In 2010 I came here for 4 days to snowboard with friends and fell in love with the breathtaking…read moreview of the Dolomites. No wonder Unesco declared these mountains as a world heritage! Alta Badia is considered as the top ski resort for beginners/ intermediate because more than 50% of the pistes are piste azzurre (blue =beginner runs. Equivalent to green slopes in America) and 40 % of the pistes are red/medium-difficulty. It would be an understatement to say Alta Badia has plenty of lifts.... there are more than 50 lifts! The reason why it has so many lifts is because Alta Badia is made of 6 villages - Corvara, Colfosco, La Villa, San Cassiano, Padraces, & Sella Ronda. These villages are all linked together so you can ski at any of them except Sella Ronda. Padraces is considered the easiest pistes and Sella Ronda is known for more challenging runs but you need the Superski pass to get a direct access. There are nearly 100 slopes and the snow condition is fantastic!! I personally prefer Obereggen more but Alta Badia is just as fun and beautiful, and perhaps has better apre-ski scene. P.S.- At the mountain huts, try the delicious goulash!!!

Quaint little place located in Santa Maddalena, Italy. I booked this place a few months in advance…read morefor the picturesque views located online of the Odle Dolomites. This place is rural and I needed to travel one lane highways to get here. I arrived shortly before dusk and was a bit disoriented. Fortunately, I wasn't too far away from where I should have been and found it quickly enough. The family is the Fischnaller's, a German-speaking family with little English knowledge but very nice people. The apartment has two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen with a bench space and a small TV. The balcony is covered and has a picnic table. The apartments has four radiators that provide heat and simply open the windows for cold air. The payment for rent is cash only. This area was once a part of Austria and became part of Italy after World War I. I used this time mostly to relax and decompress. Vacation is supposed to be fun but there are also much pressures in seeing everything on the list. My list in this area included two churches that had amazing views to the Odle Dolomites. I saw them both and was very pleased. This area has roads that are only big enough for one car only. There are a few restaurants in the area but most were closed when I visited. Fortunately Hotel Tyrol was serving food nearby and there was a local market called Neiderstatter that sold beer, wine, and some food items. Four stars!

Gayle and I briefly stopped by this Mountain Hut on or first day hiking in Seiser Alm. It's also…read moreknown in Italian as Rifugio Molignon. It's a nice family run operation with good food and accommodation available. And of course, there were the gorgeous Dolomite peaks all around.

Wife and I hiked along a trail leading up to this hidden gym, literally off the beaten path. Clean…read morerestrooms, great place to have a seat outside and order a pastry and a beer. Folks were very friendly. Seems like it would be very difficult to get to by car, although there were five or six cars parked nearby. All had all wheel drive. If you're hiking in the neighborhood, I would definitely recommend stopping by to resting and refuel.

When you go up in the cable car you realize how worth it it is to pay 4euros each way. The trek is…read morequite steep. They charge same amount for dogs and bikes to come w you. Only 20 people at a time and seem to get crowded late morning. The bathroom is in the cable car building. The tower outside the cable car area is a great scenic view if you don't mind 10flights of stairs. The hikes from this base are quite nice and well marked. I made my way to the schneiderweisen which is a little hotel on top of mountain.

This is a great place to hire camping, hiking, ferratta equipment in the area. The owner is…read morefriendly and obliging although she speaks little English. We hired helmets, via ferratta equipment and other things on several days. We weren't able to return things on one day and she was fine when I dropped it off next morning. There is also a small selection of shoes, poles, clothing, etc which (like all shops in the area) is overpriced.

This high ropes course is relatively new and put up by the local guides just off the main road…read morebetween Corvara and Colfosco. It has three courses of varying difficulty nestled in the trees some 5 metres above the ground. The courses themselves aren't overly difficult if you have a head for heights but beware the nervous as some bits are a bit hairy and although you're always safe and fastened onto a safety wire it's easy to get a bit scared when the trees sway or you have to do one of the zip wires. It's not expensive though and to do all three grades of course is only EUR12 including all the kit so it is well worth a visit.

Rifugio Sennes was our first overnight stay along the AV1, after taking buses from Cortina and…read moremaking the climb up from Lago di Braies. It was an afternoon that started hot & sunny and ended with wind and rain; and those of us who arrived first were able to duck under the canopy on the back deck just as the bigger drops started to fall. There were cows grazing everywhere - The sound of their collar-bells rang out in all directions. After changing to sandals, dropping off my pack, and grabbing a lager, I sat out on the back deck to enjoy the atmosphere. It was one of the many highlights of my trip. The rifugio itself was charming, with a good layout and a friendly staff. Compared to rifugios we would visit later, it felt quite spacious. And it was one of two huts on our trip to offer an extensive menu for dinner. (Others were prix fixe-style). My main course of polenta with mushroom sauce was delicious and hearty. Rifugio Sennes also felt the most 'germanic' of the AV1 huts; it was a mere score of miles from the Austrian border. I noted the staff spoke both German and Italian (in addition to English). There was even a visiting quartet that played a short, wake-up 'oompah' song in the morning (I just missed the photo op). After breakfast I was a little sad to leave. But the next rifugio was beckoning. Rifugio Summary: - Setting: Sheltered behind a ridge and overlooking high meadow; surrounded by cows and long-distance views - Rooms/dorms: Good size; very clean - Food: Excellent - Potable water: Yes - Wi-fi: weak

A charming spot in the Dolomites, friendly and welcoming. The food was excellent, the service…read morefriendly and prompt, and the prices very reasonable. I highly recommend this delightful mountain hut!

Just off the main street in Corvara you will find the tourist office in part of the local council…read morebuildings. It is a small attractive building and there is always plenty of information outside that you are welcome to pick up. Once inside however they are some of the most ineffective and unhelpful staff I have ever dealt with which is ironic for a tourist office. Their attitude is generally quite stand offish and you almost feel like they are doing you a favour rather than promoting their area. They give you straight flat answers if they can't help instead of finding out information and the whole experience is quite off putting. Probably the best thing is to pick up one of their useful guest handbooks and look for the information yourself first. That or do what I do and phone them instead as they always seem nicer when you can't see their faces.