Larry, Allison, Todd, Amy, John, Tricia, Martha, Leah & Tina,
The trip is close. Everything you need for seven days in the Dolomites lives on this page: the hotels, the hikes, the dinners, the driver, and the plan for each day. The last pieces are locking in now.
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Your job from here is to show up and enjoy. We handle the rest.
Corvara
Venice
Five days on foot. Cable cars handle most of the climbing, and lunch is always at a hut on the trail. A Trovare self-guided tour is sent 48 hours before each one.
Trovare is our own self-guided touring platform — the routes, the stories, and the navigation, in your pocket from the first trailhead to the last piazza. No guide to keep up with, no schedule to hold. It is the same platform we run with private clients and partner hotels across Europe and the US.
Each day's walk lives in the app: turn-by-turn navigation mapped by our team, with distance, elevation, and every stop laid out before you set off. Built for this trip, not pulled from a public library.
The history, geology, and legends of the Dolomites, narrated aloud at exactly the spot where they happened. Reach a rifugio, a ridgeline, a chapel — and the story finds you. Listen with headphones, or read instead.
Download the Go Trovare app from the App Store before you fly. Download each tour on hotel WiFi before you head out, as signal is patchy in the high country.
Your position shows live on the route, so you always know where the next stop is. Linger at the overlook, take the detour, stop for the photograph — the tour waits for you and picks you back up.
Download the tour on hotel WiFi in the morning so it runs without signal. Bring headphones and a power bank on longer days.
September in these mountains runs warm in the valleys and cool on the ridgelines, with the occasional fast shower passing through. The whole week is won with layers. Everything below fits in one checked bag and a daypack.
Hiking shoes or light boots, broken in, with real tread — this matters more than anything else on the list. Two or three hiking outfits you can rotate, a fleece for ridgelines and cable-car summits, and a true rain shell, not an umbrella. Sun hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, and SPF lip balm — the light at 8,000 feet is stronger than it feels. A 15-to-25-liter daypack, 1.5 liters of water, and poles if you use them; they earn their keep on the Pordoi descent.
A headlamp for the Lagazuoi tunnels — helmets and headlamps can also be rented at the top station, so leave the helmet home. Light gloves and a warm hat for September mornings at elevation. Blister care and personal first-aid basics. A power bank for phones running Trovare all day.
Smart casual covers every dinner on this trip — a collared shirt or a nice sweater is plenty, and nobody has ever been underdressed at a mountain hut. One warmer layer for evening walks; the plateau cools quickly after sunset. Comfortable shoes for the villages.
Passport valid through March 2027 (EES biometrics on arrival, extra airport time). Personal medications in original packaging. EU adapters, type C, F, or L — two is smarter than one. Travel insurance card, and a phone with an EU eSIM or international plan set up before you fly.
Visa is widely accepted; Amex is not — bring a Visa or Mastercard with no foreign transaction fees. Lunches and snacks through the day run €50 to €100 per person in cash, variable; the huts prefer cash. ATMs in Ortisei and Corvara.
Formal wear — there is no dress code anywhere on this trip. Hair dryers and heavy toiletries; both hotels have you covered. Anything you would be sad to carry uphill.
Everything on the itinerary is arranged and settled. What you carry is for the mountain, where cards are the exception rather than the rule.
Europe changed its border process in 2026, and it is worth two minutes of your attention before you fly. The EU now uses a biometric Entry/Exit System at every Schengen border — nothing to apply for, nothing to pay. On arrival in Venice, instead of a passport stamp, you register at a kiosk with fingerprints and a photo. First-time registration is the slow part, so expect passport control to take longer than on past trips. Build in patience on arrival, and on the way home get to the airport with more buffer than you think you need, especially with a connection.
Travel on the same passport for the entire journey, since your border record is tied to it — any US passport issued after 2006 has the chip the system needs. It must be valid at least three months beyond your departure from Europe, and six months is the smart standard. If yours expires before March 2027, renew it now: US renewals are running four to six weeks, so August is the last comfortable window.
Europe's upcoming travel authorization, similar to the US ESTA, has not launched yet and is expected late in 2026 — after this trip. We are tracking it, and if anything changes before September we will tell you exactly what to do. Nothing is needed from you today.
Valley highs in the 60s to low 70s, ridgelines in the 40s and 50s. Mornings are the stable window and afternoon cloud build-ups are normal. Rain moves through fast, so bring a shell, not an umbrella.
An EU eSIM (Airalo, Holafly) or your carrier’s international plan. WiFi at both hotels. Signal gets patchy in the high country, so download each Trovare tour on hotel WiFi before you head out.
Four dinners are at your hotels, a hallway from your room. Two are nights out: Ortisei on the 7th with a car back up the mountain, and Corvara on the 9th, a five-minute walk from the Sassongher. All reservations are handled by us.
Four of your days use a cable car or gondola: Ciampinoi on Sunday, Col Raiser on Monday, and Lagazuoi both ways on Wednesday, with Porta Vescovo at Arabba available as an early exit on Thursday. We recommend the Dolomiti Supersummer pass, five days out of seven, at €185. It covers over a hundred lifts across the Dolomites including both Val Gardena and Alta Badia, so there is no queuing at a ticket office each morning and no thinking about it if you decide to add a lift on the day. You can buy it online ahead of time through the Dolomiti Superski shop, or at the first lift on Sunday morning. Single tickets each day would come out slightly cheaper, but with a group of nine and a driver waiting, the pass is worth the difference.
The road onto the Alpe di Siusi is closed to private traffic from 09:00 to 17:00. If you are driving yourself you need a permit — send us your car model, plate and driver name and we will arrange it before you arrive. If Johann is driving you, it is already handled.
Johann runs every transfer this week. His family has been in the valley for generations and he is a genuine resource, not just a lift: if you want to stop somewhere, need something from a shop, or have a question about what you are looking at, ask him. Pickup times are confirmed the night before on the group WhatsApp, and on hike days the vans wait at the far trailhead so nobody walks a mile twice.
Alpine guide and ski instructor, lives in Val Gardena, former freeride competitor and rescue-helicopter operator in the Himalayas. He is with you for the whole first hiking day.
Dial 112 for any emergency. The same number reaches mountain rescue, the Soccorso Alpino. Pharmacies in Ortisei and Corvara. The high point of the week is about 9,000 feet, enough to notice on the first climb, not enough to need acclimatization. Every route can be shortened by cable car.
These are Ladin valleys. You will hear Ladin, German, and Italian at the same café, and a “Grüss Gott” lands as well as a “Buongiorno.” Half-board dinners at both hotels run 7:00 to 8:30. The huts are cash-friendly and unhurried. Sit down, order the barley soup, stay a while.
Once you're back, we'd love your honest read on the trip. It takes a few minutes, and every answer shapes how we plan the next one.
We've got it, and we read every word. Collin will be in touch.
