Notes on trips to Italy, including hiking and cities. Pointers on where to stay, when to go, and what to do, with a focus on shoulder season travel.
The last four days of the Tour of the Bernina brought us back into Switzerland. There, we paralleled the train line to Alp Grüm (where we stayed in a hotel that is also a train station) and along Lago Bianco and Lej Nair. We spent our last two nights with spectacular glacier views, one a berghaus tied in with a ski area and the last at a classic Swiss hut.
The middle part of our Tour of the Bernina took us over Passo del Forno into Italy. We stayed at Rifugio Longoni and crossed through Vallone di Scerscen to stay at Rifugio Carate. From there, we backtracked to enjoy views at Rifugio Marinelli Bombardieri before taking in the stunning scenery around Fellaria Glacier. We spent a night at Rifugio Bignami before crossing back into Switzerland.
After hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc in 2018, we were eager to complete another long hut-to-hut circuit in the Alps. For this, we again prioritized fantastic scenery and comfortable huts. We also hoped to visit a quieter set of huts and trails than the Tour du Mont Blanc and to visit a different part of the Alps. After considering many routes, we decided on the Tour of the Bernina, circling the Piz Bernina massif on the Swiss-Italian border. We hiked our 90-mile route in 10 days.
From Rifugio Bonatti, we followed a variant of the TMB over Mont de la Saxe and then down into Courmayeur. We hiked back up out of Courmayeur on a stormy morning, reaching Rifugio Elisabetta under broken clouds. Clouds and rain obscured the views for our hike from Elisabetta to Croix du Bonhomme.
Days 3-5 of our Tour du Mont Blanc hike. From Trient, we followed the Bovine route to the lakeside town of Champex. The next day, we walked an interpretive mushroom trail and through the Swiss Val Ferret to La Fouly. From La Fouly, we crossed the Grand Col de Ferret and followed the Italian Val Ferret to Rifugio Bonatti. Continue reading
We recently returned from a fantastic ten-day hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc through France, Switzerland, and Italy. We’ll eventually add detailed posts about the actual hike, but we want to share some notes on planning the trip and logistics with our trip fresh in our minds.
In June 2016, we spent a week hiking in the Dolomites in Italy. For our hiking days, we split our time between Cortina D’Ampezzo and Selva di Val Gardena. This post describes our hikes in and around Selva di Val Gardena, including on the Sella Massif to Piz Boè and on the Puez-Odle. Continue reading
In June 2016, we visited the Dolomites. This post covers our drive up to Cortina d’Ampezzo, and the hikes from there. We enjoyed three fantastic hikes in the Cortina area. During that time, we hiked a loop around Passo di Falzarego, to Lago di Sorapiss, and a loop at Tre Cime di Lavaredo. We also enjoyed a night and spectacular sunrise at the Lagazuoi rifugio.
In June 2016, we spent a week hiking in the Dolomites in Italy. For our hiking days, we split our time between staying in Cortina D’Ampezzo and Selva di Val Gardena. This post discusses logistics: where we stayed, some decisions about transportation, and resources we found helpful in planning the trip.
In June 2016, we visited the Dolomites, stopping in Venice first. This post covers our time in Venice, while two other posts cover our time in the Dolomites:
An additional post covers logistics of our trip to the Dolomites: where we stayed, some decisions about transportation, and resources we found helpful in planning the trip.