The Alta Via 1 - The Dolomites in Italy

Stage 1 Cortina to Rifugio Pederu

The Alta Via 1 follows is a long-distance path of about 115km/71 miles running north to south from Lago di Braies to La Pisa, near Belluno, in the Italian Dolomites. The Dolomites is a stunningly beautiful mountain range, and with good weather the views were some of the best we have had. We had booked our trip with bookatrekking.com the previous November, receiving confirmation of the trip in January, once all the rifugios opened their bookings. This blog is shorter than normal, giving basic and hopefully helpful information. The actual directions can be found in guide books, on Komoot or by following the signs.

We had flown to Venice from our home in England, having a few days there, before catching a train and bus to Hotel Cristallino in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Fortunately, we had time to check where the bus the following morning leaves from, finding the bus station was being re-developed. The bus to Dobbiaco now left from north of Cortina, about a 20-minute walk from our hotel.

The hotel staff very kindly let us have an early breakfast, before we left at 7.15am. The first bus of the day (it was a Sunday) was number 445 from outside the Olympic stadium at 8.05am to Dobbiaco, we paid €5 each pay on bus. The next connecting bus we caught was number 442, from Dobbiaco to Lago Di Braies. This can only be boarded with an online ticket purchased in advance. People were not allowed on the bus, who had not booked.

Lago di Braies to Rifugio Pederu given as 14km, 6 hours, 920m ascent, 840m descent, by bookatrekking.com.

We arrived at Lago di Braies by bus at 9.35am, with people already rowing on the beautiful turquoise lake. This is obviously a popular tourist spot, with a large hotel nearby. There were 2 cafes open, with take-out sandwiches and coffee, and there is a free toilet in the car park.

Leaving at 10am, we took the path down the right-hand side of the lake, there is a compost toilet at the top of the lake. After another 25 mins we turned right up a steep scree slope, going under the trees. Towards the top of the slope there are some cables to aid the ascent. On reaching the top, we turned right, losing the views down to the lake. We reached the top of the col by a shrine, 916m ascent, 3 hours 45mins, 4.7 miles walked, with a view to rifugio Biella.

We stopped for lunch at rifugio Biella, it was busy at 2pm, and the food took about 30 minutes to arrive. We paid €23 for one mushroom tagliatelle, a coffee and a coke, leaving at 2.35pm. We walked along the roadway for about ten minutes, before taking a path uphill (Number 6a) to the right-easy to miss.

We arrived at Rifugio Sennes at 3.30pm, 976m ascent, 5 hours 30 minutes, 7.12 miles.

Then at Rifugio Vedla at 4.25pm, 997ascent, 6 hours 30 mins, 9 miles.

The weather had been warm and sunny all day. We could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. During the last hour it rained heavily, and was slippery underfoot down the steep road to our rifugio. We used our walking poles and umbrellas.

We arrived at Rifugio Pederu at 17.25, pleased to arrive, as it had been a very long day, having got up at 6am. It is a very nice fairly new hostel, with a large bar and restaurant area, located on a main road. We were in a dormitory room for 10 people. There are nice new single sex bathrooms with free hot showers.

This was the only refuge where dinner was not included in the price we paid in advance for the trip. We had a delicious venison stew for dinner with salad and chips, and ordered one packed lunch.

Distance 10.77miles (17.3km)

Duration of Walk 7 Hours 20 minutes including breaks

Total Ascent 3316 feet (1011m)

Toal Descent 3113 feet (949m)

Pace 41 min a mile

Stage 2 Rifugio Pederu to Rifugio Lagazuoi

Rifugio Pederu to Rifugio Lagazuoi given as 17.5km 7.45 hours,1540m ascent, 420m descent by bookatrekking.com.

This was the longest day of our trip with nearly 1700m of ascent over 12 miles. We had a delicious buffet breakfast at 7am, leaving at 7.45am, following the steep slope out of the beautiful valley.

We arrived at rifugio Fanes after 2 hours 15 mins, 550m ascent, 3.5 miles. We were hoping for coffee and apple strudel, but unfortunately the bar was shut. Free water can be obtained near the refuge-we added water purifying tablet just in case.

We arrived at Gran Fanes farm at 11am, 687m ascent, 3 hours 20mins, 5 miles, hoping for some food, as it was recommended in our guide book. There was about 20 people there, the owner answered the door, but unfortunately it was shut until 11.30am. It is a shame as it was a popular spot, but we didn’t have time to wait.

Continuing down the valley, there is a large junction, 752m ascent, 4 hours 20mins, 7 miles, where the path splits down to the Capanna Alpina valley and rifugio Scotoni or takes the high route to Forcella del Lech (at 2486m). We and most others took the high route, and did not regret it.

We reached the top of the col at 13.50, 1112m ascent, 6 hours, 9 miles, with fabulous views. The scree path down would have been tricky without the man-made zig-zag path being so heavily banked up, and we used our walking poles. We imagine that this path needs a great deal of maintenance, particularly after heavy snow.

We arrived at the lake at 14.40, 7 hours, 1115m ascent, 10 miles, with a few people swimming in it. The next 3 miles were the most challenging of the trip. It seemed like a never-ending ascent of nearly 500m to the rifugio on top of the ridge in the heat, made worse with the sun reflecting back off the white stones. Near the top of the path are very interesting ruins, trenches, and tunnels from WW1 when the Italians were fighting the Austrian-Hungarians.

This was a long tough day, but with beautiful scenery, taking nearly 10 hours. We had bought one packed lunch (€16) from Rifugio Pederu, but in hindsight we needed 2 as neither location where we would have purchased food were open.

Rifugio Lagazuoi has a beautiful terrace, with endless views, and an information board. There is a ski -lift up to here. There were 14 people in our fairly small dormitory, and a charge of €5 for a hot 3-minute shower. There is a good boot drying room. There was very nice food for dinner and an amazing choice for breakfast. We ate dinner with Godfrey, Natalie, Chris and Sebastian from Boston, USA, who we continued to see for most of our trip, who had also booked with bookatrekking.com

Distance 12.81 miles (20.6km)

Duration of Walk 9 Hours 50 minutes including breaks

Ascent Gained 5505 feet (1678m)

Descent 1814 feet (522m)

Pace 46 min a mile

Stage 3 Rifugio Lagazuoi to Rifugio Averau

Lagazuoi to Averau, given as 9.23 km, 3.55 hours, 440m ascent, 730m descent, but not going through the tunnels, by bookatrekking.com.

From rifugio Lagazuoi there is a choice of routes down to the valley, either taking the path, or walking down through the war-time tunnels which we decided to take, or taking the ski-lift. We left at 8.10am, taking our time to admire the great views. The tunnels are found to the left-hand side of the ski lift, we followed the path, descending for 15 minutes using chains, with some steep drops. Then it takes about 1hour 15 mins to descend through the war-time tunnels, which were relatively warm. There are lots of cables to hold onto, as the path downwards is steep and slippery. A head torch and gloves are needed. Once through the tunnels, the path is steep once more, and we arrived at Falzares, a rest area on the main road at 10.15am, 2 hours 25mins, 1.75 miles. We called into the café/souvenir shop, which was very busy with tourists, for a sandwich and coffee.

We reached Forcella Averau at 12.35pm, 410m ascent, 4 miles, 4 hours 40 mins, with great views back to Lagazuoi. We met a walker, who summed up the location by saying, “it makes you glad to be born.” So true.

We arrived nice and early at rifugio Averau at 1.15pm. We did our washing, obtaining a token from the bar for the washing and drying machines, and chilled out.

We could have done a side walk up to Rifugio Nuvolau, which has fabulous sunsets, but we opted not to.

Rifugio Averau is in a very pretty location at the top of a col, with a ski lift. It is a beautiful fairly new refuge, with a big terrace. We had a very nice dormitory for 10 people, with space between the bunks. The bathrooms were new, clean and with free hot showers. We ate a delicious dinner and buffet breakfast with plenty of choice. We ate dinner with Kristin & Josh from Boulder City, USA, who were running most of the AV1.

We had learnt from the previous day of not getting any food along the way, so we ordered 2 packed lunches at a cost of €17each. There was a great choice of food and contained 2 delicious sandwiches, fruit and a chocolate bar.

We would really recommend taking the tunnels, it was one of the highlights of our walk. But we realise they aren’t for everyone. A head torch, and gloves to hold on to the chains are essential. We carried our large rucksacks with us too, but apparently, they could be sent down on the ski lift. When we were there, this didn't open for another hour. We were pleased we were in the tunnels early, later, there people were walking up through the tunnels, and we were not sure how this 2-way traffic would have worked with holding onto the chains. The floor was slippery, so do take care. The tunnels were built in WW1 to lay explosives under enemy positions. They have been restored with information boards, check-out the machine gun positions, sleeping areas, and storage depots. Every so often there are rock windows, providing views out and some natural light.

Distance 4.55 miles (7.32km)

Duration of Walk 5 Hours 15 minutes including breaks

Total ascent 1410 feet (430m)

Total descent 2260 feet (689m)

Stage 4 Rifugio Averau to Rifugio Passo Staulanza

Averau to Passo Staulanza. Given as 15.4km, 6 hours, 430m ascent, 1030m descent by bookatrekking.com.

Take care today to ensure you have the correct path, especially after Giau the way was not clear.

There are 2 options to leave Averau by, either along the road or turning right out of the refuge, then right again, which we did, leaving at 8am. This is a steep and fairly tricky path skirting around the base of Nuvolau, and it would be hard work in bad weather. For the first time on this trip, we met many people coming the other way, just out for a walk.

On reaching Giau (on the road) at 9.30am we realised why we had seen people. The restaurant and adjacent car park were very busy, and it is obviously a very popular place. 1.5 hours, 90m ascent, 1.75 miles.

After a sandwich (from our packed lunch) we left at 10am, crossing the main road and picking up a lovely path. It is a steep climb to col Forcella Giau (at 2360m), with 300m ascent, 3 hours 15 mins, 3.75 miles. Continuing there are further great views, and to the left is a path down to Cortina-which was a popular route.

We reached Malga Prendera (2148m) 445m ascent, 5 hours 15 mins, 6.7 miles. Arriving Rifugio Fiume, 492m ascent, 6 hours 40 mins, 9 miles, we stopped for a coke and apple strudel, leaving at 2.50pm. At this point don't go down the road as others did, take care to follow the signs through the wood.

We thought that we didn't have far to go but the path went through woods with many tree roots, across difficult scree, then more woods, which was slippery in the damp weather.

We were very pleased to arrive at Passo Staulanza, having a treat of our own en-suite double room. We ate soup, chicken curry, panna cotta with fruits, and ordered one packed lunch for the next day.

Take care as the signs were not obvious, we stopped a few times to consult Komoot, and our book and map. Also, we were asked the way by other walkers a few times too.

Distance 11 miles (17.7km)

Duration of Walk 8 Hours 15 minutes including breaks

Total Ascent 1896 feet (578m)

Total Descent 3881 feet (1183m)

Pace 44 min a mile

Stage 5 Rifugio Passo Staulanza to Rifugio Vazzoler

Rifugio Passo Staulanza to Rifugio Vazzoler given as 18.7km, 7 hours 40mins, 1,000m ascent, 1070m descent by bookatrekking.com.

We left at 7.45am, walking along the road for 15 minutes, before taking the path to the right. It was a pretty walk, reaching the top of the winch from the valley after 2 hours of walking.

We called into rifugio Coldai for a sandwich and 2 coffees €11. The day was going really well, continuing we passed the lake, taking in the beautiful views.

Unfortunately, for us the weather changed dramatically and we spent the next 3 hours in pouring rain, and walking through some mud, passing the slopes of Mount Civetta. We both had umbrellas, but we got very wet, pleased we had our winter hats, gloves and buffs too.

The AV1 is signed to the right to rifugio Tissi, (which is 20 minutes off the route) we didn't take that path, but just continued the way we had been heading.

We were very pleased to arrive at Vazzoler at 3pm, and escape the rain. We had a nice room for 4, sharing with 2 ladies from Munich. It is €3 for a 3-minute hot shower. The 80-bed refuge was full, but the friendly owners still manged to put everyone's boots in and out of the drying room. We ate dinner with more new friends Arnoff and Konkon, who were walking together and had not managed to meet up for 8 years. Dinner was a very filling pasta, omelette, panna cotta and fruits, and we ordered sandwiches for the following day at €6 each-a much better deal.

Distance 10.30 miles (16.6km)

Duration of Walk 7 Hours 15 minutes including breaks

Total Ascent 2949 feet (899m)

Total Descent 3117 feet (950m)

Stage 6 Rifugio Vazzoler to Carestiato

Rifugio Vazzoler to Carestiato, given as 9.12km, 4 hours 15 minutes, 610m ascent, 500m descent by bookatrekking.com.

As this was a relatively short day, we left later at 8.30am, with speck and cheese sandwiches, as there is nowhere to purchase food or drink along the way.

The path meanders, firstly down a road, then follows the contour line through the trees and across scree slopes. A couple of sections have steep drops, so chains have been provided. We were aware that due to the previous days' heavy rain there may be rock falls from above. It was a cloudy and misty day, with occasional breaks when we could see the high cliffs above us.

We sat on a bench in a col above a shrine, eating our lunch at 12.15pm, 564m ascent, 3 hours 45mins, 4.6 miles. Continuing along more scree, with the clouds were lifting from the mountains,

We arrived at rifugio Carestiato at 1.45pm. We shared a dormitory room for 5, with our new German friends. There are lovely enclosed bathrooms with a toilet, wash basin and a hot shower €3 for 3 minutes. We ate another delicious dinner ordered in advance, this time with 9 people who were originally friends from Cape town whom now live all over the world, who had met up for this walk. We ordered a packed lunch for the next day.

Distance 6.4 miles (10.3km)

Duration of Walk 5 hours 20 minutes including breaks

Total Ascent 2142 feet (653m)

Total Descent 1791 feet (546m)

Pace 50 min a mile

Stage 7 Rifugio Carestiato to Rifugio Pian de Fontana

Rifugio Carestiato to Rifugio Pian de Fontana, given as 18.9km, 8 hours 10 mins, 1010m ascent, 1180m descent by bookatrekking.com. So, we were prepared for a long day of walking.

In our guide book, this is 2 stages, but we were walking it in one day. Due to a shortage of accommodation, other hikers were walking even further than us to Rifugio Bianchet (a further 2 hours 15 minutes) We were pleased to hear later that they had made it, as we were concerned it was too far.

It was very misty when we left at 7.30am with our packed lunch. We arrived at 8.15am at Passo Duran, then followed the road, before turning left up a steep wooded slope. The white scree path then crosses the slopes of Tamer Mountain.

We reached the junction to rifugio Pramperet, 726m ascent, 5.5 hours, 8.8 miles at 1am. We debated taking a small detour to the refuge for food, but decided not to. In hindsight this was definitely the best move, as it was a very long day. Luckily, we had enough food with us too. At this time, I was thinking we should have left at 6.30am, as the others who were heading to Rifugio Bianchet had done.

Continuing, it was a very steep climb to the top of the col with cloud blowing around. At the top of the ridge, go left. It is badly signed, we met a couple of people who had turned right, with a precarious trip to try to re-gain the path. After 9 hours 15 minutes of walking, we could see our refuge far below us. In places it is a difficult walk down, with some very steep slopes, chains having been provided. The walk took us 10 hours, due to the difficulty of some of the terrain, and elevation.

Refuge Pian de Fontana is a collection of nicely converted shepherds' huts, now made into accommodation. We enjoyed this stay, again with a delicious filling dinner eaten with more new friends. Our dormitory slept 10 downstairs and another 6 or 8 upstairs. There were 2 free cold showers, toilets and wash basins. The views down to the valley and over the surrounding mountains were sublime. All food and drink seem to arrive on a pulley system, which we had not actually seen in action before. We were fortunate to get a bed here, as I don’t think I could have continued to Rifugio Bianchet. But, on arrival we did find a few empty beds, possibly as this is the end of the walk, and people had dropped out along the way.

Distance 13 miles (20.9km)

Duration of Walk 10 Hours 5 minutes including breaks

Total ascent 4030 feet (1228m)

Total descent 5016 feet (1529m)

Pace 46 min a mile

Stage 8 Pian de Fontana to La Pissa/Belluno

Pian de Fontana to La Pissa/Belluno, given as 11.7km, 5 hours, 250m ascent, 1350m descent, from bookatrekking.com

Following a nice breakfast of coffee, cereal, bread and jams, we were the last to leave at 8am. There were great views down the valley. We got lost a couple of times, and we felt the route could be better signposted.

Arriving at rifugio Bianchet at 11am, 325m ascent, 3 hours, 4.40 miles covered. We then decided to catch the 1.20pm bus, so speeded up and arrived at the bus stop at 12.50pm, to find everyone who had left earlier still waiting, as the timetabled 11.15am bus had not arrived. At 1.30pm a large taxi stopped, (€80) which 10 people got in, the driver said that the bus was not coming. Fortunately, for everyone else, ten minutes later the bus came. On the bus stop was a sign saying cash only, however when we boarded the driver said on-line tickets only. He still let us on without a ticket, we then tried and failed to purchase one!

We were here on a Sunday, and there are only 3 or 4 buses on a Sunday. Originally, we had decided to make the most of our last day in the mountains, to take our time, and catch the 6pm bus. We were so happy we changed our minds, as this was a really short day of walking, and it poured in rain all afternoon. Instead, we checked into our Hotel Albergo Delle Alpi, in Belluno and went to the laundrette. Then in the evening we had a fabulous night out at Osteria del Tiziano with our lovely new friends from Germany, Claudia, Nico, and Aleem. The perfect end to a wonderful trip.

There are always mixed emotions on the last day of a walk. We were pleased that we had achieved our aim of completing it, and we had met many new friends from all around the world. We had had some great weather, with only a couple of hours of rain, and 2 cloudy days towards the end.

However, we found this a tough walk. I think mainly as we were carrying our own rucksacks (as the majority of people were), also suffering from a lack of sleep in dormitories.

Distance 8.85 miles (14.25km)

Duration of Walk 4 Hours 45 minutes including breaks

Total Ascent 1184 feet (361m)

Total Descent 4880 feet (1488m)

Pace 32 min a mile

Advice

We had booked with Bookatrekking.com the previous November for a trip starting on September 1st. They managed to book all refuges in their itinerary. We had 6 nights in dormitories, and one double en-suite room in Staulanza. We had requested

double rooms but no other ones were available when we booked. Included in our price were the hotels in Cortina and Albergo Delle Ali in Belluno and all breakfasts and dinners apart from the first night’s dinner. We were very pleased with Bookatrekking.com and we would recommend them. We found the price of the trip was reasonable, given that the accommodation is not cheap, and the food is relatively expensive. The first 2 days of walking could be split into 3 days.

The night before the walk we stayed in Cortina, which has plenty of hiking shops, bars, restaurants and supermarkets to stock up. We met others who had managed to stay in Dobbiaco, so an earlier start could have been made. We weren’t given this option by bookatrekking.com, but would have liked it.

The first bus of the day from Cortina (it was a Sunday) was number 445 from outside the Olympic stadium at 8.05am to Dobbiaco, we paid €5 each pay on bus. The next from bus, number 442, from Dobbiaco to Lago Di Braies can only be boarded with an online ticket purchased in advance. People were not allowed on the bus, who had not booked, take care not to miss the bus.

We met people who had struggled to book the trip privately, underestimating the difficulty and distances involved. There also seems to be a bottle neck towards the end. All the accommodation was full except for the last night-maybe because people had given up by this point. Don’t turn up anywhere without a booking, this is an extremely popular walk.

At the majority of the rifugios, on arrival we received a dormitory and bed number and at all, an allocated seat for dinner and breakfast. This worked really well.

We had maps on the Komoot phone app provided by bookatrekking. We also used Alta Via one book, Cicerone press by Gillian Price. All the walkers we spoke too, said the distances, and ascent listed were not correct, either on Komoot, the book or bookatrekking. We found this ourselves too, each day using our Garmin watches our distance, ascent and descent were quite a bit more.

Take care to follow the path, we found it was not as well signed posted as other trips we have been on. Where there are signs, they rarely gave the distance to a refuge. We and others did on occasion go the wrong way, then consulted Komoot or our map to get back on the path.

Parts of the path we not easy, with scree slopes, tree roots, and chains to hold etc. There were a couple of high drops especially on the section from Carestiato to Pian de Fontana.

After day one we ordered packed lunches each day from the rifugio. These varied in price from €6 for one sandwich to €17 for a 2 sandwiches, fruit and chocolate. We could then eat when we wished, and not be at the mercy of rifugios which may or may not be open. We would recommend this.

We found our bags rather heavy, but we were not sure what we could have left behind. Some people booked with Mont trekking and had bags carried, but possibly they took a different route, a few of our rifugios were not on a road. The majority of walkers carried their own kit.

We met the most amazing friendly people, probably as we were sharing dormitory rooms and eating breakfast and dinner with them. It is a very popular walk with Americans, Germans, with some Canadians too.

The week after we went the weather was really bad with up to 8 inches of snow, making paths treacherous and icy. Many people had to give up, take a detour along a road, or skip a difficult section. We were so lucky with our weather, even complaining at times that it was too hot. We had some cool/wet weather kit with us but could not have carried enough appropriate kit for snow. Don’t underestimate the mountains, distances, terrain or the weather.

Items to take

We wore boots, we also take trainers, just in case of any problems with the boots. Some of the paths were rocky with loose stones, so boots were the best option.

Take fruit, snacks, cereal bars etc, and water, as on some days there are no refreshments en-route.

As usual take sun tan lotion, sun hats, a tick card, insect repellent, spare laces, toiletries, travel towels and a good first aid kit. Some of the rifugios had first aid items, woolly hats, and t-shirts for sale. Take a phone and battery chargers, so the apps can be used.

We took also took a waterproof jacket, umbrellas, winter hats and gloves. During the day we wore shorts, and took walking trousers for the evening.

We took silk sleeping bag lines, and pillow cases. We found the accommodation warm, and quilts or blankets provided, so no we had need to carry a sleeping bag.

Take care and stay safe out there. Happy travels.

Resources/Websites used

https://bookatrekking.com/en/trekking/

Alta Via 1 Trekking in the Dolomites. Gillian Price Cicerone publications, with a map too. We found many people using this book.

Trekking the Dolomites AV1, by Andrew McCluggage. Knife Edge guidebooks

Komoot app with the path to follow https://dolomitibus.it/ buses in the Dolomites https://www.flixbus.co.uk/ Venice to Cortina

Places stayed in

Hotel Cristallino in Cortina d’Ampezzo

Rifugio Pederu

Rifugio Lagazuoi

Rifugio Averau

Rifugio Passo Staulanza

Rifugio Vazzoler

Rifugio Carestiato

Rifugio Pian de Fontana

Albergo Delle Ali in Belluno

Total measurements

125km 77.6 miles

Total Ascent 6838m 22,434 feet

Total descent 7856m 25,775 feet

Belluno

At the end of the walk, we stayed at Auberge Delle Alpi. This is a nice modern hotel, with English speaking staff, and lovely buffet breakfast. There are a couple of launderettes to the town to do the washing.

We had dinner at Osteria del Tiziano which was very nice. We arrived on a Sunday, not many restaurants were open.

The following morning, we had a few hours in the town, so picked up a tourist map from the hotel reception and walked round the town. Belluno is a lovely old town, with many interesting old buildings, gateway, cathedral, river etc. It was well worth spending some time here, instead of just rushing off.

From Belluno there are good transport links by bus and train. We caught the train to Trieste for a few days.