Trekking the Alta Via 1 Route - Make it happen!
The Dolomites are very accessible, and the trip was logistically easy to plan. We took 7 days off work, walked for 9 days, and had a couple of days spare to explore.
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How long to take
Advice varies from 10-15 days to complete AV1, we planned our route over 9 days. We’ve completed multi-day hikes where we’ve walked 8 hours or more on several days; on AV1 we mostly stuck to 4-5 hours per day. The Alta Via 1 route has a lot of body battering ascent and descent and some challenging terrain, so good advice – unless you’re super fit or super bonkers – would be to stick to the stages outlined by the latest Ciccerone guide book. The guide advises not to double up sections. Three to four hours walking a day may not sound much, but on the days we ignored the guide and walked for 6 or 7 hours, we felt the effects on subsequent days. That said, some single section days were very short and we could have walked for longer, but this was a holiday! We wanted to take it at a leisurely pace and enjoy the journey, as well as allow some downtime each day. |
Altitude
Be aware of the possible effects of walking at (albeit low) altitude. Most of the walk is done at heights between 2,000 and 2,500m, occasionally dropping lower and peaking at 2,882m. Altitude sickness can occur at 2,438m or higher so this is not a huge concern on AV1, but even below this height you will feel your lung capacity reduced. Altitude sickness can manifest in headaches (we experienced a dull ache at times), loss of appetite (happily, neither of us experienced this), and poor sleep (yes, weird sleep patterns and lucid dreams). You need to be in a pretty good state of fitness to do this walk reasonably comfortably without feeling like a heart attack is imminent and your lungs are trying to escape through your ears. We hadn’t really thought this through before hitting the trail and as we scrambled up that first, breath taking (literally) ascent we thought we were horribly unfit for the task. It was only a couple of days in we realised the altitude was affecting our fitness. (Yeah, we’re quick like that!)
Be aware of the possible effects of walking at (albeit low) altitude. Most of the walk is done at heights between 2,000 and 2,500m, occasionally dropping lower and peaking at 2,882m. Altitude sickness can occur at 2,438m or higher so this is not a huge concern on AV1, but even below this height you will feel your lung capacity reduced. Altitude sickness can manifest in headaches (we experienced a dull ache at times), loss of appetite (happily, neither of us experienced this), and poor sleep (yes, weird sleep patterns and lucid dreams). You need to be in a pretty good state of fitness to do this walk reasonably comfortably without feeling like a heart attack is imminent and your lungs are trying to escape through your ears. We hadn’t really thought this through before hitting the trail and as we scrambled up that first, breath taking (literally) ascent we thought we were horribly unfit for the task. It was only a couple of days in we realised the altitude was affecting our fitness. (Yeah, we’re quick like that!)
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When to go
Shoulder season is a great time to travel, mainly because there will be fewer people. (Introverts do not go off climbing mountains, in search of random human company!) But! It is worth checking things are still open in shoulder season. You know, important things, like somewhere to sleep. Not that I’m averse to sleeping outside – far from it – but up on a chilly mountain on a multi-day hike it’s not the best way to recharge your batteries for the next day’s trek, and camping is prohibited. Our preparation comprised booking some flights, panicking at the eleventh hour and re-working a sketchy route several times to fit with accommodation that was still open. The rifugios are open from around 20th June to around 20th September. We’d planned our trek from 17th to 25th September! The Dolomites are covered in snow in winter, great for skiing, not for hiking. Most hikers visit between July and September when snow doesn’t pose a threat. July and August can be hot, and extremely busy on the trail. September is typically lovely. We packed walking shorts, sun cream and bug spray! We expected sunny days. Which we got, for the most part. But we also got a dumping of several inches of snow that affected our route, and a day of torrential rain. |
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How to get there
We flew into Innsbruck, Austria, from where you can get a bus straight from the terminal and be in Villabassa 2 hours later, but check the times and book ahead. We didn’t book and missed this by minutes, but we easily got a bus from just outside the terminal to Innsbruck station (goes fairly regularly), then caught the train to Villabassa (2 hours) where we stayed overnight. Villabassa is a great little town that has a grocery store, camping supplies store and pharmacy, but they’re closed on a Sunday so if you need to stock up on supplies, Innsbruck is the place to do it. From Villabassa, it’s a 15-minute bus ride from the main street (you’ll see the bus stop) to Lago di Braies – the start of the walk.
At the end of the walk, whichever way you exit the mountain (Bolzano Bellunese, La Pissa or Forno di Zolda), there are bus routes with regular services to Belluno where we stayed overnight, before taking a 2hr train journey to Venice. (It's worth noting that there are a number of routes down off the trail should you need to bail out early for any reason. Check the guide book for information.) Water buses take passengers from Venice to the airport, from where we flew home to London. The travel was all very straightforward and easy to figure out along the way without much forward planning (though I’d recommend forward planning).
We flew into Innsbruck, Austria, from where you can get a bus straight from the terminal and be in Villabassa 2 hours later, but check the times and book ahead. We didn’t book and missed this by minutes, but we easily got a bus from just outside the terminal to Innsbruck station (goes fairly regularly), then caught the train to Villabassa (2 hours) where we stayed overnight. Villabassa is a great little town that has a grocery store, camping supplies store and pharmacy, but they’re closed on a Sunday so if you need to stock up on supplies, Innsbruck is the place to do it. From Villabassa, it’s a 15-minute bus ride from the main street (you’ll see the bus stop) to Lago di Braies – the start of the walk.
At the end of the walk, whichever way you exit the mountain (Bolzano Bellunese, La Pissa or Forno di Zolda), there are bus routes with regular services to Belluno where we stayed overnight, before taking a 2hr train journey to Venice. (It's worth noting that there are a number of routes down off the trail should you need to bail out early for any reason. Check the guide book for information.) Water buses take passengers from Venice to the airport, from where we flew home to London. The travel was all very straightforward and easy to figure out along the way without much forward planning (though I’d recommend forward planning).
Where to stay
Camping is forbidden so the rifugios are your option (unless you want to risk bivvying on a chilly mountain). July and August are busy so book in advance. If you need to adjust your route during your walk, phone ahead each day from the trail to check availability. Some rifugios offer online booking, but most I booked by email. Some you’ll need to phone. Most require a deposit payment when you book. The process can be a little convoluted, you’ll just need a little patience.
The rifugios vary in size and facilities but all offer food and more than adequate comfort. A few don’t have potable water (Nuvolau for example, because the pipes would freeze!) but you can get bottled water. As most were shutting down for the winter when we visited, they were not busy but supplies were running short in some. In all but 3 we had a room to ourselves. Otherwise we shared with others in bunk rooms. Some require you to use a sleeping bag liner, others don’t, but you’ll need to take one. If you want great sunsets / sunrises, these are the best rifugios: Tissi, Nuvolau, Lagazuoi, Sciatolli, Coldai.
Camping is forbidden so the rifugios are your option (unless you want to risk bivvying on a chilly mountain). July and August are busy so book in advance. If you need to adjust your route during your walk, phone ahead each day from the trail to check availability. Some rifugios offer online booking, but most I booked by email. Some you’ll need to phone. Most require a deposit payment when you book. The process can be a little convoluted, you’ll just need a little patience.
The rifugios vary in size and facilities but all offer food and more than adequate comfort. A few don’t have potable water (Nuvolau for example, because the pipes would freeze!) but you can get bottled water. As most were shutting down for the winter when we visited, they were not busy but supplies were running short in some. In all but 3 we had a room to ourselves. Otherwise we shared with others in bunk rooms. Some require you to use a sleeping bag liner, others don’t, but you’ll need to take one. If you want great sunsets / sunrises, these are the best rifugios: Tissi, Nuvolau, Lagazuoi, Sciatolli, Coldai.
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What to pack
The lighter the pack, the more enjoyable the trek, obviously. And this was, after all, a holiday not an endurance challenge so the more enjoyable, the better. What better way, then, to avoid pack weight creep than to challenge yourself to take only hand luggage! Constraining yourself to what will fit in a budget airline carry on allowance makes you interrogate every single item you take. We each took a 35l pack. Still, it can be hard to prioritise what to leave behind. I’d rather cut down on socks than leave the duct tape or the jelly babies behind. Even with experience of various multi-day treks, it’s always hard to get it exactly right. You can’t pack for every possible eventuality. And we didn’t. You can see what I packed in the photo. When it comes to trail gear, you can’t beat merino for base layers and socks. It costs more than synthetic fabrics but you really can wear the same pair of socks for 4 or 5 days straight without offending your travel buddy or suffering any ill effects. I know, I’ve tested this several times. An 8-10 day trek requires just two pairs of socks. My merino base layer lasted the whole 9 days on the Dolomites, and only really got a bit whiffy by day 7! Improvements I’ll make to my kit before the next adventure: silk PJs (cosy, comfy, warm and lightweight); full length leggings (I’ve yet to find the optimal walking trouser); silk sleeping bag liner (my microfleece one created a lot of static, I resembled a colony of fireflies during the night). Things we should have packed but didn’t: gators or waterproof trousers for wading through snow; snow gloves (because tiny, wool ones are not warm); ice pick(kidding). Things that came along for the ride but could have stayed home: the jet boil – great idea but useless without gas, and by the same token the noodles and porridge could have stayed behind; bug spray; shorts; swimwear. |
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Food
As we did in Patagonia, we took noodles, porridge and snacks with us – the idea being to keep costs down. This plan would have worked had we bought gas for the stove in Innsbruck! Unlike Patagonia, taking your own food is not necessary as all the rifugios along the trail offer breakfast, dinner and packed lunch. We dumped the noodles and porridge pretty early on to save on pack weight and enjoyed delicious pastas, wiener schnitzel and omelette with wild abandon.
Most of the rifugios include breakfast in the room fee. Dinner is extra. We don’t tend to get that hungry when we walk so the snacks we took (nakd bars, nuts, chocolate, jelly babies) and the salami we bought in Innsbruck kept us going during the day. As you pass rifugios en route, you’re also never very far away from coffee and apple strudel! We also bought delicious, stinky cheese in Innsbruck, but by day 3 of warming up and sweating away in my pack during the day and freezing at night, it got too stinky and had to be ditched. If you’re discreet, you could probably squirrel away a few items from the breakfast buffet to get you through to supper, but all signs ask you not to. So, we didn’t.
As we did in Patagonia, we took noodles, porridge and snacks with us – the idea being to keep costs down. This plan would have worked had we bought gas for the stove in Innsbruck! Unlike Patagonia, taking your own food is not necessary as all the rifugios along the trail offer breakfast, dinner and packed lunch. We dumped the noodles and porridge pretty early on to save on pack weight and enjoyed delicious pastas, wiener schnitzel and omelette with wild abandon.
Most of the rifugios include breakfast in the room fee. Dinner is extra. We don’t tend to get that hungry when we walk so the snacks we took (nakd bars, nuts, chocolate, jelly babies) and the salami we bought in Innsbruck kept us going during the day. As you pass rifugios en route, you’re also never very far away from coffee and apple strudel! We also bought delicious, stinky cheese in Innsbruck, but by day 3 of warming up and sweating away in my pack during the day and freezing at night, it got too stinky and had to be ditched. If you’re discreet, you could probably squirrel away a few items from the breakfast buffet to get you through to supper, but all signs ask you not to. So, we didn’t.
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History
As we snaked our way through Austria into Italy, it was soon evident there is a bit of an identity crisis in the South Tyrol region. We noticed the bi-lingual announcements on the train, and the signs in the towns we passed. And although AV1 winds firmly through Italy, it was only when we reached as far south as Passo Giau, that the predominant language changed from German to Italian (though the bi-lingual signs remained). There are people in pockets of South Tyrol who do not identify as Italian, though they are, and seek independence from Italy. One such town in Bolzano, whose culture, language and identity is firmly Austrian. South Tyrol once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian empire, until Italy annexed it in 1918 as part of Mussolini’s attempt to Italianise the area. It didn’t work. They refused to be Italianised. It was during this Italian bid to claim the region from its Austrian neighbours that some of the fiercest fighting of the First World War took place. Resultantly, the Dolomites are studded with relics from World War 1. There are bunkers built into mountainsides, war tunnels used to move about through the mountains - long since abandoned and now a tourist hot spot, bullet holes scarring rocks and trees, and various relics yet to be uncovered about the land. Some of these bunkers and tunnels can be explored along AV1. |
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