Dolomites itineraries: 3, 5 and 7 days of hiking

Trekking guide · 12 min read

Three, five or seven days in the Dolomites: those are the three formats people ask us about most. Here are three fully built itineraries — where you sleep, what you hike and how many hours it takes — plus the rules for picking the right one without getting the season, the huts or the difficulty wrong.

The Dolomites are big: from Bressanone to Belluno there are 150 km (95 miles) of separate mountain groups, and you will not see them all in a week. People who arrive with a list of ten "must-see" spots end up spending half their trip in the car. Our advice, after years of running guided and self-guided treks here, is the opposite: pick one area, sleep high whenever you can, and walk. This guide gives you three tested itineraries — a Cortina base for 3 days, a Val Gardena hut-to-hut for 5, two options for 7 — and tells you honestly who each one is for.

Sassolungo and Sassopiatto from Alpe di Siusi: the final leg of the 5-day Val Gardena itinerary.

Which itinerary is for you

Itinerary	Format	Difficulty	Crowds	Best for
A · 3 days Cortina	Fixed base, day hikes	Moderate (level 2)	High, especially Tre Cime and Sorapis	First visit, families, the famous photos
B · 5 days Val Gardena	Hut-to-hut loop	Moderate-hard (level 3)	Medium: busy at Seceda, quiet on the Puez	Your first real hut-to-hut
C1 · 7 days AV1 north + Cortina	Linear traverse + base	Hard (level 3)	High on the AV1 in August	You want the Alta Via but only have a week
C2 · 7 days Fassa–Pale	Linear traverse	Hard (level 3)	Low	You want silence and have trekked before

Levels follow our Dolomites hiking difficulty scale: level 2 means 4–6 hours a day with up to 800 m (2,600 ft) of ascent on marked trails; level 3 means 5–7 hours, 800–1,200 m (2,600–3,900 ft) of ascent, the odd fixed-cable passage or steep scree, and a pack you carry for several days.

Fixed base or hut-to-hut?

This is the first decision, and it changes everything else. Fixed base means sleeping in the same hotel every night (Cortina, Ortisei, Selva, Dobbiaco) and doing day loops or lift-assisted hikes: a light pack, a shower every evening, restaurants, and the freedom to change plans if it rains. The price is the morning logistics — car parks full by 8 am, toll roads, shuttle buses — and the fact that you walk where everyone else walks.

Hut-to-hut means setting off with an 8–10 kg (18–22 lb) pack and sleeping high for several nights in a row. You walk in the best light (dawn and dusk, once the day-trippers have gone down), you cross plateaus a day hike never reaches, and the landscape changes every day. In exchange: dorms or small rooms, token-operated showers or none, a fixed-menu dinner at 6:30–7 pm, and the need to book everything months ahead. If you have never slept in a rifugio, read our guide to Dolomites mountain huts first.

Our practical rule: with 3 days a fixed base almost always wins (one night in a hut does not justify the full pack). From 5 days up, hut-to-hut is what you came to the Dolomites for. And a compromise that works well is the mix in option C1: four nights in huts on the Alta Via 1, then two hotel nights in Cortina.

3 days: Cortina d'Ampezzo base

Cortina is the most convenient base for a first taste: within a 30-minute drive you reach three of the most photographed scenes in the Dolomites, and in the evening you have a real town. The three days below are ordered from hardest to easiest, so you have margin if the weather turns.

Day	Where you sleep	The hike	Hours / data
Day 1	Hotel in Cortina	Tre Cime di Lavaredo loop from Rifugio Auronzo (2,320 m / 7,610 ft): Rifugio Lavaredo, Forcella Lavaredo, Rifugio Locatelli with the classic view of the north faces, back via Malga Langalm (trails 101 and 105). Recommended detour: an extra 30–40 minutes to the viewpoint over the Cadini di Misurina (trail 117), dry ground only.	4–5 h · ~10 km (6 mi) · ~400 m (1,300 ft) ascent (without Cadini). Toll road from Misurina fills early: see our complete Tre Cime guide.
Day 2	Hotel in Cortina	Lago di Sorapis from Passo Tre Croci (1,805 m / 5,920 ft) on trail 215: forest, then a ledge with fixed cables and a few metal steps (exposed but short), up to the turquoise lake at 1,925 m (6,315 ft) below the Dito di Dio. Return the same way.	4–5 h · ~12 km (7.5 mi) round trip · ~450 m (1,475 ft) total ascent. Start early: the pass car park is full by 9 am.
Day 3	Hotel in Cortina (or leave in the evening)	Cinque Torri and Lagazuoi: chairlift from Bai de Dones to Rifugio Scoiattoli, the open-air WWI museum loop among the towers (1 h), then drive to Passo Falzarego (2,105 m / 6,905 ft) and take the cable car to Lagazuoi (2,752 m / 9,030 ft), the balcony over the whole Alta Via 1. If you have legs left, walk down through the wartime tunnels (headtorch compulsory) or on trail 402.	3–4 h of actual walking. No-lift alternative: hike up to Lagazuoi from Falzarego, ~650 m (2,130 ft) ascent, 2 h.

With three days you can also go in a completely different direction: our Alta Via del Granito, a 3-day guided loop in the Lagorai (eastern Trentino), with hut nights and a guide. It is granite and porphyry rather than dolomite, you meet almost nobody, and for anyone who has already done Tre Cime it is often the smarter choice.

Lago di Sorapis in October: the same water, a tenth of the people you meet in August.

5 days: Val Gardena hut-to-hut (Puez-Odle)

This is the itinerary we recommend to anyone who wants their first real hut-to-hut trek: a loop through the Puez-Odle Nature Park and around the Sassolungo, starting and ending in Val Gardena. Stages of 4–6 hours, no compulsory via ferrata, some of the best huts in the Dolomites, and a landscape that changes every day: the spires of the Odle, the moonscape of the Puez plateau, the glacial Vallunga valley, the meadows of Alpe di Siusi. With a few variations, it is our Puez-Odle Classic Trek, 5–7 days, which also takes in sections of the Adolf Munkel Weg and the Alta Via 2.

Day	Where you sleep	Stage	Hours / data
Day 1	Rifugio Firenze (Regensburger Hütte), 2,037 m / 6,680 ft	Cable car from Ortisei to Seceda (2,500 m / 8,200 ft): the most photographed ridge in Val Gardena, with the Odle and Sass Rigais straight ahead. Descend via Pieralongia and the Cisles pastures to the hut.	3–4 h · ~8 km (5 mi) · ~500 m (1,640 ft) descent. A warm-up stage, ideal on arrival day.
Day 2	Rifugio Puez, 2,475 m / 8,120 ft	From the Firenze climb Forcella Forces de Sieles (2,505 m / 8,220 ft, steep scree at the top, on the AV2 line) or alternatively Forcella Roa (2,617 m / 8,585 ft). Traverse the Puez plateau, a desert of pale rock with the Sassongher and the Sella on the horizon, to the hut.	5–6 h · ~11 km (7 mi) · ~800 m (2,625 ft) ascent / ~350 m (1,150 ft) descent. The key stage of the loop.
Day 3	Hotel or hut at Passo Gardena (2,121 m / 6,960 ft)	Descend into the Vallunga (Langental) via Forcella Ciampac or directly from the Puez: a U-shaped glacial valley with 500 m walls. From Selva walk or take the bus up to Passo Gardena, under the Sella. Longer variant: from the Puez to Passo Gardena along trail 2 on the ridge, without dropping to Selva.	4–5 h · ~12 km (7.5 mi) · ~900 m (2,950 ft) descent (high variant: ~5 h, 400 m ascent).
Day 4	Rifugio Vicenza (Langkofelhütte), 2,253 m / 7,390 ft	From Passo Gardena, bus or foot to Passo Sella (2,218 m / 7,275 ft). Start of the Sassolungo circuit: Rifugio Comici, the Città dei Sassi boulder field, climb to Rifugio Vicenza in the hanging valley between Sassolungo and Sassopiatto. Optional: the gondola to Forcella Sassolungo (2,685 m / 8,810 ft) and a steep descent to the Vicenza.	4–5 h · ~10 km (6 mi) · ~600 m (1,970 ft) ascent.
Day 5	Back in Val Gardena (Ortisei/Selva)	Closing the loop: from the Vicenza to Rifugio Sassopiatto and down across the meadows of Alpe di Siusi (photo at the top), then the Mont Sëuc cable car or walk down to Ortisei.	4–5 h · ~12 km (7.5 mi) · ~300 m ascent / ~700 m (2,300 ft) descent.

Total: roughly 55 km (34 miles) and 3,000 m (9,800 ft) of ascent over five days. With two extra days (the 7-day version) you add the Adolf Munkel Weg under the north faces of the Odle, with a night at Rifugio Genova or in Val di Funes — the quietest part of the whole park. Difficulty: level 3 on our scale, mostly because of day 2. No via ferrata kit needed.

The Puez plateau: day 2 of the Val Gardena loop, and its loneliest stretch.

7 days: northern Alta Via 1 or the Fassa–Pale traverse

With a full week you have two roads, and they are genuinely different.

Option C1: northern Alta Via 1 (Braies → Cortina) + 2 days in Cortina

The northern half of the Alta Via 1 is the most famous and most beautiful stretch of the whole traverse: Lago di Braies, the Fanes-Sennes plateau, Lagazuoi and its wartime tunnels, Cinque Torri. It is 4–5 linear days, and you finish exactly in Cortina, where two fixed-base days are waiting (Sorapis and Tre Cime from programme A). It is the best way to "do the Alta Via" with a single week.

Day	Where you sleep	Stage	Hours / data
Day 1	Rifugio Biella or Rifugio Sennes	Lago di Braies (1,496 m / 4,910 ft) → Forcella Sora Forno (2,388 m / 7,835 ft) → Rifugio Biella. Steep and direct: the hardest stage of the northern section, on day one.	4–5 h · ~9 km (5.5 mi) · ~900 m (2,950 ft) ascent.
Day 2	Rifugio Lavarella or Rifugio Fanes (~2,050 m / 6,725 ft)	The Sennes and Fodara Vedla plateau, descent to Pederü, climb back up into the Fanes-Sennes-Braies Nature Park.	5–6 h · ~15 km (9.3 mi) · ~650 m ascent / ~600 m descent.
Day 3	Rifugio Lagazuoi, 2,752 m / 9,030 ft	Passo di Limo, Lago di Limo, Forcella del Lago (2,486 m / 8,155 ft, steep scree descent), Passo Tadega and the final climb to Lagazuoi. Sunset from the terrace of the highest hut on the AV1.	6–7 h · ~15 km (9.3 mi) · ~1,000 m (3,280 ft) ascent.
Day 4	Rifugio Scoiattoli or Rifugio Nuvolau (2,575 m / 8,450 ft)	Down through the Lagazuoi tunnels (headtorch) to Passo Falzarego, trail 402 to Cinque Torri, optional climb to the Nuvolau: the most complete 360° view in the Cortina Dolomites.	4–5 h · ~10 km (6 mi) · ~500 m ascent / ~700 m descent.
Day 5	Hotel in Cortina	Descend to Cortina via Passo Giau, or directly from Rifugio Scoiattoli to Bai de Dones and the bus to Cortina. Rest afternoon.	2–4 h depending on the variant.
Day 6	Hotel in Cortina	Tre Cime di Lavaredo, loop from Auronzo (see programme A).	4–5 h.
Day 7	Hotel in Cortina / departure	Lago di Sorapis early in the morning, or a recovery and travel day.	4–5 h.

Difficulty: level 3. Around 60 km (37 miles) and 3,500 m (11,500 ft) of ascent over the five traverse days, with no compulsory via ferrata but two scree passages not to be underestimated (Forcella Sora Forno and Forcella del Lago). On request we build this one-week variant into our self-guided or guided Alta Via 1, with huts booked and luggage transfer between Braies and Cortina.

Option C2: Val di Fassa → Pale di San Martino traverse

If you have already done Tre Cime and want to walk for a week meeting few people, this is the answer. Our Trekking delle Leggende (5–7 days, level 3) starts in Val di Fassa, crosses the Monzoni group and Passo di Cirele (2,683 m / 8,800 ft), drops into the Lagorai to the Colbricon lakes and finishes in the Pale di San Martino, the largest and wildest plateau in the Dolomites. Five consecutive hut nights, stages of 5–7 hours, and huts where you actually talk to the warden at dinner. Not for your first time in the mountains, but it is the one we ourselves would most happily repeat.

Day	Where you sleep	Stage	Hours / data
Day 1	Val di Fassa (hotel)	Arrival, briefing, short acclimatisation walk towards Ciampedie or Buffaure.	2–3 h.
Days 2–3	Huts in the Monzoni and at Passo San Pellegrino	The Monzoni group and Passo di Cirele (2,683 m / 8,800 ft): dark volcanic rock alternating with dolomite, views of the Marmolada.	5–7 h a day · 800–1,100 m (2,600–3,600 ft) ascent.
Days 4–5	Huts in the Lagorai	Into the Lagorai: the Colbricon lakes, porphyry ridges, WWI trails, almost no other hikers.	5–6 h a day.
Days 6–7	Hut on the Pale plateau, then San Martino di Castrozza	Climb onto the Pale di San Martino plateau (Rifugio Rosetta, 2,581 m / 8,470 ft): the "stone desert" at 2,600 m and the final descent to San Martino.	5–6 h a day · 900 m (2,950 ft) ascent on day 6.

Anyone with 9–11 days does not need to combine anything: the full Alta Via 1 from Braies to Belluno (~120 km / 75 miles, ~7,000 m / 23,000 ft of ascent) remains the finest single-line trek in the eastern Alps. To work out whether it suits you, compare it with the Alta Via 2 in our AV1 vs AV2 guide.

Getting there, when to go, booking huts

Getting there

The three useful airports are Venice (about 2 hours by car or Cortina Express bus to Cortina), Innsbruck (about 2 hours to Dobbiaco and Braies over the Brenner, ideal for the Alta Via 1) and Verona (about 2.5–3 hours to Val Gardena or Val di Fassa on the A22, exit Bolzano Nord or Chiusa). For the Cortina base you can do everything without a car, using local buses and shuttles; for the 5-day itinerary Val Gardena is reachable by bus from Bolzano; for the Fassa–Pale traverse it pays to have transfers organised, since you start and finish in different valleys. All the details — trains, buses, car hire — are in our guide on how to get to the Dolomites.

When to go

High huts usually open in mid-June and close between late September and early October; outside those dates itineraries B and C are not feasible as described. Late June still has snow on the high cols (Forcella del Lago, Forcella Sassolungo) but flowering meadows and very few people; July and August are the hottest and busiest months, with afternoon thunderstorms almost daily; September is, for us, the best month for all three itineraries: clear air, quieter huts, larches starting to turn. The month-by-month detail is in our guide to the best time to hike the Dolomites.

Booking huts: the real lead times

This is where most plans fall apart. The huts along the Alta Via 1, Seceda–Puez and around the Sassolungo take bookings from the start of the year and for July–September fill up months ahead: for the most sought-after (Lagazuoi, Locatelli, Puez, Fanes) August weekends are full by spring. Practical rules: book the whole chain of huts at the same time, ask for written confirmation, and remember that many require a deposit and that short-notice cancellations are usually not refunded. A sleeping-bag liner is compulsory everywhere. If you would rather someone did this for you, that is exactly what our self-guided treks include: huts booked, roadbook, GPS tracks and 24/7 support.

Crowds: when and where to avoid them

Let's be blunt: Tre Cime, Seceda, Lago di Braies and Sorapis at mid-morning in August are crowded, and on some days the Tre Cime road closes once the car parks are full. The good news is that the crowds are concentrated in a few hours and a few spots. Our rules: start before 7:30 am at the famous places; sleep in huts, so you walk at dawn and dusk when the day-trippers are not there; choose September; and use our Dolomites crowd map, which shows live car-park occupancy and trail pressure, to decide on the morning itself where to go. On the Puez plateau, in the Lagorai and on the Pale the problem simply does not exist.

What to pack

For a fixed base a 20–25 litre pack is enough: waterproof shell, fleece, 1.5 litres of water, hat and sunscreen, and a headtorch for the Lagazuoi tunnels. For hut-to-hut the pack grows to 30–38 litres and 8–10 kg (18–22 lb): sleeping-bag liner, one full change of clothes, hut slippers, earplugs, cash (not every hut takes cards), and poles for the scree descents. Boots already broken in, always. The full list, weighed item by item, is in our guide on what to pack for hiking in the Dolomites.

Frequently asked questions