There is a lot of information to digest in order to plan your hut to hut trek in the Dolomites. It was quite laborious but so worth it. It is the trip of a lifetime!
1. Read the Cicerone guidebook: Trekking in the Dolomites Alta Via 1 and Alta Via 2.
This is the place to start! It is a comprehensive guide to the stages of the AV1. Each stage is broken out with descriptions of what to expect from each hike and information about each Rifugio. This book was essential in planning our route and considering options for variants.
*However, know that you will need to get a map for when you are hiking. Most people recommend the Tabacco maps. We ended up buying the Tappeiner Alta Via 1 map in Lago di Braies, which was great. It was broken down into the 11 stages so it was easy to track. There are blogs saying it is easy to get lost, that was not our experience. While there are not always signs saying "AV1," there are always route markers with trail numbers and Rifugio destinations.
2. Book Rifugios well in advance. Ideally a year out.
July and August are the most popular times to hike the AV1; the Rifugios have limited space and will fill up. I originally planned my trip for July 2020 and booked my Rifugios in early February. I found that several were already at capacity, which meant reconfiguring our days in order to get to the next Rifugio on the route. (Since we had to postpone due to the pandemic, we ended up getting all of our first choice Rifugios for 2021).
Many of the Rifugios do not have online booking. Most of the booking is done through emailing; since wifi service in the Dolomites is unreliable, contact would often take several days. Patience is imperative in the booking process!
3. Book Rifugios in route order.
At first when I was booking for 2020, I contacted all of the Rifugios on the same day with our intended dates. However, because some of them were full on our specific date, I ended up having to backtrack and switch dates around with each Rifugio, which was a lot of unnecessary back and forth communication.
Only 1 or 2 Rifugios had an online booking system that showed up to date availability.
Many of the Rifugios have online request forms. I submitted those but also contacted them directly through email. Often the email got answered first. I also included an Italian translation in my email. Most of the Rifugios responded in English, but a couple were strictly Italian.
To expedite the process, I recommend including the following in your inquiry: Name, number of people, dates, how many nights, which type of room (private or dorm) and how to proceed with a deposit. Some Rifugios accepted online payment or paypal, others required bank transfer.
4. Don’t overestimate your route.
Plan conservatively. The AV1 has many ascents and descents. Sometimes the distance of each stage doesn’t seem too much, but there are often grueling ascents and descents.
The Cicerone guidebook breaks the trek into 11 stages, which is a conservative approach to the doing the AV1 in 11 days. Many people combine some of the stages and do the trek in less time.
Our route was mostly determined by Rifugio availability. We did start combining the stages on day 5 as we wanted to complete the AV1 in 9 days rather than 11. It did make for some long days but they were still manageable. Plan to your comfort level, and keep in mind the guidebook time estimates don’t account for any stopping. We liked to take our time, take tons of photos, enjoy the scenery and stop at other Rifugios along the way. So our start to finish times were always longer than the books estimates.
5. Do stay at Lago di Braies before the hike.
Lago di Braies is the starting point for the Alta Via 1. Hotel Pragser Wildsee is located on the lake and is definitely worth staying at. The lake is quite crowded during the day but the mornings and evenings were quiet and perfect. And the food at the hotel was excellent.
Their website says 3 night minimum, but I emailed them to stay for 1 night in 2020, and they had no problem with it. When we rescheduled the hike for 2021, we ended up switching the reservation to 2 nights (and we were very glad we did!)
6. Consider post hike relaxation!
Did you know the Dolomites are just above the Prosecco region? Makes for a perfect place to relax after the hike! This part we planned rather last minute so our options were limited due to availability. But we got lucky and ended up at Relais le Betulle in Conegliano. It had beautiful views, a lovely swimming pool and a delicious restaurant. Perfect for a brief 2 night wind down after the hike.
Funny enough, a German couple we met half way through our hike, also booked the same hotel! We ended the hike together and all took the train from Belluno, one hour south to Conegliano.
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