I have been touching the Dolomites in my earlier writings, but I see beneficial to write a little more profoundly so that my future writings would open up a little better and I don’t need to explain same things in every trail review again. In this blog post I discuss some of the basics of the Dolomites but concentrate more things which help bikers. I hope this blog post gives some useful hints and the reason why the Dolomites are the must place to visit. I am sure the Dolomites offer great experience for mountain and road bikers at different level. Even you are not going to bike, the Dolomites offer great hiking trails and amazing views to discover.
The Dolomites are a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps. The Dolomites are divided between three different regions, Alto Adige, Veneto and Trentino.
The Dolomites are full of valleys. Most of these valleys locate quite near each other. Each valley include several villages. Size of villages vary quite much and I only cover main villages in this article. If you are looking a very peaceful holiday, I recommend to look also small villages even though any villages that I know are not big. Biggest villages have max. 5.000 inhabitant. If you decide to stay in a small village then you should keep in mind that you need a car or something if you want to visit bigger villages.
http://www.visitdolomites.com/en
There are lot of hotels and apartments in the area. Keep in mind that all hotels are not necessarily open around the year. Hotels that I have been visiting didn’t have very big breakfast and the reason is that Italians do not eat heavy breakfast (at least what I know). Mainly it includes bread, cheese, cold meets and some sweet pastries. But you should have all necessary things to recharge your energy level for the day. If you prefer a heavy breakfast I recommend to contact the hotel and ask. Selecting a big hotel should ensure a heavy breakfast. Of course if you stay in an apartment then it is up to you how heavy is your breakfast.
All villages offer variety of restaurants. The price level is not high but higher than other small villages in Italy. Compare to tourist destinations the price level is reasonable. One good thing in the Dolomites is that it combines well the Italian, Austrian and German cuisines. You should remember that you are in Italy and therefore restaurants and some shops have a siesta. There are some exceptions but this is a good rule to keep in mind when you planning your lunch. Time when the siesta takes place varies business by business, but normally it takes place somewhere between 13:30-18:00. Dinner time starts normally from 18:00. Some restaurants might have a “Ruhetag” which means one day off, and it is normally Monday. But as competition is getting harder and harder also Italians are adjusting their behavior.
The dolomites offer quite a comprehensive bus network. One great thing is that most of accommodations offer a weekly ticket for the bus network. You should use this great opportunity as much as possible. Unfortunately the busses do not run through all the small villages so you have to choose your accommodation in a way that the bus stop is nearby. If you planning to use busses with your bike you have to ensure that they have a bike rack behind the bus. Otherwise they don’t take your bike. But don’t expect that every bus have the bike rack like in Switzerland. So far I didn’t find any way to check which bus has the bike rack. This means that sometimes you have to accept you miss the bus that you were planning to use.
The Dolomites offer a great lift network. Mostly lifts are open for bikes with few exceptions. All lifts are not open whole year and the summer season starts at May-June. If you want to make sure that the lifts, which are open during the summer season, are open so I recommend to travel earliest at the end of June. You should keep in mind that most of lifts close at 17:30 or 18:00 and plan your tour based on that. It is not nice to clime up 1.000hm after a long tour when you find that you came few minutes too late and the lift is closed. You can check how lifts are open from the link below. If you are planning to use lifts I recommend to buy the Dolomiti Super Summer ticket. Although some lifts still ask extra for the bike, but there are not many. With the ticket you can use all lifts welcome bikes in the Dolomites as much as you like. There are few options 1 day, 3 on 4, or 5 on 7. Of course you can buy a valley ticket but then you have to always pay extra for the bike. That is normally 5€ per direction. And the valley ticket is not valid in another valley.
http://www.dolomitisupersummer.com/en
Bigger valleys have bike shops but don’t expect that the selection is like in your home shop. Although you should be able to find basic stuff but if you need something special then you should bring it with you (like brake pads for the special brakes). I am quite sure you can ask them to order things, but then it takes few days to get it. Most of bike shops offer bikes to rent and what I have observe the section is pretty good. Shops that I have been visiting offer very good service and they try to help you to get things that you ask. Even they don’t have what you ask they advice you to visit another shops that might have it.
And here are some advice when you planning your tour. I am sure you have been reading similar advices from many different places but I keep repeating them. These are valid not only in the Dolomites but always when you are in the mountains:
- The black label means a really difficult route. Routes marked black require condition and skills. So if you are visiting mountains first time and you are not sure what black means so I recommend to abstain easier routes. At least you should experience black routes with a skilled guide. Rescue in the mountains cost lot of money so at least you should have a good travel insurance if you planning to test your limits
- Choose a route according your condition. Even a short distance might be very hard if you have to clime up 1.000hm. And remember that the way down is not always easy and you have to have stamina to make it.
- Inform somebody where you are planning to go and when you should be back. You should not trust that you have always a mobile network available to call somebody to help if you end up trouble. Don’t change your plan if you are alone because that somebody who you inform doesn’t know you change the plan. If you have multiple options then inform all these options to somebody.
- Don’t leave any waste behind. Nature is vulnerable and you should respect it. It is not nice to enjoy the nature if it is full of garbage. For example decomposition of one cigar takes 7 years! So collect all your waste and dispose them at the hotel. This is valid for toilet paper as well.
- Weather changes fast. So carry some extra clothes even day looks sunny in the morning. You never know what it is in the afternoon. Study how to use different layers. This help you adapt easily for different weather conditions.
- Carry necessary accessories. Water, some food, emergency kit, phone (with full battery) and sun cream are necessary things to carry. I say sun cream even some of you might think that is not necessary, but I know how badly you can burn yourself even temperature is not requiring sun cream. Sun is very hard in the mountains. It might destroy your holiday if you burn yourself badly.
Next I cover more in detail valleys that I have been visiting.
Val Gardena
Val Gardena locates in the region Alto Adige. It comprises villages like St. Ulrich, Wolkenstein and St. Christina. St. Ulrich is the biggest of these three and kind of center of Val Gardena. You can select any of these villages to stay and you don’t go wrong. My favorite village is Wolkenstein due to its location and access to other valleys.
Val Gardena is one of the top valleys in the Dolomites when it comes to mountain biking. One reason is that Val Gardena has many different mountains and each of them have multiple high quality trails. Second reason is that biggest villages offer good lift access to different mountains. There are only few lifts don’t welcome bikes and therefore this valley is one of the most suitable valley for bikers who want to use lifts. Dantercepies, Ciampinoi, Seceda, Rasciesa and Alpi di Siusi are lifts. Two of these connect Val Gardena to other valleys, the Dantercepies to Val Badia and the Ciampinoi to Val di Fassa. Both lifts locate in Wolkenstein. If you like bike parks, Wolkenstein offers one which includes only one trail. It is not very difficult, and not at same level as the park in Canazei though.
Val Badia
Val Badia locates in the region Alto Adige. It is also known as Alta Badia. It comprises villages like Corvara, La Val, La Villa-San Cassiano-Badia. The last is basically three different villages, but they are so small that they are count one even there are some distance between. Corvara is the biggest of these three and kind of center of Val Badia.
There are only few lifts don’t welcome bikes and therefore this valley is good for bikers who want to use lifts. Lifts that are not welcome bikes are not even critical for bikers. Val Badia has few very quality trails but my personal opinion is that they are not at same level as trails in Val Gardena or even Val di Fassa. There are lifts that connect the valley to Val Gardena (Plan-Frara) and basically also to Arabba but not directly. You have to use few lifts and bike some kilometres before you are in Val Badia.
Val di Fassa
Val di Fassa locates in the region Trentino. It comprises villages like Moena, Pozza di Fassa and Canazei. Moena is the biggest of these three and kind of center of Val di Fassa. My vavorite village if Canazei due to its location and access to Arabba. Also Campitello di Fassa is not far from Canazei.
Even there are many lifts in Val di Fassa but only few welcome bikes. Most popular lifts locate in Canazei and Campitello. Even there are only few lifts and you want to use only lifts to go up there are quite many quality trails to discover. And many more if you go up by bike. I would say that from Val di Fassa you find most extreme trails in the area (Val Gardena, Arabba and Val Badia). Two lifts connect the valley to Arabba (Pecol-Col dei Rossi) and to Val Gardena (Col Rodella). If you like bike parks, Canazei is your place. The park is not very big, but offer trails which will test your skills.
Arabba
Arabba locates in the region Veneto. Actually it is a village and not a valley like others. But I count it in because this area has some very quality trails.
There are no many lifts in Arabba, but most of them welcome bikes and therefore Arabba is suitable for bikers who want to use lifts. There are lifts connect Arabba to Val di Fassa (Fodom or Vescovo) and basically also to Val Badia but not directly. You have to use few lifts and bike some kilometres before you are in Val Badia. There are no as many trails as in other places in the Dolomites so if you planning to stay in Arabba you most likely want to visit other valleys.
I hope this article gives you some valuable hints, but also gives the reason to visit the Dolomites. Doesn’t matter if you like hiking, biking or just use lifts to go up to enjoy views but I can ensure that the Dolomites are worth to visit. It is not without reason why the Dolomites are many times valued the most beautiful mountain range on Earth.
MTB LIFE blog 
Reblogged this on dolomitesgreatescapeblogdotcom and commented:
It’s our land.
And it doesn’t stop to enchant us!
LikeLike