Five days. One perfect home base.
The exact blueprint to hike, eat, and explore the Dolomites like you've been there before.
Years of my exploration, brought together so you know what deserves your time, what to walk past, and where to linger.
You've found the mountains.
Here's how to make the trip.
Finding beautiful places in the Dolomites is easy. Deciding how to bring them together takes more thought. Where should you stay? Which experiences belong in the same trip? How much can you comfortably do before a spectacular day starts feeling like work?
I've spent years exploring those questions on the ground, walking the trails, trying the detours, stopping at the rifugios, and discovering which decisions make the biggest difference.
This guidebook brings that experience into five days based in Ortisei. You unpack once and settle into the mountains, with a balance of adventure, good food, discovery, and time to slow down.
You'll understand how the days fit together and where you have room to make them your own. Because the point of planning this well is being able to enjoy yourself when you get there.
From Readers Who Took It to the Mountains
New for 2027
Choose your dates with confidence, know what to arrange before you arrive, and have a plan when the weather changes its mind.
Your hotel, arrival day, and transportation start shaping the trip before you ever see a mountain. This new chapter helps you think through those choices before you commit.
A new chapter on hourly forecasts, moving your mountain days, and discovering how clouds and changing light can make these landscapes even more memorable.
Explore how the seasons, lift calendars, and rifugio availability affect the experiences you want to have.
Seceda's ascent reservations, how the Gardena Card fits into your plans, and what to know around the ridgeline. You'll also find my approach to exploring Alpe di Siusi and official links for checking transport and access before you go.
Five days worth coming all this way for.
Your days in the mountains
My route through the best of Val Gardena, from quiet plateaus to the ridgeline everyone dreams about, plus a day you'll be glad someone told you to schedule. Each day gives you the route, the food stops, the timing, and how to get there and back, with room to adjust for your pace.
Three bonus days to make the trip your own
One for adventure, one for a little thrill, and one to slow down. Add them to your stay or swap one in for a day that doesn't fit you.
The decisions that shape everything else
When to go, where to stay, and what to settle before you book. A full chapter on choosing your home base, plus the new Before You Book chapter, so your dates, hotel, and transportation support the trip you came for.
The details you'll be glad you understood
Lift connections, Seceda's ascent reservations, and the Gardena Card. Which rifugio is worth the detour. Adolf Munkel gets its own chapter: whether it earns the hype, and which direction to walk it.
Room for the mountains to surprise you
The new When the Weather Changes chapter, the mistakes I made so you don't have to, and the hidden gems of Val Gardena: Vallunga, Monte Pic, Gardena Pass, and the places I keep making time for.
Maps and resources within reach
Every hike links to the right AllTrails route. QR codes take you to maps, trail videos, and resources, and the Toolkit at the back puts every lift, rifugio, and rental shop in one place, plus the Dolomites Resource Hub online.
I keep coming back. You get the benefit.
I'm Jen Ahana, host of Explore This and a Travel Sommelier. I've spent years hiking, researching, and filming in the Dolomites. Every return gives me something to reconsider: a different approach to a trail, a detour worth taking, a place I want more time to enjoy.
A trail can look extraordinary in a photograph and feel entirely different under your boots. A hotel can look perfectly located until you start tracing your days from its front door. Those are the details I pay attention to.
I've created destination films for Val Gardena Tourism and helped private clients bring their own Dolomites journeys together. This book brings you the judgment behind that work: what earns its place in the trip, how the experiences connect, and where to leave room for something wonderful.
These are five days I want you to be excited to wake up for.
Your Dolomites trip starts now.
The Ultimate 5-Day Dolomites Itinerary2027 Edition
325 pages of personally explored experiences, planning guidance, and resources, built around one home base in Ortisei.
Includes the five-day itinerary, three bonus days, seasonal guidance, Before You Book, When the Weather Changes, and linked maps and resources.
Get the Guidebook · $37Instant digital downloadQuestions
Give these mountains five unforgettable days.
You've pictured yourself here. Let's make those days worth the journey.
Get the Guidebook · $372027 Edition · Instant digital download