One of the world’s best hikes is no walk in the park

The pristine alpine lake dotted with wooden rowboats and their enthusiastic day-tripper rowers, and the cows casually mingling with picnickers on the shore, might have lulled us into a false sense of ease.

Shortly after leaving the lake we began our first ascent, to gain nearly 1000 metres in just over two kilometres, including a treacherous scramble aided by cables over rain-slicked rock. This was our first hint that the well-trodden path of the Alta Via 1 was no walk in the park. And this was just the start of our trek through the Dolomites, in northern Italy.

The spectacular peaks of Italy’s Dolomites.Credit: Adobe

The trail is one of the most popular multi-day treks in Europe, and with traditional mountain cabin accommodation that comes with three-course Italian dinners and all-you-can-eat buffet breakfasts, it’s also one of the fanciest.

But don’t let the soft pillows, lunchtime beers or afternoon aperitivi fool you: the 120-kilometre trek is a serious hike. Narrow balcony paths, head-spinning heights and hundreds of metres of ascent every day make it a serious test of physical strength, and a mental challenge to boot.

The Dolomites are named after the distinctive pale limestone rock that dominates the landscape in dramatic towers and white-grey peaks that can soar well over 3000 metres high.

These alps erupt out of the surrounding pine forests and green valleys which often echo with the chaotic pealing of cow, goat or sheep bells. It is impossible to disagree with the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the area, describing it as one of “the most attractive mountain landscapes in the world”.

A hike of Everest-like proportions

Believe it or not, the Alta Via 1 is one of the easier hikes through the Dolomites as it does not include any via ferrata sections, which are paths that can include ladders and cables that require technical equipment and a serious head for heights.

But easier does not mean easy: the walk includes a total of just over 7800 metres of ascent and 8850 metres of descent, roughly the equivalent in elevation gain as a hike to the top of Mount Everest and back.

A hikers’ refuge – Rifugio Coldai.

My partner and I are experienced hikers – we have hiked the multi-day remote Nadgee wilderness through southern NSW into northern Victoria, and prior to the Dolomites we’d spent a week hiking in the Swiss Alps. So we went into the Alta Via 1 with confidence. We weren’t carrying days’ worth of food or camping equipment, and it’s a popular hike. How hard could it really be?

On the first two days, the sheer beauty of our surroundings, coupled with the novel luxury of being able to sleep in a soft bed after a carb-laden dinner followed by cake and schnapps more than made up for the aching legs.

It was day three that really tested us, as thanks to our late booking (a word of warning on that later), we had to stay in a rifugio (cabin) that was a decent detour from the main trail. But it was also the most spectacular day of the hike.

We were treated to panoramic views of the Dolomites on the steep ascent to Forcella di Lago, one of the toughest mountain passes on the hike – then the next section took us towards Mount Lagazuoi, a Mars-like gravel landscape of burnt umber and Dolomite grey with great jutting peaks and towers. Scattered about this landscape, more than 2000 metres above sea level, the landscape bore man-made scars.

A sad history in a spectacular place

The hike begins a stone’s throw from the Italian-Austrian border, and the Dolomites themselves sit largely within a region called Trentino-Alto Adige, also known as the South Tyrol. It was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire before World War I.

During that war, the area formed part of the White War – the improbable alpine battlegrounds, largely in the Dolomites, where tens of thousands of Italians and Austrians fought and died in bitter conditions.

A cave frames a Dolomites view.Credit: iStock

Trenches and ruined huts dot the landscape, and cutouts high up in the mountains and cliffs show the lengths the Austrian and Italian troops went to in creating kilometres of supply and stealth attack tunnels as well as high sentry positions.

After more than 20 kilometres of hiking through the fierce mountainscapes and World War I trenches, up and over precipitous alpine passes and along hairy gravel paths (including a detour after vertigo got the better of both of us along a particularly narrow and dizzying gravel track), it was a view of the final climb to our night’s accommodation that really pushed me.

The so-called path to our next night’s accommodation looked more like a goat track zig-zagging up what looked like a cliff. A quick call to our host confirmed that this was indeed the fastest way up. There were tears as a chamois, a species of goat-antelope, watched us slog up the final stretch in the rain. At least we had a hot meal to welcome us at the end of a very long day.

Schnapps, sachertorte and speck: Austrian influence runs deep

One of the highlights of the hike is the accommodation: mountain cabins called rifugios, many of which are family run, and all of which offer food, drink and a refuge for weary hikers to sleep.

Thanks to the mixed history of the region, the food here is not what most people would traditionally expect of Italian fare: sure, there is plenty of spaghetti bolognaise, but speck with eggs and potatoes features on almost every menu, as does polenta, venison, schnitzel, and sauerkraut with sausages.

Most rifugios offer a half-board option, which includes your bed, two to three courses for dinner, and breakfast the next morning. While stopping for a coffee and a hot lunch is always an option, many rifugios also offer a “packet lunch”. For about €10 ($16.50) you receive a sandwich, a snack and a drink to take with you.

The more expensive rifugios have rather romantic mountain-style dining and sleeping settings (and a steeper price: a private room at Rifugio Fanes with a private bathroom set two of us back €220 for one night).

What goes up, must eventually come down.Credit: Adobe

Other rifugios are more basic, but still an enjoyable stay. Rifugio Citta di Fiume is a smaller hut that is part of the Italian Alpine Club network and at €75 per person a night provides miniature dormitories (hot showers cost extra), but the frittata at dinner is delightful and the hut has cracking views of Mount Civetta, one of the highest peaks in the Dolomites.

However, thanks to the popularity of the hike and the short mid-July to mid-September hiking season, many of these providers book out early.

I found this out the hard way when I went to book an August trip five months ahead, and ended up having to make inquiries with about 30 rifugios, and in some cases getting our third choice for a particular leg of the hike.

We opted for a 10-day version of the trek, and the resulting plan meant we had some short days of six kilometres, but also a couple of large, tough days.

Dolomite dogs and icy dips

Despite the perks of the hike including regular coffee and strudel breaks and afternoon Aperol spritzes – or maybe because of them – the climbs did not get any easier.

To add insult to injury, we were regularly overtaken by dachshunds and chihuahuas defying their stature to sprint over rocks and patches of mud with their owners, as we continued our uphill (and then downhill, then uphill) slog.

That’s because while the hike is rugged, large swaths of it are extremely accessible, either via road or cable car. So among the through-hikers, there were many day-trippers in jeans. One man carried his French bulldog like a baby in a carrier strapped to his chest.

Having planned for 10 days, we cut our hike at six, conveniently avoiding a 21-kilometre day with a knee-aching 1400 metres of ascent and 1800 metres of descent.

An alpine lake along the trail.Credit: iStock

Our final stop was Coldai, with a pristine but icy lake, huge helpings of soft potato gnocchi served with a classic bolognese at Rifugio Coldai, a couple of large beers, and the piercing warning calls of marmots echoing around the peaks.

THE DETAILS

TRAIN + BUS
The hike begins at Lago di Braies near the alpine town of Dobbiaco/Toblach, and the closest international airport is Venice. From there, either train or bus is the best way to reach the alps. Companies such as Flixbus offer direct transfers from about $40. From Belluno, at the end of the hike, bus and train transfers to Venice are frequent, but try to book ahead in peak season.

STAY
The rifugios vary in price, averaging roughly €89 ($150) a person including half board (bed and two meals). If the entire Alta Via 1 is too much, nearby resort town Cortina D’Ampezzo is a good base for some of the highlights, including the spectacular Cinque Torri.

HIKING
Pack light. Use a small backpack (30 litres is ideal) as you won’t have much to carry besides clothes and sunscreen and your legs will thank you for it.
To avoid some huge hiking days and accommodation disappointment, book as early as possible.
Building up your mountain hiking with and without a pack will stand you in good stead for the elevation gain on the Alta Via 1.

MORE
For those interested in having someone else do the hard work of booking, companies including Bookatrekking.com and Mont Trekking offer various guided or self-guided packages. See bookatrekking.com or monttrekking.com
If you want to plan it yourself, apps such as The Hiking Club (membership from €89) help you plot the route, find contact details for rifugios and see just what sort of distance and terrain you’ll have to tackle between huts. See thehiking.club

The writer travelled at her own expense.