The Best of the Dolomites: Hiking and Gourmet

Arrive in Cortina d’Ampezzo (1,224m / 4,016') on your own (private transfer on request), and check into your hotel. Cortina d’Ampezzo is a charming alpine resort town surrounded by stunning peaks. Host to the 1956 Winter Olympics, Cortina enjoys a reputation for great skiing in winter, and in the summer attracts hikers and climbers who challenge the rocky faces of the nearby mountains. 

In the evening you will meet with a Dolomite Mountains representative who will provide you a trip briefing, a map and everything necessary for your self-guided adventure.
Dinner included at the restaurant of your hotel.

Hike along the spectacular section below the northern face of Croda Rossa Mountain and Prato Piazza, set in an idyllic high alpine pasture valley.
After breakfast take a short transfer to the start of your hike, today you'll enjoy superb views of the Croda Rossa Massif (2,965m / 9,725'), the Cristallo group (3,221m / 10,565') and the Fanes–Sennes–Braies Nature Park.
After a deserved lunch stop at a local rifugio, descend along a gravel road to Carbonin, where your private transfer awaits to take you back to your hotel in Cortina.
(~4-5 hours hiking 11km / 6,6 miles, 820m / 2,690’ ascent, 780m / 2,560’ descent.)

Dinner included in a gourmet restaurant.

This morning begins with a private transfer to Passo Tre Croci,  right above the north-east border of Cortina.
Today's hike will allow you to admire the view of the Cristallo mountain group to the North, the Tofane to the West behind the Cortina basin, and the Ciadin del Loudo to the South.
Hike a section of the panoramic “Dolomieu Trail”, providing stunning views of the classic Dolomite's rock layers as you hike through woods of larches and spruce pines just above Rio Gere. Take a transfer back to your hotel in Cortina.
(~5,5 hours hiking, 11.4 km / 7.1 miles, 510 m / 1,670' ascent, 600 m / 1,970' descent.)

Tonight's dinner is included at a typical restaurant.

Today’s hike is of great interest, not only for the incredible scenery but also for the abundance of reminders of the terrible years of WWI, due to the vicinity of the former border between the long-dismantled Hapsburg Empire and Italy.

Today you’ll hike to the Santa Croce Sanctuary at the base of the Sasso della Croce (Sass dla Crusc for the Ladin-speaking population), passing through a number of closely-knit hamlets formed of clusters of ancient shingle-roofed timber farmhouses and barns, known as viles, or small communities, characteristic of Val Badia.

It takes about two hours from San Cassiano to reach the church and sanctuary of Ospizio S. Croce (2,045m / 6,710').  There is a charming rifugio here, where you can enjoy a traditional Dolomites lunch. Don’t miss the famous Kaiserschmarren, a crepe-like pancake with powdered sugar and jam! Descend to San Cassiano on the same path.
(~4-5 hours hiking 11km / 7 miles, 590m / 1,935' ascent and descent.)

Tonight you’ll enjoy dinner in a gourmet restaurant.

In the morning reach the Pralongia High Plateau by cable-car from San Cassiano (ticket not included).
This area is surrounded by mountains including the Marmolada (3,343m /10,964'), the Queen of the Dolomites, the highest peak in the Dolomites and home to its largest remaining glacier. Once on the Plateau, there are plenty of rifugios where you can enjoy the panorama, have lunch and a good glass of wine.

To return to San Cassiano, you can either return to the cablecar station along the same way, or alternatively, you could hike down to San Cassiano.
(Descend by cablecar: 2-3hrs, 8,7km/ 5,22 miles, 188m/616’ ascent and descent; Descend on foot to San Cassiano: 3-4 hour hiking, 11km / 6,6 miles, 188m / 616’ ascent, 651m / 2,135’ descent).

Farewell dinner at the hotel.

Breakfast and departure on your own (private transfer on request).