The Dolomites were such a great way to end our trip. It was beautiful! Everyone agreed that it was a favorite. Partly I'm sure because of the weather and the time of year. We were lucky enough to get upgraded on our rental cars! Apparently the ones we ordered were blocked in so instead they gave us a BMW and a Maserati for the same price! Not complaining!
The mountains are really jagged here. Somewhat like the Tetons. But there are roads up through all the passes, so it is really fun to be able to drive into the peaks.
It was the opposite of Cinque Terre in that it would be a great vacation for someone who isn't able to walk far because you can drive around to everywhere you want to go. And the cable cars help even more.
I loved the Rifugios with all the amazing food!
We loved the animals that were everywhere. Goats, cows, chickens, etc. It was clear that the food here was local and it was so delicious!
My hiking friend Rose went on a hiking tour there and told me about her favorite hotel. We were able to book one night before the kids had to head back home. It was so, so nice! The drive from Venice is between 2.5-3 hours, but so stunningly beautiful, I didn't mind at all it was part of the fun, kinda like the Road to Hana.
We stopped at a little Rifugio along the way to use the restroom mainly and had the best goat cheese. There were cats, dogs, 40 goats, chickens the cutest fenced garden and my kids were ready to move in.
Lots of the Rifugios offer lodging, but it is so hard to figure out how to book it! Everything is in German and most people don't email you back if you speak English or maybe they are just full and they don't care. I don't know.
We LOVED the Lagacio Mountain Residences. It was in the beautiful city outside of Cortina D'Ampezzo called San Cassiano. It was raining hard when we arrived so instead of hiking, we hit the spa at the hotel.
They had this cold plunge barrel, steam room, Finnish sauna, snow cave, and a hot tub. It was small and pretty and everything amazing.
On arrival they gave us each a delicious drink made from the local flowers and sparkling water.
We had three rooms, and everyones was amazing. We ordered pizza in and then went down to the hotel lounge for hot chocolate at night. It was that thick hot chocolate they make in Europe and we loved it.
Then at breakfast we had the most amazing selection. Four different kinds of butter! Beet ginger shots, yogurt bar, omelettes, pastries, everything local and just delicious. The quality of the food is what made it so good.
I found that my husband especially enjoys the hotels with nice spas and really good breakfasts so this was right up his alley! I like the views. Anyway, the price was even good!
Later that day we drove another beautiful mountain pass to hit the Seceda Ridge. We took the cablecars to save time and only had to hike a mile or two, it was perfect. There was a great big St Bernard at the rifugio that really made our day. He just looked like he belonged so perfectly in this mountain setting.
Seceda is just as stunning as the photos! It was fun to watch all the influencers getting their glamour shots. And we enjoyed the show.
Later that day we had to head back toward Venice to get the kids closer to the airport for their morning flight. Even though they didn't get much time in the Dolomites, it was totally worth the drive.
The next night our Airbnb was a total bust and not what we expected. But that is okay it was just one night. Then we dropped the kids off at the airport and they went back home. It was sad to see our family portion of the trip end, but also super fun to have a few days to celebrate our 25th Anniversary just the two of us!
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| The coolest sporting goods store connected to our hotel! Look how satisfying all those colors are! |
