Italy, dolomites
june-july 2024
3 weeks of biking and hiking in Dolomites,
the UNESCO Word Heritage Site,
one of the most beautiful destinations of the world
I have a special relationship with Italy. I have been here many times, to different regions and towns. The north and south of the country are two different worlds. For the first time I visited the northern part in 2011, then we were here by car when I first encountered the divinely beautiful lakes of Idro and Ledro.
Then 13 years ago I swore that I would return. In the summer of 2019, I cycled Via Claudia Augusta, from Munich to Venice. It was my first such long bike trip far from home. Then I did not dare to turn off the official route to meet Idro and Ledro, which I regretted for years, until I decided to go this summer and plan my route specifically with a stop in this region. Well, the Dolomites themselves have long been beckoning, especially after a trip to the Swiss Alps.
Here is my story about a three-week bike trip around northern Italy in the summer of 2024. We had only 10 biking days, the rest of the time we hiked along mountain trails. We lived mostly in a tent in campsites, with the exception of a few nights when we were forced to spend the night under a roof to dry our gear. This time the weather added some difficulty points to our trip. But, as they say, there is no bad weather, there are the wrong clothes. And now I remember everything with a smile.
Below on the map is my trek and the geolocations of the starting points of the trails with their brief descriptions.
Traditionally we flew on a budget by Ryanair from Helsinki to Bergamo and back Venice-Helsinki, the cost of tickets including bicycles and luggage was about 200 euros per person.
June 21, 2024
Our traditional Ryanair, the traditionally inconvenient departure time and, of course, the traditional flight delay, but this time it’s even worse. Already in the afternoon, the airline sent a message that there were storm showers in Milan and the surrounding area and we could expect not just a delay, but even a cancellation of the flight.
As a result, we landed at half past two in the morning, went out of the airport gate and found ourselves in wonderful warm weather!
I’m packing my bike to get to the hotel and have time to sleep at least a few hours before check-out. But I have no idea what to do tomorrow. According to the forecast, the storm will last at least three days. And I have a bike, summer clothes, a tent and a plan, based on which there are only two free days, saved for the very end of the trip, so that I have time in Venice to find packaging for transporting the bike on the flight back to Finland.
On the way, I was thinking, sinfully, whether to jump on a high-speed train to Rome and roll from there to Venice… But I really didn’t want to give up the Dolomites. We decided to see what the morning would bring us…
June 22, 2024
I got to bed about half past three in the morning and from 7 am the hustle and bustle began. The neighbors started waking up. Any movement in the hallway was echoed by my door swaying in the doorway and a terrible rumble, as if I was not in a private room, but in a shared room of a hostel for about 20 people. Some relief came when I opened the window. The steady hum of cars from the highway, right under the window, drowned out the local noise. So I managed to doze for another hour.
I look out the window and can’t believe my eyes! A wonderful warm sunny day! Has the storm really been cancelled in honor of my birthday?
Day one will be dedicated to Lake Iseo and the search for gas. Gas is the most important thing for me, because without it there is no morning coffee and without coffee I don’t wake up. In this case a whole day can disappear from my life. In the end, we couldn’t find any gas in any stores on the first 30 km, but we found out that Decathlon definitely had it when we were already too far from it.
I had already forgotten how wonderful Italy is. We only covered about 70 km in a day, but the level of aesthetic pleasure is already off the charts. This is exactly the feeling of happiness you get on the first day of a trip. There is no fatigue yet and everything feels new or well-forgotten old. Only in Italy can I eat pesto sauce with spoons and don’t even need to spread it on bread. In Italy prosciutto jumps into my mouth itself. Should I mention how good the local 1.5 euro wine is. The best birthday meal, I could dream about.
We stayed for the night in the town of Marone, in a campsite on the shore of Lake Iseo.
Summary of the day: 71 km, 340 m ascent, stunning scenery all the way! The route of the day and photos are below.
June 23, 2024
At night I realized that the previous nice day was my birthday gift from God. Later I got a second gift – a light show with a drum roll! After midnight the storm finally started. It was pouring rain and thunderclaps lasted for 2-3 minutes. The wind was tearing the tent so much that it was pulling out the pegs, and at 3 am I realized that water comes over the edge of the tent. The tent stood in a huge puddle 10-15 cm deep. In the pouring rain in the dark I had to look for a higher place to move the tent. Then I managed to fall asleep. In the morning there was no lightning, no thunder, no wind, but the rain was pouring down and there was no light in the sky. I made it to the campsite reception and asked to stay another night, saying that I really liked it there.
There was a kiosk nearby selling chips and wine, as well as amazing coffee at reasonable prices. Anyway, today I am here, soaking with a bottle of wine and the remains of pesto, waiting for another gift from God in the form of a sunny day.
It has been raining all day. My companion has been dozing for hours wrapped in a sleeping bag and resembles a caterpillar. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next morning he flutters out of the tent as a beautiful butterfly. And I would remain an earthworm, because I don’t know how to sleep during the day. Therefore, like a true earthworm, as soon as the downpour turned into a nasty drizzle, I crawled to the surface.
The village of Marone… cormorants, a pier, two campsites, two pizzerias that are open after 6pm, one kiosk-type shop that is generally closed on Sundays and an ancient cathedral from the 15th century. This seems to be the only open door in all of Marone today. If my memory serves me right, Marone is “brown” in Italian. But what comes to mind is “marone a mia”, which means “damn it”. There is a train station 500 m away and again thoughts come to mind about whether to dash south tomorrow morning. But I don’t want to give up yet. There are some positive aspects. For example, it’s +20 outside and therefore quite warm even in the damp state. And all the sun loungers by the pool are free.
The result of the day: 0 km and two bottles of wine.
June 24, 2024
We woke up early, as soon as the rain stopped pounding the roof of the tent. We must take advantage of that moment! Somehow we packed the soaking wet tent and damp sleeping bags. We noticed that even in the dry bags the clothes were damp. We were glad that it was +20-25 outside and even in the rain we were able to ride forward. At half past six in the morning we leave the wonderful Lake Iseo and its cozy old villages. The next stop is Brescia.
I love it dearly. Brescia skillfully “shakes, but does not stir” all possible styles of all eras that fell to its lot. Brexia was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire, flourished in the Middle Ages and during the time of Mussolini, and now is the second largest city in Lombardy, one of the most prosperous regions of Italy. Here on the main square there are two cathedrals, a round brutal rotunda from the 11th century and one of the largest cathedrals in Italy from the 17th century. Nearby is a 16th century palace with a high tower and battlements in the Kremlin style right next to it is the famous “hanging rhinoceros”, passing under which you find yourself in a square from the 30-40s of the last century. It was Mussolini who ordered the destruction of one block in the old city and built a cool modernist square there – Victory Square, from which he proclaimed speeches to the nation.
And all this is mixed so organically! Even the rain did not prevent me from exploring my beloved Brescia. There was also a Decathlon with gas and McDonald’s to drink a normal human Americano, and not these local thimbles with espresso.
After Brescia, I decided to take a shortcut. The original plan was to go to Garda and stop on the outskirts of the city of Sirmione. It’s fabulous, but I’ve already been there twice, and I didn’t want to walk around the Roman villas in the pouring rain. Because of yesterday’s “doing nothing”, my lag behind the planned route approached 70 km. Therefore, from Brescia we turn north, into the mountains.
Since the rain did not stop, it was decided not to pay attention to it and stop for the night to dry out in the cheapest guesthouse along the way. As a result, the lag behind the schedule is only 15 km, and I’m in a hotel with a rating of 4.4 out of 10 and this rating corresponds to reality, but everything suits me today. The main thing is that it’s dry! I still hope for good weather, there are still more than 2 weeks of travel ahead and the sun will definitely come out.
Summary of the day: 78 km, 750 m of altitude gain.
June 25, 2024
It was a wonderful day! But we had to finish it again in the hotel.
And it happened like this…. In the morning we woke up at 6 and waited until 11 for the rain to stop and, since the local hydrometeorological service promised dry, though cloudy skies for the next 2 hours, we set off. It was only 13 km to the first lake Idro, but we had to ride along a busy highway accompanied by trucks. As I said earlier, I have a special love with Idro and Ledro. I wandered through the streets of the village where I stayed 13 years ago, and found a guesthouse located in the 13th century fortress wall, where I spent the night then. Time seemed to stand still here. I love this feeling, as if I was here yesterday.
During this time, the sun came out, dissolved the clouds and I had to sweat. The lake is about 15 km long. By the time we reached its northern end, the town of Ponte Caffaro, it had become quite hot and I barely had time to buy a cold beer at the last minute before the store closed for a siesta. Who would have believed that just two hours and 27 kilometers earlier there had been a wall of rain and darkness, like late evening.
After the first lake began the climb to the pass. More than 10 km constantly up, the speed no more than 8 km/h, and then, as if on cue, the clouds began to thicken… Having climbed the pass, I decided to check the forecast once more, but there was no Internet. By the time we got to the descent to Lake Ledro, black clouds started to roll over the mountain range and peals of thunder started to get closer. Forgetting about the brakes, we flew down to the nearest town.
I sat out the first wave of the storm in a bar, and in the break between the storms we only managed to run to the nearest hotel.
In the end, only 50 km instead of the planned 95.
Result of the day: 49 km, 630 m of elevation gain.
June 26, 2024
The South Tyrolean and Lombardy hills almost killed me that day!
Let’s start with the fact that I didn’t sleep all night because of the rain noise. So I was tired from the very morning. One thing was good, it was warm and sunny in the morning, and the local hydrometeorological service instead of yesterday’s warning about storm showers, sent a new one about the coming heat above +30. After three wet days, this even made me happy.
The sunny morning allowed me to enjoy a leisurely ride around the wonderful Lake Ledro. It is located at an altitude of 655 m and is only a little more than 2 square kilometers in area. Well, look, isn’t it a fairy tale? On this trip, I added an extra pass and sacrificed a ride along Garda specifically for the sake of this lake, and I didn’t regret it. I highly recommend visiting Ledro if you are in the Garda area.
After the beautiful Ledro the descent began from 655m to 65m – the level of Garda. There is a very popular bike path here – a steep gravel serpentine. Since it was morning, the traffic flow was oncoming. Lots of e-bikes, there are many rentals on Garda and this is the most popular biking route. In the last picture the first glance on Garda.
We went down to the southernmost tip of Lake Garda to the town of Riva del Garda. The main square of the town is tiny, but very photogenic. The rest of the town is just a mix of beaches and hotels and an insane number of people and every second one is on a bike. Yes, there are wonderful bike paths here, but they are absolutely not designed for such a number of cyclists. Children, grannies, families of 5 and people are constantly crossing the path scurrying from the beach to the city and back. I barely got out of there!
After Garda the path lay along the picturesque valley of the Sarca River, with a small, even climb to the castle located on an island in Lake Toblino. This is exactly the location that I wanted to see, for which I did not ride north traditionally along the Adige Valley, but added an extra pass to my route. Well, there should be at least one pass a day, right? Moreover, I rode along the Adige in 2019, and there I got into a bike accident not far from Garda, colliding with the steering wheel of an oncoming cyclist in a tunnel. He then smashed his phone and tore his side until it bled.
Yes, Toblino Castle is more photogenic than dozens along the way, but it was not worth that pass. Either lack of sleep, or I was in terrible shape, but I was barely riding at a speed of 5 km / h with a pulse of 170, drenched in sweat … 13 km with a gain of 650 m under the scorching sun. At the top, the locals were selling freshly picked cherries (they hung in bunches on the road). In 2019, I ate so much of them. This time I wanted to swear at the sellers.
As usual, the descent was even worse than the ascent. I flew the same 650 m down 7 km on a steep serpentine, barely managing to brake. My hands were numb. Almost at the end of the descent, in Trento, when the road turned into a 2 m wide street, I stopped at one of the turns, but the loaded rear of the bike began to fall to the side. So I slammed onto the asphalt and tore my elbow to blood. The slope was 20 degrees, no less. In short, I do not leave Garda without accidents.
Somehow I got to the center of Trento, where I sat down in the first eatery, exhausted, to gobble up a cheap kebab.
In the last few photos you can see the main square of the old Trento. That day I was indifferent to it, I wanted to take a shower and stretch in a horizontal position, but instead I had to pedal another 20 km to the nearest campsite.
Summary of the day: 90 km, 1020 m gain.
June 27, 2024
It was a very strange campsite that night. A green area about 30 meters wide in the backyard of a local bar, squeezed between an active railway and a motorway. Who would have imagined that among all this noise I would sleep for 11 hours!
Well, in the morning our way continued further north along the Adige Valley. A wonderful dedicated bike path, with hundreds of rest areas, cafes, water fountains. Mountains on the right, mountains on the left, endless kilometers of apple orchards around. After 25 km I had to stop and try a local delicacy – apple strudel.
This is the last cycling day before the hiking days. I am riding in the very heart of South Tyrol, and it feels in everything – the architecture, the cuisine and, of course, the language. The last 30 km of the way you can’t hear Italian, only German. Locals behave differently and I won’t even mention how clean and tidy it is here. The southern and northern inhabitants of Italy have so little in common. Tyrol is a newcomer, It went to Italy after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1919 and still has its own character.
My route today was not eventful. The landscapes are nice, but monotonous. We stopped in Bolzano, the capital of South Tyrol, and the rest of the time we slowly rolled with an easy climb for almost 80 km.
We stayed in a luxurious campsite with not only a five-star view of the ancient monastery, church and fortress, but even a swimming pool! I immediately paid for three nights, because we have three planned hiking treks to the most beautiful locations of the Dolomites in this area.
In the pictures below Bolzano and my village – Chiuso in Italian, it is also Klausen in German.
Summary: 79 km, 480 m of climb.
June 28, 2024
That day I found myself in a fairy tale. Looking at these photos it’s hard to believe that this is not Photoshop or AI. Imagine the feeling when you are there, in these sceneries, and can’t believe it is real, and the reality is even more beautiful than the photos! And if you add the sounds and aromas of the blooming Alps!!! They say that you can see Paris and die. Ha-ha. I saw it, and I didn’t want to die, but Alpe da Siussi is a real paradise, that’s where I felt like I was already dead and in paradise!
My home preparation for the Alpe di Siussi region is a circular trail around the Sassolungo group, 17 km of continuous nirvana. And even +30 couldn’t spoil the impression.
We left a bit late (someone slept for 10 hours again), and we had to make it to the return lift before 16:50, so there wasn’t much time for meditation. The length of my final trek is 17.3 km with a climb of almost 800 m. The views are stunning along the entire route. And they are not monotonous! On the northern side, everything is green, strewn with flowers, the path sometimes dives into dense spruce thickets and again runs out to the slopes of sharp pointy mountains. The northern part is more severe without much vegetation.
We did not walk this trail along the official route, but with a start from the village of Santa Cristina, which we got to first by bike 7 km, then by bus some miserable 23 km for 40 minutes, then went up on two lifts. You need to take the chairlift to Monte Pana and then to Monte Seura. The lifts cost almost 50 euros. The difficulty of the trail is average, several times we had to walk on snow, it was a little slippery under the scorching sun, so you should be careful. This walk took us 4 hours, but I recommend allowing more time! I wanted to stop and admire this beauty for a while…
Photos below. Warning!!! Dangerous content! You can go crazy from the beauty.
June 29, 2024
So, Seceda…
Today we reached the highlight of the Val Gardena valley (Gröden, in German).
First we rode by bus along breathtaking serpentines for about 20 km for 40 minutes, then we climbed more than 1000 meters up on a lift (by the way, 45 euros. Who said that Italy is a cheap country?) and here they are… Geissler’s teeth! An amazing creation of nature… A frozen wave crest or a dragon’s rearing back?
An insanely beautiful mountain range, steep on one side and flat, covered with a blooming alpine meadow on the other.
Having admired it enough, we set off on a 10-kilometer trek with a climb of almost 600 meters from Seceda down and up the alpine meadows. There was no rush today and we made frequent stops, and the landscapes were conducive to it. The air temperature was even more conducive, almost the entire route was above +30.
From here there were also wonderful views of the Sassolungo group, around which we walked yesterday. From the side it is even more impressive.
However, the heat does its job. What a blessing that the campsite has a swimming pool!!!
June 30, 2024
It rained last night, and it’s a relief! If yesterday the wave of hot air hit us right from the morning, and we had to sleep with the tent wide open and wake up with a couple of fat slugs, today it’s pleasantly cool. This is our last hiking day before continuing by bike. Well, the Adolf Munkel trail, or simply a circular route in the Val de Funes valley to the foot of the Greisler peaks (this is the ridge along the edge of which we wandered the day before – Seceda).
This is a fairly easy 10 km trail with a climb of less than 500 m. It starts right from the parking lot, you don’t have to pay for the lift. In short, the trail is positive from all points of view, and, among other benefits, it is rich in stunning views. Since we are based in the Adige Valley, in the town of Chiuse, early in the morning we ran a couple of km to the bus stop and went to the start of the trek.
The first couple of kilometers the trail winds through the coniferous forest, then majestic peaks begin to grow between the tops of the spruce trees. And finally, a panorama of the entire group opens up. And it is impossible not to breathe with delight!
After that, the trail goes through the forest again, here and there opening views of the mountain group from a new angle. The last view is no longer from the forest, but from a bright green alpine meadow dotted with thousands of flowers. We say goodbye to the Geislers and go down to the bus stop through a dense dark forest.
In total, 10 km, 480 m of elevation gain, net travel time without taking breaks into account – 2.5 hours.
Today’s trek to Val de Funes was specially planned for early morning. It was cloudy, so the mountains were purple.
The Dolomites are famous for being “chameleons”. At sunset they are golden, then red. At dawn they are pink. In the sun they are white. The rain paints them dark gray. Cloudiness added drama to my photos.
The temperature was very comfortable. +17-20 – just perfect to not sweat in a T-shirt.
We returned to Chiuso around 2 pm, it was stuffy here, so we spent the rest of the day by the cold pool, periodically cooling our mortal bodies. Because the soul fluttered over them in complete ecstasy from the impressions of the morning.
The Dolomites hit me straight in the heart!
There are still three mandatory treks left in the north and east of the Dolomite region and I am so impatient that I would like to take a train with a bike to get there faster, but no one has canceled the sports component of the trip. The last photos in the carousel are of our sweet provincial Chiuso!
July 1, 2024
In the morning we woke up with the roosters. It rained during the night, but there was a short break in the morning. At 6:30 we decided to pack up while the tent was relatively dry. In a drizzling rain at +17 we set off. After 15 km in the town of Brixen (Brixen in German, or Bressanone in Italian) we have to turn off the Adige Valley and the climb begins. In Brixen we not only visited the old town center, which was deserted at such an early hour, but also listened to the organ in the cathedral.
By 9 am we had already covered 22 km, it was time for breakfast. There were still more than 50 km ahead and almost 1000 m of altitude gain.
However, after breakfast the weather turned bad. At first it was drizzling and it was even pleasant. Then it started to pour. Also, in general, not bad. At some point, we got tired of taking off and putting on our raincoats – we decided to just get wet. In particularly bad moments, we hid, sometimes in a shop, sometimes near a hotel, sometimes… even in a cemetery – anywhere where there was a canopy. Once, for example, we stopped under a canopy in front of the entrance to a five-star hotel. Out of curiosity, I looked at the price. 427 euros per night!!! Well, screw it, let’s go further!
But how easy it was to ride today! After three days without a bike, my legs seemed to miss the pedals! And the bike path after the turn from the Adige Valley became more interesting. Not just a flat path among apple orchards and vineyards, but constant hills. Sometimes into the dense forest on a gravel road, sometimes up to an old town, sometimes among fields with views of the mountains… Well, often I had to turn on my imagination and draw the snow-capped mountain peaks, because the clouds were so low that at times they were lower than me… And the second layer was higher… Well, the third was completely overhead and poured water on me like from a shower.
So we got to the city of Toblach (in Italian – Dobbiaco). We spent the night in a campsite at a price of… God forgive me… 62 euros!!! And that’s for a tent! But there is a drying room and a hot shower, and that’s worth a lot in such weather! Especially since it’s only +12 outside.
Summary of the day: 78 km, 1100 m ascent
July 2, 2024
In the morning we woke up in a cloud. The tent was wet and it was only +8 outside.
The campsite was located at an altitude of approximately 1150 m. However, when the sun came out from behind the mountains, it began to bake mercilessly!!! A common thing in the mountains. The sun warms things, but the air is cold.
Already at 8 o’clock in the morning we were at one of the main locations of the trip – Lake Braes, or Prags in German. This divinely beautiful creation of nature is located at an altitude of almost 1500 m. The lake is very popular with tourists, and for me the lake is famous for the fact that you can walk around it in an hour, and there are one and a half hundred photos and there is no strength to delete a single one, it is so beautiful! We walked around it – 4 km in an hour and a half and returned to the campsite to pack for the journey.
The campsite was located 3 km from the town of Toblach (oh, who doesn’t know it if they watch skiing on TV!). The town itself is rather boring, but its surroundings! The annual Tour de Ski takes place here and all these mountain peaks are painfully familiar to me. Well, here I am already here in real life. I can’t believe it!
Well, we had a tough climb ahead of us to the village of Misurina. A very short bike track today, but what a climb! A killer! Honestly, I cried, but I did it anyway! There was no choice! From 1150 to 1750 m in 20 km and a bit… We arrived during the day under the scorching sun. Sweat was pouring in streams and I wanted to take off not only my cycling suit, but also my skin. But as soon as the first cloud ran up, it became clear that it was really no more than +15 outside.
A super-trek to the epic peaks of Tre Cime de Lavadero is planned for tomorrow. But the forecast promises me some kind of crap again. The girl at the campsite reception said that all forecasts here are 50/50. Either there will be sun or not, or there will be rain or not. No one can predict in advance.
Hmmm… We’ll see in the morning, do I really have to stay a day longer while I still have extra days saved for the end of the trip?
The campsite is the cheapest on the way, only 21 euros. But also the most Spartan… But what fabulous views around! Village is charming, mostly restaurants and hotels, and not simple hotels! Prices range from 250 euros for the simplest room to ***. And crowds of people! Now I understand how the rich spend their holidays, not on Turkish all-inclusive.
The photos show the route from Toblach to the campsite and the village of Misurina.
Total for the day: 24 km, 625 m ascent.
July 3, 2024
Expectation and reality…
Cadini di Mizurina was one of the must-see locations on my way. As a result, instead of the view from the second photo (this is not mine, but stolen from the Internet), I got a wonderful first photo.
In the morning, we woke up before 7. It was only +4 outside. Everything was white around – such a thick fog. While we were getting ready for the trip, a cloud fell right on the tents. The altitude is 1750 m, so it is not strange. To 2150 m, where the trek starts, we went by the earliest bus. Bus is a good deal! Entry by car costs 45 euros and not necessarily a parking space. And by bus they will take you there and back for 10 euros. It would have been even cheaper by bike, but I would have spent half a day climbing this mountain.
In short, for the first hour and a half we wandered around like blind people in the fog. You could only enjoy the views under your feet, and by the way, there is also something to see there… We studied the local flora with great interest. For those who find themselves at Mizurina one day, I recommend that you definitely take this short trek. Maybe you will be luckier than me.
I am glad that after this trail we did not go back down to the village to lie in a tent and wait for the weather in the mountains, but went in the opposite direction on a 10 km trail with a 700 m climb around the peaks of Tre Cime de Lavadero (Three pimples, as I called them). And it turned out that these “pimples” were holding the cloud on the southern side. When we climbed the pass, we saw that the northern side was free of clouds! And the valley was lit up by the sun for a few moments! These were the views from the north on Tre Cime. In my joy, I even did something that I usually do not allow myself. I drank coffee and cake in one of the three shelters along the way, for 13 euros.
Little by little, the cloud began to seep to the northern side, and upon returning to the bus stop, we saw that the southern side remained in a thick milky cloud. In short, it was a successful walk again.
We decided not to stay another night, we were really impatient to say goodbye to this campsite. With such humidity and a temperature of +3-5 degrees in the mornings and evenings, there’s an outdoor shower with cold water and the toilets are always running out of paper. These two things are apparently somehow interconnected and I don’t like it.
July 4, 2024
Despite the sunny morning, it’s only +3 outside, and the humidity is probably all of 146%. Today would be a better day for a hike to Cadini di Misurina, but we already want to get warm! And the road up was suddenly blocked. Apparently, there was an accident right in the morning, and the serpentines are so narrow that sometimes you don’t know how to fit in even without oncoming traffic – accidents block the road completely.
So, by 10 o’clock we somehow dried the tent after the night showers, packed our things and moved from Misurina towards the Tre Croci pass. It’s the last pass on my trip. From there we’ll only roll down to Venice. On the way there was another trail waiting for me at the pass, to Lake Sorapis.
Usually everyone takes the trail there and back. In order not to walk the same road twice, I chose a 14 km trek with a 700 ascent. The first 5.5 km is the trail that everyone takes. It’s a tricky attraction! Many narrow sections above steep cliffs. The rocks are slippery from the night showers. Rock climbing skills came in handy. In short, you won’t be able to relax. What if I tell you that 1 km was covered in 35 minutes and we overtook another 100 people?
There are a lot of people on the lake itself, a lot. I’ve rarely seen so many. Probably, it was because the road from Misurina was closed and everyone went there. And no wonder why this tricky, difficult trail is popular! Look at this milky-turquoise miracle framed by rocks at an altitude of almost 2000 m, formed by a glacier. This one, which melted in a cloud behind the yellow house (photo from July 2 and 3).
After admiring the lake, we turned onto “our” path and almost vertically descended 500 m down the slope. That was not walking, but rock climbing! Streams flow around from the night rain and from the melting glacier. Slippery stones mixed with sticky mud. In short, a sea of pleasure! And then another 5 km again under the scorching sun we joyfully climbed up all the lost meters along the forest road among huge firs. And only the mountain peaks changed around.
In the afternoon we descended from the pass to the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo. And this, I admit, is the most beautiful road in my life. Just 10 km I fly down the serpentines and I have stunning views of all 360 degrees of the snow-capped mountain peaks! I cried with delight. The eastern side of the Dolomites is much more beautiful than the western, here the mountains surround you tightly and it seems that the peaks are very close. I did not take any photos along the way, I was so carried away by contemplating the beauty!
Today we have a campsite with a view of the snow-capped peaks.
July 5, 2024
This is the last hiking day of my trip. I had several options for the trek, but I chose, it seems, the most killer.
The campsite is located a couple of kilometers from the Cortina d’Ampezzo. So we had to walk almost 3 km to the bus stop. And these 3 km were constantly uphill. The bus puffed along the serpentines for 12 km for more than half an hour and here we are already at an altitude of 1900 m.
Here is the lower platform of the chairlift that takes you to Cinque Torri (5 “pimples” in my translation)
For the last trek day, I chose a trail marked as super-difficult. But its length seemed insufficient to me. Only 6.5 km. So we decided not to take the elevator, but to stomp our feet up and down. And this is another 500 m of altitude gain.
At first we walked along a forest path, then the mountains began to grow from behind the treetops and here was the first of five “pimples”. To be honest, the mountain peaks and views for tens of kilometers around impressed me more. As you can see, the “pimples” are not the most beautiful thing here.
And here we go to the second, “main” trek of the day. This day taught me a lot. The main thing is to read the description CAREFULLY!!!
In the description of the trail, I missed the twice mentioned “via ferrata”. On the trek itself, I did not pay attention to the fact that almost everyone was walking with large backpacks. I even laughed at the helmets on some. Well, I did not take into account that the rules for marking the trails here are different than in Switzerland. There, the trails that require mountaineering equipment are marked blue and white. Here, all the trails are equally marked red and white.
The views from the trail are amazing! The surroundings for 30-40 km opened up at 360 degrees. The descents and ascents are almost vertical, exhausting. Only facing the slope, only with all four limbs! Well, and then we came to the point where people were pulling on their gear and realized that ahead was the “via ferrata”, also known as the “iron path”.
We even honestly went to look at this stage from below. Most likely, it would have been possible to pass on hands and feet, but something made me feel scared. And we decided to look for detours.
A smart person will not go up the mountain, a smart person will go around the mountain! So we decided. We found a path on the map that seemed suitable, but we did not want to make a big detour. We saw a cut in the terrain and decided to shorten the path. Here another important rule was violated! Do not turn off the path, no matter how simple the path seems.
It was brutal, I tell you. What seemed like stable stones from above turned out to be almost vertical loose rock, where there was nothing to grab onto at all. The only thing that saved us was some creeping pine bushes. Hanging on their branches, we somehow got to the trail.
And after that, it wasn’t easy. Again, we had to climb more than once. When we finally got down to the bus, I wasn’t feeling too good. Both physically and mentally.
There were 1070 m of ascent at 14 km.
And then these 3 km from the bus stop to the campsite. I thought I would die of fatigue. We fell asleep right away, it wasn’t even 8 o’clock yet. I wanted to pedal already.
July 6, 2024
The night was surprisingly warm in Cortina, even the tent did not fog up from the inside. At 6 o’clock in the morning it was about +12 and cloudy! We were lucky with the weather yesterday, if we had to go on the trail today, we would have walked like hedgehogs in the fog again!
Today we went down from the Alps towards the sea.
The first 30 km of the bike path is laid along the old railway. Stations every 4-5 km, beautiful buildings in varying degrees of restoration and old villages of different sizes. We rode along old railway bridges and through many tunnels. And no cars, only bikes and pedestrians! Beauty!
Then there was a steep serpentine, about 300 meters down very steep. From the valley of the Boite river we got into the quiet valley of the Piave river.
There are half-abandoned towns, many old houses and … almost no car traffic. So we got to Lake Santa Croce, and there dozens of kites are flying!!! It turned out that there was some festival of theirs this weekend, and later in the evening some kind of rave party was expected. Had to stay here for the night, how could we miss it? So only 76 km (only 470 m of ascent, more than 1000 of descent!) pedaled today – which means tomorrow we won’t make it to Venice and will have to look for a parking lot in Treviso. We checked into the campsite and I started getting ready to dance all night.
However, my party didn’t happen, I couldn’t even stick my nose out of the tent!
In general, according to the forecast, it was supposed to drizzle until 23. However, instead of drizzle and light cloudiness, a real lingering rain began, and by 3 o’clock in the morning a real downpour with thunderstorms and other attributes began.
The tent was pitched without taking into account these wet affairs. The awning is poorly stretched, because we are standing on a rocky surface, it is impossible to stick the pegs in normally. The bags are hanging on the bike, because the covers are supposedly water-repellent, but they definitely won’t hold up to that much water.
As a result, the tent is in a puddle, the rug is floating in the water and the sleeping bag can be wrung out… That’s what a rave party it turned out to be!
The tent can’t be closed, otherwise we’ll suffocate in it like in a greenhouse. And crowds of snails and slugs are crawling through the slightly open entrance. They, too, are probably too wet. It’s a pity for God’s creatures, but we have to regularly scoop them out from under ourselves and throw them overboard.
July 7, 2024
It’s hard to say if I slept at all that night. At 8 o’clock in the morning the rain suddenly stopped. We crawled out into the light of day, the bells insistently called to church, but of course we didn’t go to the service. We started scooping water out of the tent and wringing out the sleeping bags. During this time the sun came out and it started to scorch as if nothing had happened! In the first photo is our lake Santa Croce at 9 a.m. Who would believe that just an hour ago it was pouring down cats and dogs?
At first the path lay on a dirt road. The whole road was in puddles! So in addition, we were all splashed and dirty as pigs. We spent the night at an altitude of about 400 m. In the first 45 km we descended to 70 m and found ourselves in the town of Vittorio Veneto.
That’s when it was time to clean ourselves off a little from the mud. Here it was already over +30 and we suddenly noticed that there were no more mountains! And the German language was gone! And everything was a bit shabby… In short, the Tyrolean Alps ended.
Here I dropped in to listen to the organ in a 14th century church and walked around a 12th century monastery. Then was the road to Treviso, another 35 km.
Treviso is a small town (83 thousand residents), it is called Venice in miniature. On this hot Sunday day it was very quiet and uncrowded.
Treviso was one of the centers of early Christianity and already in the 4th century had its own bishop. Here, Franciscan monks built a monastery in the 13th century, and in the temple you can see Titian’s frescoes. We skipped this point, because we were not dressed according to the rules, did not smell very good, and simply felt sorry for the entrance fee.
But we took plenty of pictures of beautiful canals and found a fountain with boobs. I’m not kidding! In Treviso there is a fountain of female breasts, or simply the fountain of boobs (Fontana delle tette).
After a severe drought that struck the city of Treviso in 1559, the authorities decided to build a marble fountain depicting a woman with water and more flowing from her breasts. Every autumn, when a new mayor was elected, the fountain was “charged” with free wine instead of water. Red wine flowed from one breast, white from the other. And so for three days to the delight of the townspeople, who could drink it without limit. The tradition continued until the fall of the Venetian Republic.
The original statue was damaged by soldiers of Napoleon’s army, who shot it as a symbol of Venetian power. Today, the damaged statue in a glass case is located nearby, in the Loggia dei Cavalieri. A new version of the fountain was built in 1989, but no more wine, just water. They save on everything nowadays.
Treviso is also a home to the headquarters of Delonghi and the Benetton Group.
In short, we liked the city, but we couldn’t wait to hang up the tent and sleeping bags to dry. And there were only about 20 km left until we quickly booked a night in the town of “Boring place in the middle of nothing” (Mogliano in Italian), where a hotel with breakfast is cheaper than a campsite.
Remember, I told you that our campsite in the very north in Toblach cost 60 euros? So, 20 km from Venice (in the town of Mogliano) we stayed in a 4* hotel with breakfast for less.
We threw our things out to dry and went into the city. Here we found the church in the first photo and a square with the only decent building – the city hall.
But it turned out that some international folklore festival was taking place right here with songs, dances and other things.
Well, we didn’t manage to get to the rave party, but we did get to the folk dancing! They promised to start at 20:30. In reality, everything started an hour later. Such is the Italian tradition. They walk around hugging, kissing, and greeting each other for an hour. Bongiorno! Bona sera! Bellissimo! Bella! Ciao! Kisses-kisses! We almost left before the beginning. We only managed to see the Spaniards and the Poles. I was really sleepy.
Total of the day: 85 km, 300 m gain.
July 8, 2024
For the first time on this trip, my watch praised me for the quality of my sleep. No matter how you look at it, you sleep better on a soft bed after a hard wet rug.
After waking up, we headed towards Venice, or rather Mestre, as the city on the mainland is called. Here, I had prepared in advance several addresses of bike shops and bike services that could help with the boxes. Wow, lo and behold! At the very first service, the guy promised 2 boxes by Wednesday. The only problem was how to deliver them to the campsite, it was 7 km after all. We decided to think about it later, and for now we rode 17 km to the planned campsite and went for a walk around Venice!
The third time in Venice and the third time it left the most unpleasant impressions of all the trips. +35, bustle, a bunch of benches with unnecessary junk, all the cafes were overcrowded, everyone was chewing something. And if they weren’t chewing, they were standing in lines at St. Mark’s Square. Crowds of people on narrow streets. People moving very close together. Everyone is sweaty. You are constantly rubbing against someone, and then someone in this crowd lights up a cigarette., and it becomes unbearable to breathe. Well, the most disgusting thing is perfume! Although human sweat may smell bad, it is at least natural. But when a perfumed girl or a guy who has overdone it with deodorant walks by, it is like being in a gas chamber.
So you walk along, all wet and sticky. And every second person you meet is licking ice cream, and it melts in the heat and trickles down onto their sticky fingers, and begins to caramelize in the corners of their lips. And just from this sight alone you start to feel sick. And the air is sticky and stinky.
I believe that Venice is beautiful, but I cannot abstract myself from such distractions. Just passing many small villages with their old streets, canals, churches with frescoes from the 13th-15th centuries and enjoying the vastness of the fields and the coolness of their narrow streets, where even a car won’t fit, and the aroma of flowers, not sweat, I have much more positive emotions.
Well, or I’m just becoming a sociophobe.
Venice is very tough for me. And this time it was absolutely unbearable without a couple of Aperols. Then it let up a little, but the feeling that I should have stayed an extra day in the mountains instead of all this, did not leave. In the end, I managed to find several quiet canals on the outskirts. However, Venice looks quite nice in photographs.
Walking along the outskirts, I managed to observe the difficult life of the locals. After all, in fact, they cannot go out anywhere except by boat, not even to the store. And these are not elegant gondolas, but simple boats. Sometimes, however, not quite simple. For example, we watched for a long time the work of a garbage boat with a crane, and in the last photo, some kind of construction boat.
Now some important and not very pleasant information for tourists. Since 2024, Venice has introduced a fee for visiting the city. 2024 is a trial year. The fee is only 5 euros. It was charged only during holidays, festivals and peak weekends from late April to mid-July, a total of 29 days a year (this did not affect us, we arrived on Monday). This tax applies to all tourists over 14 years old, except for those who have a hotel reservation, when spending the night in Venice (its island part), a tourist pays a fee of only 1.5 euros.
You have to book a visit for a specific date and pay the fee in advance through the website. .
However, Venice authorities liked this practice so much that it was decided to double the amount of the “tax” from 2025! It is assumed that this will help reduce the flow of tourists. Well, I don’t know … I think if someone decides to go to Venice, 10 euros will not stop him. But as for me, I’ve had my fill of Venice and I definitely won’t pay 10 euros.
July 9, 2024
Last night was warm, it dropped to +22, but even so we had to sleep with the tent wide open. Today it’s 34 outside, they’re predicting +30 at nightl!!! It’s just unbearable. How much I wanted to go back to the northern mountains, and let it rain, it was even fun, even +3 in the morning invigorates me. +30 at night is hell! With mosquitoes to boot.
On this day, we decided not to hang out in the city, but to go to the islands. There are many islands near Venice, each with its own specifics and history. The most popular are Murano and Burano. So we decided to visit them. First, we need to get to Venice. The bus stop is very conveniently right in front of the campsite and for 5 euros (round trip) and 15 minutes takes you to Venice. In the city itself, there is only one kind of transport – water buses. Around the city, along the canals, between the neighboring islands, there are constantly scurrying boats-buses (vaporetto) and boat-taxi. The schedule and the route map are difficult for a stranger to understand. But somehow we managed to cope with the logistics.
The first island is Murano. This is a city of glass! Hand-made Murano glass is a luxury! There are many factories and workshops here, you can see how glass is made by hand in furnaces and blown and God knows what else they do with it. I have seen such shows before. There are many salons with unique luxurious interior items. Everything is very expensive! The shops items were interesting to look at, but architecturally the island is boring (first photos)
I liked Burano instead! So colorful!!! I saw something similar in Aveiro in Portugal. But the houses there are wooden and striped. The idea is that drunk sailors find it easier to find their home this way. Well, God knows if this is true or there is another explanation, but it pleases the eye!
From the interesting. There is a leaning tower here on Burano. There are many of them in Italy, Pisa is not the only one. Even Venice has a couple. But this one is one of the “drunkest”. Its tilt is greater than that of Pisa (last 2 photos)
Map of water routes here.
July 10-11, 2024
The last day is dedicated to an extremely important matter – packing the bike for the flight. Ryanair does not accept soft packaging or just wrapping it in film. So we had to look for boxes. As I said earlier, we had arranged for boxes in advance at the bike shop and on the appointed day they were waiting for us at 10 am. By midday everything was packed! All that was left was to get to the airport and spend the night there.
My flight was only at 5:40 am. My boxes, of course, would not fit in a normal car, so a taxi was out of the question. Somehow we found a minibus. For 7 pm… I didn’t see much point in ordering it for 3 am. If we were to sleep in a tent the night before, we would have to start packing at 1 am. It would be better to sleep in a cool airport under the air conditioning than like I did last night.
And it was like this… The rug is spread out on the street, I go to the shower in a dress, and all wet in wet clothes I doze for an hour in an open tent to the delight of mosquitoes and ants. An hour later, back to the shower and in a circle. What a horror! Like in a sauna!
No one would ever hear from me that I love shopping. And yet, today I adore it! Almost all day I walk around shopping malls, in short dashes from one to another. It’s just hellishly hot outside! And from lack of sleep and fatigue, it comes to mind, why not take a nap somewhere in a corner between the dairy and meat departments.
The biggest fun began at the airport when checking in luggage! There is no large scanner in Bergamo. My bike fits somehow. But the box with the fat bike did not fit under any circumstances. At half past three in the morning we had to open the packaging for inspection, dump the junk, and put it all back in a hurry. The problem was aggravated by the fact that we ran out of scotch tape, which is not available at the airport at night. Luckily, we were not the only ones. Two more cyclists found themselves in the same situation of urgent repacking, and one of them, fortunately, had some scotch tape left, which was enough for everyone.
Finally, it should be added that when unpacking the bike, a broken fork was discovered! The hasty repacking did not do the bike any good. But later, the insurance more than covered the repairs, so there was no unpleasant aftertaste even from such a nuisance.
The trip was a great success!
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