Help me go hiking in the Dolomite Mountains

May 21, 2009 11:09 PM

A friend and I are traveling to Italy at the end of June and will be going hiking in the Dolomite mountains. We plan to head out from Bolzano on one of the lifts and hike from rifugio to rifugio (and then back) for about 5 days, with the route to be chosen with help from the tourist office there. Has anyone done this and have 1) any specific advice on which trails to take; 2) recommendations for inexpensive lodging for our one night in Bolzano; 3) suggestions for what we should bring with us (keeping in mind that we want to travel light)?
posted by sumiami to Travel & Transportation around Italy (2 answers total)

Best answer: In Bolzano, if you have any interest at all, do not miss the Archaeologiemuseum's display of the Oetzi, the 5000 year old mummy discovered 18 years ago, not far from where you'll probably be trekking. It's not only an amazing find, but one of the most riveting, intimate, yet respectful (of the person who Oetzi once was) museum displays I have ever seen. I was lucky enough to notice a small article in a found newspaper about Oetzi, and realizing the museum was but a short walk from the piazza, followed up on it. I can't recommend it highly enough.

More relevant to your questions, 9 or 10 years ago I made a similar hike into Bolzano across the Tyrolean alps from Bavaria on part of the E5 long distance hiking trail. We stayed in alpine huts in the mountains, and local hotels or penziones in the valleys. I don't have more specific suggestions of trail or lodging than just: GO! (though I did enjoy the Austrian Tyrol). Probably any of the popular routes will be more than worth your while. Figure out how light you can pack, at least for that part your trip, without cutting corners on your comfort or safety. Consider foot care carefully. Comfy, well broken in boots, several pairs of cushy socks, and moleskin or equivalent for dealing with hot spots before they blister, will go a long way toward maximizing your enjoyment of the trip. I don't use hiking sticks, but I was glad to have one collapsible T-handled hiking pole to be kinder to my knees on the descents.
posted by TruncatedTiller at 5:58 PM on May 22, 2009

Response by poster: Of course, it's a little redundant to mark yours as the best answer, TruncatedTiller, as it's the only answer, but it was an excellent response and deserves to be acknowledged as such! Thank you for confirming that Oetzi is worth visiting - we probably would have gone because I love mummies, and when I first heard about him in an archaeology class, I was very excited, but now we'll be sure not to miss him.
posted by sumiami at 2:13 AM on May 25, 2009