Italian Dolomites

October 22, 2022

The Ultimate 8 day Guide to the Italian Dolomites in Winter

The Italian Dolomites in winter are an absolute dream. This outdoor adventurer’s wonderland is beautiful at any time of the year. But with snow dusted over the dramatic landscapes and so many winter activities to choose from, it makes for the perfect Christmas road trip destination. From winter hikes, snowmobiling, skiing, bobsledding, road tripping through high mountain passes and glasses of hot wine by frozen lakes. Your days will be jam packed full of beautiful locations and you won’t be able to pick a favourite!  

We have created the ultimate 8 day guide to visiting the Italian Dolomites in winter to help you plan your trip. Read on to discover the best things to see and do in this gorgeous UNESCO World Heritage area. 

Suggested: We also have a guide to skiing in the Dolomites for beginners, and a winter guide to Venice which is where you’ll probably start and end your trip to the Dolomites. 

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In this article

Good things to know for your trip to the italian dolomites

Weather in the Italian Dolomites in winter

The shortest day in December still sees the sun rise around 7.30am and sunset at about 4.30pm. So you’ll be able to fit in a lot every day! You won’t feel like you have to rush around to make the most of daylight hours like you do further north. 

It obviously does get cold in the Italian Dolomites in winter, with average day-time temperatures around 0.2°C (32.36°F) in December. However, it rarely rains and you’ll be blessed with crisp days full of sunshine. As long as you’re dressed appropriately, the weather won’t prevent you from enjoying the outdoors. Especially important is having the right footwear. There are plenty of options for walks that don’t involve snowshoes but you’ll be sorry if you don’t have proper insulated and waterproof boots!

Getting around the Italian Dolomites

We recommend renting a car while visiting the Italian Dolomites in winter. Public transport will only get you so far, and the bus network will restrict your ability to sight see. Road conditions in northern Italy are great, with well maintained arterial roads. Just steer clear of driving first thing in the morning to avoid black ice and make sure you rent a car with snow tires (snow chains are just annoying). For extra safety you can choose to rent a SUV or large sedan, but it isn’t necessary. In fact, smaller cars will be more convenient for finding parking and on narrow mountain roads. You will occasionally find that car parks aren’t plowed, but all main roads and pullovers are frequently cleared. As Australians, we weren’t that experienced in driving in winter conditions, but we didn’t have any problems. 

There are plenty of seasonal closures on local roads and side roads, but honestly this didn’t affect our road trip whatsoever. We haven’t included anything in our guide that we couldn’t personally access. We picked up a car in Venice at the airport and drove straight to the Italian Dolomites from there. If you do end up with snow chains, be sure to double check that they are the right size! This happened to us and had we not picked up on it before leaving the car rental agency we would have had a tough time.

Language in the Italian Dolomites

South Tyrol was previously part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was only annexed to Italy at the end of World War 1 in 1919. Avoid confusion and know before you arrive that there are two names for everything in the Italian Dolomites. The entire region is bilingual (German and Italian). This means that places will have two names, from street signs to city names.

Planning your road trip through the Italian Dolomites

This guide is planned out to minimise time on the road and maximise the sites you can see. However, if you’re anything like me, you’ll use multiple guides and itineraries to plan your trip. If you’re doing this, it’s easiest to mark all of your destinations into google maps to plan out your road trip. And don’t forget to download an offline map before you go! Reception is pretty good throughout the Italian Dolomites, but you never know when you’ll run into issues. Even with an EU sim (which is supposed to work everywhere), we pretty frequently end up with no reception. This is usually not a problem and we can work with it, but when you’re driving it’s just a pain.  

Day 1 - Arrive and visit Lago di Dobbiaco (Toblacher See)

If you’re coming from central Europe you’ll be able to drive to the Italian Dolomites in under 6 hours from most locations. For everyone else, you’ll most likely be flying in. We recommend that you fly into Venice (Marco Polo) as the drive is only 3 hours to the northernmost location in this itinerary. The only other main airport within driving distance is Munich. Other small airports in the region that you may fly into are Treviso and Verona in Italy, or Innsbruck in Austria. 

We recommend that you fly in early. Otherwise, if possible try to arrive the night before and stay in Venice so that you can make your way to the Italian Dolomites early the next day. There are plenty of accommodation options close to the airport (and therefore close to the car rental depots).

From wherever you arrive, it’s time to pick up your car! We’ve left some tips earlier in this guide under “getting around” for what you should look out for when it comes to hiring a car and what to expect when driving around the Italian Dolomites in winter. 

Once you’ve collected your car, get on the road and head north to Lago di Dobbiaco (Toblacher See), which is 2 and a half hours from Venice. There is an easy 1.7km trail around the lake that you can walk during winter which will take you under an hour. There is also a restaurant here, Ristorante al Lago, which is open during winter. We suggest you stop in for a late lunch or an apple strudel after your walk.  

After your big travel day, it’s time to get settled in your hotel and warm up a bit.

Where to stay

For the first part of your trip we recommend that you stay in Valdaora. We spent a few days at Hotel Hubertus for Bec’s 30th birthday and it was our favourite hotel we’ve ever been to! The views, the spas, the meals, the incredible rooms! We never wanted to leave. It is fairly pricey at between €478 and €698 per night in December. BUT that includes all food and is totally worth the price in our opinion. They do deals over the ski period as well, so keep an eye out for that! Our stay wasn’t sponsored at all. We paid for it all ourselves well before we even started this blog, so we’re completely honest in our raving review of this place!   

Cheaper option: 

For a cheaper option, we recommend Apartment-Hotel Winklwiese. We also stayed here for a few days after Hotel Hubertus. We wanted something cheaper while we were skiing as we knew we would only really be going back to the hotel to sleep and recover after big days on the ski slopes. The rooms were spacious, warm and had a fully equipped kitchen so you can cook your own meals. The breakfast was fairly basic, but it’s a 5 minute walk to the ski shuttle bus to Kronplatz. Rooms start at €127 for two people per night, which is about as good as you’re going to get in this area! So given its location and amenities we thought this place was fantastic.

Day 2 - Bobsledding at Tre Cime

I had wanted to see Tre Cime for years so this was a huge bucket list item for me! Plug in Lago di Misurina to Google Maps, where there is a huge car park. It’s just under an hour drive from Hotel Hubertus, and the car park does get quite busy so the earlier you arrive the better. 

You have two options to get to Tre Cime from here, either walk or take a snowmobile up. You won’t need snowshoes if you choose to walk, the path up is very well trodden. It’s an easy walk and will take about 1.5 to 2 hours one way. If the snowmobile option sounds more appealing, then you can organise this with Tre Cime Service when you arrive. There’s no need to pre-book this service, they open at 9am and you will see the hut right next to the carpark. It costs €30 per person which includes the 6 km climb (around 20 minutes) up to the Auronzo refuge at the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Then comes the best part, a bobsled back down for 5 km. This was SO much fun! I would even say this was the best activity we did in the Italian Dolomites in winter.

Stop for a hot wine on the way back down at La Stube –  Malga Rin Bianco. This is where you’ll park up your toboggan and you’ll walk the last kilometre back to the car park as it’s flat. There’s plenty of outdoor seating here so you can bask in the sun, and it has such a great atmosphere! Once you’ve made it back to the carpark, spend some time walking around Lago di Misurina to end your perfect day.

Day 3 - Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee)

Lago di Braies (or Pragser Wildsee in German) is only a half an hour drive from Hotel Hubertus. This lake is one of the most beautiful spots in the region and is the largest alpine lake in the Italian Dolomites. In winter it freezes over entirely. This mean you’ll miss out on the lake’s reflection and the cute row boats you’ve probably seen on social media. But don’t let that put off, winter doesn’t make this spot any less breathtaking!

Lago di Braies is very easily accessed, with a car park right next to it. In winter you won’t have any trouble getting a park and it will cost you €6. If you’re looking to stretch your legs though you can walk around most of the lake even in winter, though the official hiking path closes after the first significant snowfall. The bistro here sets up a fire pit during the winter where you can drink some hot wine on straw bales, very cosy! 

Lago di Braies gets absolutely packed during summer. In winter, you’ll find that it’s much quieter and you won’t have to be up at the crack of dawn to enjoy the views before hordes of people arrive. It’s a true winter paradise with no artificial attractions in sight.

Days 4 and 5 - Ski at Kronplatz

While visiting the Italian Dolomites in winter, you can’t pass up the chance to enjoy some winter sports! You won’t have to wait in lines, the snow is incredibly powdery and the views can’t be beaten. In 2018 Kronplatz was nominated the Best Ski Resort in the Alps. There are 119km of ski slopes, and 32 lifts! We have a detailed guide for skiing in the Dolomites for beginners. 

Costs and tickets

You can pick up a one day ski pass for Kronplatz for €41 per person, or two days for €81. It is part of the Dolomiti Superski Area. So you can also get superski passes for €44 per day or €87 for two days, which will give you the flexibility to move between ski areas if you wish. You can pick up ski passes in person from the lower cable car stations. We highly suggest you skip the lines though and purchase your tickets ahead of time online. You will get a paper ski pass that you can keep zipped up in a pocket of your pants or jacket. You won’t need to take it out ever, it will scan automatically as you pass through gates. 

Getting there and storing your gear

You can drive to the free car park ‘Parcheggio per cabinovia per Plan de Corones’, otherwise this is where the public bus from Valdaora will take you (just ask your accommodation for information on buses). There are plenty of gear rental options and overnight lockers here as well so you won’t have to worry about carting all of your gear to and from the slopes each day. We hired our gear through Skisalon Olang / Valdaora and would highly recommend them! You can find their price list here. For a beginner set it will cost you around €43 per day for skis and boots, a helmet, goggles and gloves, and overnight lockers start from €10. 

New to skiing? 

For new skiers or those wanting to refresh themselves, head over to one of the many ski schools on Kronplatz. There are over 200 instructors on Kronplatz who can hold lessons in a number of languages, for groups or individuals with a comprehensive selection of courses on offer. As Bec hadn’t gone skiing for quite a few years, she took two and a half hour private lessons for €69 each with Kronschool for two days. We just booked on the day we arrived, but if you’re arriving after Christmas it would probably be worth booking ahead of time.

If this is your first time in Kronplatz, download the app. The ski area is massive and the app will give you complete maps, as well as weather reports and information on lift closures and events. There are three different levels for skiing: black for experts, red is intermediate and blue is for beginners. Be warned that the blue slopes in the Italian Dolomites are much steeper than beginner slopes elsewhere and will be closer to green slopes in the US. 

Don’t miss the mountain huts!

No matter where you’re skiing in Kronplatz, you’ll find charming mountain huts everywhere where you can take a break and enjoy a hearty lunch. Warm up with a bombardino (Italian eggnog) or Aperol and give your legs a break while taking in the views and atmosphere on the mountain. Just be warned that like all ski areas, food and drink on Kronplatz can be expensive. 

Day 6 - Best Mountain peaks in the Italian Dolomites

Today you’ll move on to a new area, Alta Badia. After you’ve had your last incredible breakfast at Hotel Hubertus, it’s time to pack your bags and check out. On your way to the next town, you’ll make some stops at some of the most beautiful high-mountain passes in the Italian Dolomites. All up there will be around 4 hours driving today. 

Your first stop will be Cortina d’Ampezzo, an hour drive from the hotel. From the centre of town, you can take the Faloria cable car for €18.50 per person, which takes you up to a refuge with stunning panoramic views over Monte Cristallo. Have a drink on the spacious sun terrace and watch the skiers come and go. You can even stay the night from just €57 per person a night. 

After the scenic cable car ride back down the mountain, hop back in the car for half an hour to reach Passo Giau (Giau Pass), one of the most breathtaking mountain passes in the Italian Dolomites. You’ll find free parking in the winter at Parcheggio Passo Giau. Wander through the snowy landscape and admire the peaks that surround you here. There are quite a few restaurants in the area if you would like to warm up a little before heading to the next location.

When you’re ready, it’s time to drive 1 and a half hours to Selva di Val Gardena (Wolkenstein in Gröden), a picturesque valley surrounded by dramatic mountain ranges. Then double back to Passo Sella (Sellajoch) and finally Passo Gardena (Grödner Joch), two high-rising jagged mountain passes with unforgettable views surrounding you on all sides.

Where to stay

While exploring this area, we suggest staying in Corvara in Badia Kurfar. Book ahead! This town is incredibly popular and the surrounding villages aren’t serviced very well. The good news is that because it’s a popular town to stay in, there are accommodation options to suit all budgets and you will be within walking distance to the ski slopes themselves or at least a short shuttle bus ride away.

Day 7 - winter hike in the Italian Dolomites

After a day in the car, it’s time to get active again! Taking a winter hike to Geisleralm is possible without a guide or snowshoes, and is suitable for those without experience. You can park at Parcheggio Malga Zannes for €8 for the whole day.

There are two ways you can walk up to Geisler Alm, either walk straight up the road (which will take around 1 to 1.5 hours) or take the scenic route and follow the walking path which goes past Dusler Alm. The trail is very easy to follow and possible without snowshoes. If it has just snowed, you might be better off taking the road up especially if you aren’t up for an exerting walk. However, we found that there was reception the whole time we were there which made it very easy to navigate. The walking trail will take a little bit longer, but then you can follow the road on the way back down.

All up allow for 4 to 5 hours which will include some time to stop at the refuge, snap tonnes of photos and soak up the beautiful landscapes and dramatic exposed rock. If you’re visiting between Christmas and New Year, beware the refuge will likely be closed. The walk is still worth it though, trust us. 

Day 8 - Time to leave the Italian Dolomites

You will want to leave yourself plenty of time to get back to Venice for your flight. There are two airports that service Venice – Venice Marco Polo airport and Treviso airport. We didn’t realise there were two airports and nearly missed our flight home after going to the wrong one! If you’re wanting to extend your trip, Venice in the winter is surprisingly beautiful. We have an entire post of what to see and do in Venice in the off season (which in our opinion is the better season anyway given the lack of crowds and cheap prices).

Thanks for stopping by!

We hope that we’ve inspired you to visit the Italian Dolomites in winter. For those looking for an outdoor, adventurous winter holiday in Europe, there aren’t many options as spectacular as the Dolomites. There is such a large range of activities with endless opportunities to duck indoors to escape the cold.   

To help further with your planning, we have a detailed guide for skiing in the Dolomites, as well as a city guide to Venice in the winter. 

If you have any questions, please let us know, and please subscribe! 

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