Hello!
I first wanted to thank all those who have put so much time and effort into making the Dolomites pages so spectacular - especially Marco979, Moni and Fred, Gabrielle, Sebastian Hamm, Gangolf, and Vid - I've never met or spoken with any of you, but I greatly appreciate your fine efforts!

I'll be traveling to the Dolomites for about ten days starting on June 30, and as this will be my first trip to the area, I'm very excited about seeing some of the classic views. I'm planning on mostly hiking and staying in the mountain huts, focusing on the areas around Tre Cime, the Nuvolau (Passo Falzarego), and Pale di San Martino (Passo Rolle). My biggest question right now is about bus transport in the area - is it easy to travel on bus between these areas? How frequently do the buses run? In the event that a bus is unavailable, are there taxis (and are they incredibly expensive?)

Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcome - especially if there is an area you think I should not miss. I appreciate your help!
Thanks,
Howie

I found this link for you:

http://www.dolomiti.it/eng/zone/howtoget.htm#bus

If you look closely you'll find two links to their timetables. The English version seems to be offline for the SAD-service, however.

As for taxis - I never used any since I usually drive my own car. The best places to stay imho are Cortina d'Ampezzo, Sexten/Sesto, St. Christina, Falcade. Especially Cortina has an incredible amount of opportunities but is rather crowded and more expensive than the other towns/villages.

The buses do not go everywhere nor is the schedule always climber friendly so having your own car is a good option. We have found it cheaper to arrange car rental from the US. I can't say if this is true if you are coming from a different country. We have gone by train to Innsbruck and rented a car there. Rent the smallest car that meets the need. The roads in the Dolomites are narrow, exposed and winding with few guard rails. Bicycling is very popular and you are also sharing the road with tourists with poor mountain driving skills and tour buses. Parking occasionally is problematic. It seemed to be much easier to get around with a little car. Be aware that because car theft is supposedly a problem in Italy, most rental places want you to have a credit card with a limit equal to the car's value or buy special insurance. They will require you to rent and use a steering wheel block as well. Gasoline in Europe is really expensive (easily triple of US gas prices), but the distances are mercifully very short.

It's about a 2 hour drive from Innsbruck to the Dolomites. The freeways in Italy are toll roads. If you are in a hurry, they are excellent and the tolls not too expensive. However, if you want to see the countryside and/or if your budget is tight, use the main roads that parallel the freeway. With a decent road map (or printing out Mapquest maps) navigation is easy. Everything is well signed. The roads everywhere were in good shape.

If I were going to the Dolos via train and bus service, I'd modify my itinerary slightly to emphasize Sella/Grodenjoch and the surrounding areas. The train from Innsbruck to Bozen is usually reliable. And the buses that run through Groeden, over Sellajoch, and into Cortina are really good and quite regular. The bus service from Groeden/Sella to the Drei Zinne is also regular. From what I've seen, the further away you get from Austria, and out of the semi-autonomous province of Suedtirol, the less reliable the transport becomes.

You'd have no trouble renting a car in Innsbruck. (You could also spend a day or two there-- maybe run up Stubaital and do Elferspitze or Serles or just spend a day playing on the Stubaigletscher or stuffing yourself on buttermilk and groestl at the Groebenhof.)

Once in the Dolos, the biggest road hazard is the plague of flatlanders on motorcycles who hurl themselves blindly into corners with no control of their bodies or vehicles. Honestly, I've never seen so many bikers ride so badly in one place at one time.

I wish I could go to the Dolomites every year . . ..

I second the advice about renting a car. As a climber you often want to start walking at 7 or 8 in the morning, and stay until late. Buses are not friendly in that regard!

Once we rented in Bolzano, that worked out great. Another time we rented in Munich and that was fine too. We never had to get a steering wheel block. Maybe it helps if you stay in Suedtirol which probably has less crime than Rome.

At the Sella Pass the Grohmannspitze south face is a great climb! As is the Langkofel North Face for something really long (though still only 5.6 or so).

I spent part of my honeymoon in Corvara (other side of the Sella from St. Christina) and I would have loved to have a car. Buses can run at odd times if you're intent on climbing or hiking and usually don't go exactly where you want to go.

Believe it or not, we always had a long and trying day just getting from Bolzano to Corvara by bus. Although it would have been a straight, quick trip up past St. Christina, the only bus service the day we left took us far north, then dropped us back south toward Bolzano. That blew most of one day that we could have spent hiking, climbing, exploring.

If you're going to invest the time and money to get there, make the most of the time you have. Rent a car.

I think if you really want to enjoy this wonderful places you need a car. You can rent it easily at the airport in Venezia or in many towns like Cortina or Moena ( it should cost around 30/50 euro a day ).
You chose a good period for your holyday, in july the weather is almost always fine. It is not the most frequented time of the year but if you want to enjoy the classic views you will find a lot of tourists, especially during the weekends ( usually monday and tuesday are the best days to visit this places ). All the Dolomitic range is fantastic so it's impossible to give an advice, because it's just a question of personal taste. My favourite areas are the Catinaccio ( great hiking area around the famous Torri del Vajolet ), the Dolomiti di Sesto ( really a fairy tale place ), the Pale di S.Martino ( very, very wild ), the Civetta group ( the university of the alpinism ) and of course the giants around Cortina like Cristallo, Antelao and Sorapiss.
There are many mountain huts, one of my favourite is the Rifugio Dibona, just below the famous south face of the Tofana di Rozes.

Wow! Thanks so much everybody for all your responses - it sounds like the consensus is that a car is the way to go ... I was planning on taking the train from Munich all the way to Dobbiaco and then trying to catch a bus there, but having a car would simplify my logistics a great deal ...

Moni - I think that Innsbruck will be the easiest major center for me to rent a car if I'm flying in to Munich - is this correct? Is there a rental company that you would suggest above others in the area?

Hearing all of your responses is just getting me more excited - I can't wait to go! I'm trying to secure spaces in the dormitories of the mountain huts for accommodation, but I have not had much luck getting email responses to my inquiries. How long in advance should I need to secure my bookings at the huts? I hope to stay in the Rifugio Locatelli, Rifugio Nuvolau, Rifugio Scoiatolli, and perhaps the Cappana Cervino - does anyone have feedback on these options? Will I have better luck attempting to phone in reservations?

Again, thank you so much everyone for your help and input, I very much appreciate it!
Howie

I cannot remember the company - Eurocar? It's been over 10 years, so the agency may likely have changed. Anyway, the first time we rented we got a special teacher discount. My cousins in Germany couldn't believe the deal we got. I emphasize that you should arrange the rental in the US. My guess some Internet searching will yield the results you want - that's how I did it. The second time, it was a slightly different agency in a different location in Innsbruck, but I haggled for a teacher discount and got one. And although we drove all around the Dolomites, we barely used a tankful of gas. The second time we drove to Venice - so over 2 weeks we used 2 tankfuls. The Dolomites are barely larger than Glacier National Park.

Check out some of the via ferrata while you're there. Whether you're just a hiker or hard core climber, they're lots of fun. Some interesting one tour the old fortifications from the first World War.

fatdad wrote:Check out some of the via ferrata while you're there. Whether you're just a hiker or hard core climber, they're lots of fun. Some interesting one tour the old fortifications from the first World War.

Agreed!

hhsilleck wrote:
Hearing all of your responses is just getting me more excited - I can't wait to go! I'm trying to secure spaces in the dormitories of the mountain huts for accommodation, but I have not had much luck getting email responses to my inquiries. How long in advance should I need to secure my bookings at the huts? I hope to stay in the Rifugio Locatelli, Rifugio Nuvolau, Rifugio Scoiatolli, and perhaps the Cappana Cervino - does anyone have feedback on these options? Will I have better luck attempting to phone in reservations?

Again, thank you so much everyone for your help and input, I very much appreciate it!
Howie

You chose the most frequented huts so it's better to make a reservation at least a week or two before. This huts usually open in june.
I agree with Fatdad and Moni, the vie ferrate of the WWI in the Dolomiti are a must. In the area that you want to visit there are some of the best ones:
http://www.summitpost.org/route/157536/ ... pella.html
http://www.summitpost.org/route/332498/ ... aredo.html
http://www.summitpost.org/route/334447/ ... ratas.html
http://www.summitpost.org/route/235913/ ... ibona.html