Europe's best-known day walks. Do one of these Dolomites from Venice excursions if you have a day, two if you're staying overnight.

Arriving in Cortina is a treat in itself. Corso Italia runs right through the middle, lined with glossy shops and pavement cafés, and the gaps between the buildings keep showing you flashes of rock: the Tofane on one side, Cristallo and Sorapiss behind you. Order casunziei, the beetroot-filled pasta this valley is known for, add a slice of strudel and don't let anyone tell you that a siesta is time wasted. Cortina is also a great Plan B. If the clouds descend on the high ground, a town with good food, mountain views and a chairlift or two is a sublime place to be stuck.

Not in the mood for a hike? Lake Misurina is the answer. It sits at 1,756 m in a shallow bowl under the Sorapiss massif, and on a still morning, the whole ridge is reflected in the water. The path around the shore is flat all the way, so you can walk it in whatever shoes you wore to the opera in Venice. No hiking boots required.
 

For a bigger view, the Col de Varda chairlift (which tops out at 2,106 m, about 10 minutes up) whisks you off the lakeshore to a terrace looking straight at the Cadini spires, with the lake shrinking below.

Tre Cime di Lavaredo is the hike of a lifetime. Three huge towers in a row, and no, the photos aren't exaggerating. From the car park, they look like a single wall. Walk around a bit, and the gaps open up, then settle into the postcard pic everyone knows. There are refuges on the way if you need a coffee.

Full circuit or a taster? The loop is the one worth building a day around. If that's more than you fancy, the well-marked path out to Rifugio Lavaredo takes about 40 minutes each way, and still delivers plenty of soaring drama.

• Trail: Under 10 km, 468 m of ascent
• Time: About 3.5 hours' walking
• Effort: A proper mountain walk; match it to your fitness and the forecast
• Good to know: Driving to Rifugio Auronzo needs an online parking reservation, tied to your number plate

Cinque Torri packs a lot into a small area. Five rock towers stick up out of an open shoulder above the Falzarego Road, and a chairlift does the climbing. Climbers love them, so if you're not strapping on the crampons yourself, there's usually someone to watch.
 

There's history up here too. This was the front line in World War I, and the restored trenches now make an open-air museum. You can walk around them in ordinary boots, at whatever pace suits you.

Cortina was Austrian until the end of World War I, and the food has never quite picked a side. That's the fun of it!

Order casunziei first: half-moon pasta filled with beetroot, dressed with butter and poppy seeds. Savoury one bite, sweet the next. If you've been hiking all morning, canederli are what you want: bread dumplings made from stale bread and smoked ham, boiled in broth. Heavy enough to see you to dinner.
 

Leave room for strudel, or for Kaiserschmarrn, a shredded sugared pancake that should more than replenish any burnt calories. If you're heading back to Venice that evening, drop in for dinner at Papadopoli Hotel Venezia - MGallery Collection. It's just a short walk from the Piazzale Roma bus terminal.

How long have you got? That's the only real question, and the answer changes what you can sensibly attempt. A Dolomites from Venice day trip works, as long as you don't try to do everything.

Cortina and Misurina, plus a short walk for the view. That's a good day out with time to spare. The full Tre Cime loop can fit as well, but only with an early start and a bit of luck with the weather. Book the parking either way.

Go for this one if you can. Get to Cortina in time for dinner. Next morning, you're already there, with a whole day free for Tre Cime or Cinque Torri. It buys you a spare day, too. If it rains on day one, there's always day two.

Do whichever of Tre Cime or Cinque Torri you missed. You end up with two different mountain days rather than one long one.

Lago di Braies is the other temptation. It's north of Cortina, and in high summer you can't just drive in: book ahead for the car or the bus. Give it a day of its own.

Getting to the Dolomites from Venice is a straightforward run north. There are four ways to do it, depending on whether you prefer to be a driver or a passenger.

ATVO's direct Cortina coach runs from Piazzale Roma, Mestre and Marco Polo airport. Reservations are compulsory, so book before you leave Venice, and check the last return for your date; the summer timetable doesn't run all year. If you'd rather drive, picking the car up on the mainland rather than at Piazzale Roma makes for a calmer start, and somewhere like Hotel Mercure Venezia Marghera puts you next to the A57 with parking included. Whichever you pick, leaving Venice early buys you more of the day at the other end.

Summer is the best season to see the Dolomites from Venice, but the months on either side have plenty to recommend them, too.

• Summer: The most lifts and buses are running, and the mountain refuges are open for lunch. July and August are the busiest, as the car parks confirm.
• June and September: Quieter and cheaper, though snow can linger and opening dates shift.
• Winter: A different trip altogether, with its own road rules (you'll need winter tyres) and not much daylight.

Whichever month you pick, check the mountain forecast that morning, not the night before. Weather at 2,000 m changes fast, and a lift that ran yesterday may not run today.

One day is enough for a lake and a very good lunch. Stay the night, and you get the walking too, without having to fret about the last bus. Give your Dolomites from Venice excursion three days, and there's room for Tre Cime and Cinque Torri.

Either way, it all starts when you've chosen the best time to go to Venice.