Plan your trip

GETTING THERE

Fly from Bristol (two hours and 15 mins; from £34, Ryanair, (www.ryanair.com), London Heathrow (two hours and 10 mins; £70, British Airways, (www.britishairways. com) or Manchester (two hours 40mins; £39, Monarch, www.monarch.co.uk) to Venice Marco Polo.

GETTING AROUND

For a group, try Taxi Vico for transfers from Venice airport to Alta Badia (Corvara), taxivico.it/en, +39 335 6116528.

WHERE TO STAY

Corvara and especially Cortina are well set up for tourism and offer excellent accommodation. In the former Country Walking enjoyed the mountain views, welcoming staff and excellent food at the luxurious three-star Hotel Tablé (www.table.it). In Cortina Hotel Beppe Sello (www.

beppesello.it) was homely, well positioned at the end of the trail, with views across town to more mountains. Rifugios – or mountain huts – are the classic accommodation for hikers, offering sleeping facilities and meals of a surprisingly high standard – also often a bar. Set in spectacular locations high in the mountains, most rifugios are accessible only on foot.

WHEN TO GO

April to September (inclusive) offers superior weather. The Dolomites are generally warmer and have less rain than the Alps.

GUIDED OPTIONS

Dolomite Mountains (www.dolomitemountains.com) offer guided and self-guided itineraries, luggage transfers, maps, accommodation bookings and expert info, with trip extensions including via ferrata, WWI history and tours of Venice. This seven-day trip from Alta Badia to Cortina D’Ampezzo costs from ¤790pp, excluding flights and airport transfers.

ACTIVITIES & FESTIVALS

Cycling, mountain biking, skiing and trail running are popular activities here. There’s a great atmosphere in Cortina when the Lavaredo Ultra Trail (ultratrail.it) is on in late June, while the mega-popular Maratona dles Dolomites (Dolomites Marathon; maratona.it) sees 9000 riders hit the mountain passes in early July.

MAPS & GUIDEBOOKS

All Dolomite Mountains guests are given maps for guided or self-guided itineraries, plus a full briefing and a mobile phone (if self-guided): see www.dolomitemountains.com/en/summer_fall_trips/self_ guided_hiking.htm. Cicerone have five guidebooks to the Dolomites, including Walking in the Dolomites (£17, www.cicerone.co.uk). Kompass produce 1:25,000 scale maps: 624 and 617 cover this area (£11, www.stanfords.co.uk).