Italy Travel

One of the most beautiful alpine routes ‘Strada delle Dolomiti’ leads through the most scenic peaks of Dolomite mountain range.
There are three ways to follow the ancient trade route between Bolzano and Venice, by car- the fastes one, hiking the mountains through ‘via ferrata’ and refuges trail, and during the winter
on ski following the pistes of Dolomiti Superski ski area.

We choose the fast one.
The road starts at the capital of Alto Adige – Bolzano and ends in Cortina d’Ampezzo in Veneto.
The route 241 enters the Valle d’Ega ( Eggental) and climbs up the Catinnaccio mountains to reach the Passo di Costalunga (Karerpass) at 1745 m above sea level.
Then the road goes down through the villages of Fassa Valley , Vigo di Fassa and Pozza di Fassa (1325 m ) where reaches road 48. On the left there is a beautiful view of Scilar and Sassolungo ranges,and on the other side Col Bel ( 2436 m) and Marmolada ( 3343 m). Near the winter capital of Val di Fassa – Canazei (1465 m) the road splits to go around Gruppo di Sella, on the left hand side the road goes to Val Gardena via Passo Sella, and we follow the right part climbing up to the highest point of ‘Dolomites road’ at 2239 m – Passo Pordoi.
Leaving the Sella range on the left side, the road 48 now goes through another famous winter ski resort Arabba ( 1602 m ) to enter the valley Livinallongo del Col di Lana watered by the Cordevole river. The route follows the valley full of scenic views of dolomitic peaks and cliffs with a small town Pieve di livinallongo 1475 m to turn left at Andraz.
Partially restored Castello di Andraz was used as a Scottish outpost for the movie ‘Braveheart’ with Mel Gibson.
During the first World War around eight thousand of soldiers died fighting for South Tyrol. The peak of Col di Lana (2462 m) is from that time called ‘Col di Sangue’, which means ‘Bloody Hill’.
The road climbs to Falzarego pass ( 2105 m ) there is a War memorial here, also a gondola to the Lagazuoi (2762 m), where you can see the remains of heavy battles at Open Air museum Lagazuoi 5 Torri. The road follows the river Falzarego and finally reaches Cortina d’Ampezzo.
You can stay here longer to visit area near Cortina, with the beautiful Lake Misurina, or follow the road to Dobbiaco, or the opposite direction to Belluno and head towards Venice.
[ phto of Passo Pordoi : courtesy of ai@ce]