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Dolomites Road Trip

I have always dreamed of visiting the Dolomites in the Italian Alps. The Dolomites are the beautiful mountain range in the northern Italian, actually a UNESCO World Heritage site. We are not hikers, nowhere near and I thought only those who do hike can get to admire the beauty of the mountain range... Till one day I found out it is perfectly fine to have a road trip in the Dolomites that does not require hiking at all.

We arrived in Verona, the beautiful northern Italian city, home of Romeo an Juliette. After visiting Juliet balcony in Verona, we rented a car and made our way towards the Dolomites.

From Verona we drove to Ortisei. It was a scenic road on the way to our temporary home in the Dolomites. We arrived in Ortisei in the evening and got accommodated.

Ortisei is a beautiful mountain town. After the breakfast, we visited the small lovely pedestrian centre of Ortisei before getting in the car again.

Today we drove on gorgeous windy roads and admired some breathtaking views of the Dolomites mountain range out the car window. Gardena Pass is on one of the most scenic roads in the Dolomites. We stopped everywhere we could, we got out of the car and gazed at the spectacular landscapes in front of us.

We continued our journey towards Sella Pass, another amazing windy road route with sharp turns. Sella Pass is one of the most known passes in the Dolomites. It connects the valleys Val di Fassa and Val Gardena. It's a popular road among cyclists.

We stopped in the beautiful small town of Canazei. We had a delicious pizza somewhere in the town.

We drove further towards the alpine lake of Lago di Carezza. We could spot the lake from the car before we reached it. It's a gorgeous emerald green lake wit pine trees on the lake shore and the mountians above.

We got back to Ortisei in the evening.

We had breakfast and jumped in the car again.

We drove to Alpe di Siusi, which is the largest alpine meadow in Europe. Large green fields with small houses on it and the sublime rocky mountains with snow powder on top of them make the absolutely perfect landscape on a hot summer day. We spent the whole day in the area taking easy walks, admiring the great views and sitting on the meadows.

We took a walk to Malga Contrin, a mountain hut with a restaurant. We ate there on the lovely terrace with those amazing views over the mountains.

In the evening we returned to Ortisei once again and spent the night there.

Today we drove towards Cortina, another stunnig area in the Dolomites.

We first stopped in Val di Funes. The beautiful valley has some beautiful churches and towns situated amongs the mountains. We took a lot of photos in the valley.

Probably the most picturesque spot in the area is Chiesetta di San Giovanni in Ranui, a small baroque chapel with a copper-domed bell tower set amid meadows with rocky mountains behind.

After we had enough of that great valley, we drove to one of the most instagramable places in the Dolomites, the fantastic Lago di Braies. The lake with its emerald green colour set amongst the gorgeous mountains. You cand rent a wooden boat and row on the amazing lake. It's also possible to take a walk around the lake, but it is quite big, it takes a few hours to citcle it.

After we had enough of that beauty of Lago di Braies, we departed towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. It's a very famous ski resort in winter and also the place for the Winter Olympics in 2026. We spent the night here.

After the breakfast, we first had a walk in famous Cortina d'Ampezzo.

We then took the car and headed to probably the most recognizable spot in the Dolomites, Tre Cime di Lavaredo. It's a popular place to hike, but you can reach the national park area with the car as well. Tre Cime means Three Peaks. There are three distinctive rocky peaks that once you see you will always recongnize. We parked the car in the parking lot.

Then took a half an hour walk to Rifugio Lavaredo hut to better see the Three Peaks from there.

We got back to Cortina in the evening for our last night in the Dolomites area.

Our last morning in the Dolomites.

We headed to Verona and ended our amazing trip in the Dolomites.