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Walking in the Dolomites

25 multi-day routes in Italy's Dolomites

ISBN

9781852848446

Availability

Published

24 Jan 2017

Reprinted

27 May 2024

Edition

Third

Pages

288

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.60cm

Weight

330g

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Guidebook to 25 multi day walks in the Dolomites mountains of northeast of Italy. The walks are mostly circular and 2 to 4 days long, and take in the Marmarole, Marmolada, Civet, Sella and Cortina Dolomites among others. Includes notes on accommodation, wildlife, transport, equipment, a glossary and other practical information.

Seasons

Mid-June to late September, when the majority of the refuges are open. Peak Italian holiday time is August, especially around 15th August.

Centres

Main centres for the Dolomites include Cortina, Belluno, Selva di Cadore, Arabba, La Villa, Selva, Bressanone, Dobbiaco, Canazei.

Difficulty

Moderate and challenging routes, including some mountain traverses involving scrambles and exposure.

Must See

Spotting your first chamois, marmot or Ibex. The majestic Marmolada and Pelmo, the towering Civetta, and the Cinque Torre (now only four of them!).

ISBN

9781852848446

Availability

Published

24 Jan 2017

Reprinted

27 May 2024

Edition

Third

Pages

288

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.60cm

Weight

330g

Overview

A guidebook to 25 multi-day treks in the Dolomites of north-east Italy. The routes range from moderate to challenging in difficulty, with varying degrees of mountain traverses, scrambles and exposure so a good head for heights is needed.

The treks range from 11 to 41km (7–25 miles) with daily distances of between 5 and 15km (3–9 miles). Each trek is designed to be hut-to-hut and last 2–4 days. The routes explore the major mountain groups of the UNESCO World Heritage site including Sella and Marmolada.

1:100,000 maps are included for each walk
Treks feature notes on access, difficulty and recommended maps for navigation on the ground
Public transport and accommodation options are detailed

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Overview map

Map key

Preface to the third edition

Introduction

The Dolomites

Geology

Plants and flowers

Wildlife

Getting there

Local transport

Information

When to go

Accommodation

Food and drink

What to take

Waymarking and maps

Dos and don’ts

Emergencies

Using this guide

Dolomiti Friulane

Walk 1 Anello delle Dolomiti Friulane

Marmarole

Walk 2 Along the Marmarole

Dolomiti di Sesto

Walk 3 Vallon Popera

Walk 4 Tre Cime tour

Walk 5 Tre Scarperi tour

Fanes–Senes–Braies

Walk 6 Croda Rossa tour

Walk 7 Sasso della Croce–Cunturines

Cortina Dolomites

Walk 8 Tofane–Lagazuoi

Walk 9 Nuvolau–Cinque Torri

Walk 10 Croda da Lago–Pelmo

Civetta

Walk 11 Civetta tour

Dolomiti Bellunesi

Walk 12 Cime de Zita traverse

Walk 13 Alpi Feltrine

Pale di San Martino

Walk 14 Palarondatrek

Walk 15 Over the Pale di San Martino

Marmolada

Walk 16 Behind the Marmolada

Sella

Walk 17 Sella traverse

Puez–Odle

Walk 18 Around the Puez–Odle Altopiano

Walk 19 Odle di Eores

Sassopiatto–Sassolungo

Walk 20 Sassopiatto–Sassolungo tour

Sciliar and Catinaccio

Walk 21 Sciliar–Antermoia traverse

Walk 22 Catinaccio loop

Latemar

Walk 23 Latemar traverse

Dolomiti di Brenta

Walk 24 Western Brenta

Walk 25 Eastern Brenta

Appendix A Route summary table

Appendix B Tourist offices

Appendix C Italian–English glossary

Appendix D Further reading

Updates

August 2024

Walk 1 amendment

Walk 1
P49, paragraph 3: Text should read "tight zigzags due E" (not W)

Walk 1
P49, paragraph 3: Text should read "tight zigzags due E" (not W)

February 2024

Rifugio Puez - Walk 18

Rifugio Puez - Denis Koster is the new hut manager - info@rifugiopuez.it

August 2022

Photo correction

p145 photo - this belongs on p195 and shows Rifugio Boè

June 2022

Navetta shuttle service

p239 + p242 the navetta shuttle service linking Pera di Fassa with Rifugio Gardeccia is no longer running

January 2022

2022 reprint route updates

844 Walking Dolomites 2022 Rpt (64.811 KB)

March 2021

Rifugio Fanes phone number has changed

Walking in the Dolomites

p103 Rifugio Fanes phone has changed to 0474 453001

May 2019

Route updates and corrections

Visitors to the Dolomites in summer 2019 need to be aware of possible problems regarding paths. The best advice is to check locally with Tourist Offices and refuges, be versatile and don't take any risks.

Storm Damage in the Dolomites:
Six months ago, in October 2018, the Italian Dolomites were hit by a devastating hurricane - Tempesta Vaia. Winds up to 200km/hr caused widespread damage to villages, houses and roads, and there were several deaths. Millions and millions of trees were toppled. Forestry workers and sawmills are struggling to deal with the massive amount of timber that needs removing and storing.
Naturally, hundreds of kilometres of paths in the Dolomites have been affected by landslides, rockfalls and fallen trees. Despite the snowy winter season plenty has already been done to improve the situation - the authorities as well as volunteers have been hard at work clearing timber, rerouting, and affixing new signs where possible. (Though priority has obviously been given to essential services for villages). The Italian Alpine Club, CAI, as well as SAT, the Trento branch, are involved.
Things are definitely looking up - and even Rifugio Venezia on the Pelmo will hopefully open for the summer season despite having had its roof torn off, the top floor with beds and mattresses ruined by rain and snow, and its jeep access track blocked by rockfalls and landslips. Another refuge with supply problems is Rifugio Pordenone in the Dolomiti Friulane. Thankfully the building was not damaged but its access road all but washed away. But they plan on 'business as usual' this year too.
The following web site lists all the paths by number in the Belluno province (central-southern Dolomites) with notes about what's open and possible problems. It's updated regularly. Google Sheet 'Non percorribile' means 'not walkable' ie closed.
As regards the Trentino area (south-western Dolomites), see this web site: https://sentieri.sat.tn.it/wp/?p=2444. Moreover as of May 20 an App will be downloadable on www.visittrentino.info with up-to-date path info for the Trentino.

Aug 2018

There's been an increase in cases of TBE (tick-borne encephalitis) across Europe, Italy included. Walkers should be aware that they may pick up ticks while walking through grass and woodland up to approx 1500 metres altitude. Not all ticks carry the disease but better safe than sorry. Simple precautions and plenty of useful information is available on the website: https://ecdc.europa.eu/en/tick-borne-encephalitis. Vaccination is also an option.

July 2018

page 218 :Private car traffic is finally being limited through one of the key Dolomites road passes (Passo Sella) http://dolomitesvives.com/en/. More buses have been put on to allow visitors to reach the pass.

p55 Walk 2: Access: Pozzale no longer has a summer bus service but can be reached by taxi (tel 328 7536842, 0435 30725) from Pieve di Cadore.

p57 the walk start should now read:

Starting out from the village square in Pozzale (1054m) follow the signposting for Rifugio Antelao due N uphill on Via Centrale. Once out of the village, where n.520 goes straight ahead, fork L for a minor sealed road climbing in bends. This becomes a 4WD track making its relaxing way up the southern flank of Monte Tranego.

p118 Rifugio Averau tel 0436 4660 open June to Sept, credit cards accepted https://rifugioaverau.wixsite.... Rifugio Pisciadù www.rifugiopisciadu.it

... Rifugio Catinaccio has closed

p244 Stage 2 box: ascent 850m, descent 1120m

p278 Tourist Office Braies tel 0474 748660 www.valledibraies.info

... 2017

Walk 22, Stage 2: Ascent should be 850m and descent 1120m

(Thanks to Estelle)

Reviews

"It has been my pleasure to follow in Gillian's footsteps all over Italy"

I have used Gillian Price's books for the Dolomiti, Stelvio, and Gran Paradiso, and most recently last year for Alpi Maritime and Mercantour. It has been my pleasure to follow in her footsteps all over Italy. Thanks so much for her wonderful books and sense of humour.
- Sandy

Absolutely fantastic, if exhausting!

Thank you very much for walk suggestions in your Cicerone book of longer walks in Dolomites - last week we hiked Anello and walk 2 along the Marmarole and had an absolutely fantastic (if exhausting!) time. Hope to try out further hikes in coming years.

Such a useful, accurate and well-written guide

I'm one of your happy readers, having used your guide book before. It's such a useful, accurate and well-written guide to have - thank you!

Tom, by email

Brilliant and helpful

Thank you for producing two such clear, interesting and informative books in ‘Walking in the Dolomites’ and ‘Shorter Walks in the Dolomites’. Your books have already proved invaluable in our planning efforts and I only wish we had discovered them when we first visited the region a couple of years ago. We are quite simply spoiled for choice already!

Again, thank you for writing such brilliant and helpful books.

Lucy, by email

The hikes, detailed descriptions and photographs in it have blown my mind and they all look and sound amazing

Hi, Gillian my name is Kevin and would like to say well done and thank you for writing such a great book on Walking in the Dolomites. A friend recommended the Cicerone publications and after talking with a work colleague about hiking in Italy I decided to order your book. The hikes, detailed descriptions and photographs in it have blown my mind and they all look and sound amazing and I’m only halfway through.

Gillian Price is a true gem amongst guide book writers!

We were on our first real hiking holiday and used Gillian Price's Dolomites guides. We'd selected walks based on her descriptions, which were so inspiring it was difficult to choose! Instead, we selected by a process of elimination, based on difficulty and length, rather than attractiveness. Most guide books are a rather dreary recipe of start here, turn left at creek, go up hill 200m, walk along spine. Gillian Price completely understands that the best walks are a story with a rhythm and narrative: a beginning, a middle, a climax, and an end, and her writing reflects this. She conveys the mood and tone of a walk, not just its facts. As a plant enthusiast, I appreciated her highlighting special vegetation or flowering alpines. Two years later, we returned to the Dolomites and did multi-day treks there, and her descriptions were once again a true reflection of every one of them. Gillian Price is a true gem amongst guide book writers!

Helen, 2018

Your wonderful guides have been a pleasure to read, and have been particularly helpful, thank you!

Dear Ms Price,

For the last 20 years, my wife and I have relied heavily on Cicerone guidebooks. Your wonderful guides for Amalfi, Dolomites, and Gran Paradiso have been a pleasure to read, and have been particularly helpful, thank you!

Thanks again!

Dan & Cheryl
Seattle, WA

Everything you need to take on some truly fantastic walks.

If you've ever flicked through a Cicerone guide before you will know exactly what they are about: practical information presented in a clear manner to provide you with everything you need to take on some truly fantastic walks. And that's exactly what we have here with Walking in the Dolomites.

Inside, Gillian Price outlines 25 multi-day routes in Italy's Dolomites giving you the means to explore the breathtaking alpine scenery that the area has become so famous for. The routes mainly consist of two and three day itineraries and take in the Likes of the Brenta Dolomites and Sella Massif traverses. Expect pristine lakes, rugged ridges and those exhilarating scree slopes.

Adventure Travel Magazine

Packed with useful tips and beautiful colour photographs

I have no issue in recommending the fantastic Trekking series from Cicerone. If you are into hiking and experiencing the ‘great outdoors’, then you can place your trust in the hands of this first-class publisher. It uses the services of only the most skilled and informative writers, all of whom can boast about more knowledge of the various treks and routes and how to break them down into manageable sections than any other specialists. There is a satisfying hands on approach taken by Cicerone that provides it with a defined market advantage. The latest guides deal with the spectacular Dolomites mountain region of northern Italy and are packed with useful tips, beautiful colour photographs and the customary recommendations for short to medium hikes, all of which can be combined for the more adventurous travellers.

By Gillian Price

Gillian Price has trekked throughout Asia and the Himalayas, but now lives in Venice. Gillian has steadily explored the mountain ranges of Italy, and Corsica, and brought them to life for visitors in a series of outstanding guides for Cicerone. She is an active member of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) and Mountain Wilderness.

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