Italy’s awe-inspiring mountain-range
Yearning for incredible mountain landscapes, breathtaking vistas, and terrific food?
Then our Walk in Italy’s Dolomites should definitely be on your summer bucket list!
The snow that makes for superb skiing in winter has receded to the towering peaks; the wildflowers are abloom and this vast alpine playground awaits…
Join us for bracing days in the mountains. Perhaps taking a cable car or following a high rocky trail, stopping for lunch at a rifugio, or mountain refuge, before descending by way of dramatic waterfalls and gorges.
Find some peaceful time for reflection, breathe the pure air and get a sense of freedom and big spaces. If you yearn for a moderate degree of challenge, this Level 5 Walk in a UNESCO World Heritage Site is for you.
The Dolomites, the “pale mountains”, are the most spectacular mountain range in Italy partly because of the striking, pale rose-colored limestone, eroded into steep-sided valleys, towers, castles and cathedrals by millennia of rain, ice, sun and wind. The colors alter, almost magically, as the play of light changes through the day.
We are in Italy, but so close to Austria that each village and town have both an Italian and Austrian name. Residents speak Italian or German and you will hear the ancient Ladin dialect too.
Be sure to work up an appetite on the trail because the regional cuisine is hearty, fresh and locally sourced. Expect ravioli stuffed with pumpkin or spinach, potato gnocchi with smoked ricotta and mountain butter, canederli bread dumplings with smoky speck, ham and warming barley soup. With your apple strudel dessert try a local grappa brandy. Smooth, yet fiery, perhaps flavored with local berries.
We hike in an alpine landscape to lovely Lake Carezza, much loved by Winston Churchill, who painted here; and Agatha Christie, who set her novel ‘The Big Four’ here. It is spectacular.
We may spot deer, chamois and perhaps even bears. Golden Eagles, pygmy owls and the black grouse are likely to be about too.
The legacy of war is strongly felt here and we’ll walk around the famous five towers of Cinque Torri and visit the poignant tunnels and trenches of the largest open-air museum of WWI.
Experience… the Grand Hotel Savoia
With a guest book containing the signatures of American presidents, British prime ministers and Hollywood stars, the Grand Hotel in Cortina d’Ampezzo is the elegant ‘grande dame’ of places to stay in the Dolomites.
But behind the classic Alpine façade hides interiors that have been renewed with a modern stamp to be stylish, contemporary and light.
To relax after a day on the trail we can choose the panoramic terrace, which offers a spectacular view of the opposite crown of peaks, or the luxury spa with its indoor pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and fitness room.
With their dazzlingly beautiful views of the surrounding landscape, the rooms’ décor is inspired by nature using wood and natural elements in an earthy colour palette of textiles and furnishings.
Just steps away the small town of Cortina, “Queen of the Dolomites”, with its cobbled streets, is a gem of sheer beauty, surrounded in all directions by some of the most scenic peaks of the Dolomites.
Imagine sitting in the Bar Lounge with a glass of prosecco, gazing through the picture windows as the sun goes down, toasting the silent majesty of those mountains, stretching as far as the eye can see. Che bello!
