Blogs from Dolomites, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 2

I planned, in the interests of the term holiday to have a rest day before finishing the week off with a super effort on a VF. Unfortunately with the only routes being proposed for the last day being grade 4s and me feeling like a bit of a 'grade 3s are good enough for me', I had to rethink that plan. When the option was raised to do a relaxed Grade 3 with an easy walk in and out and back to the chalet in half a day, rest day relax was out the window and it was time to go play. VF Col Rodella (Grade 3A, 2,484m) is a rocky peak in the Val di Fassa part of the Dolomites with a nice little refugio perched on the top. It's actually a very easy walk ... read more

I'm probably preaching to the choir here and I definitely know better, but high altitudes, mountain hiking and more than moderate booze consumption do not mix! Save yourself the agony and adopt a do what Jane says, not what Jane does approach on this one! I had planned to spend my 'rest day' stepping up a via ferrata level, pushing myself to conquer a more technically demanding VF. Instead I found myself undertaking a more relaxed 'stroll' up a mountain to the Lagazuoi Tunnels (which to be fair I also wanted to visit) all due to excessive Vino Rosso and the poor influence of my fellow trip mates (honest guv'ner they made me drink it!). Lagazuoi Tunnels (VF Grade 1A, 2,752m) are a legacy of World War I when the Italians and Austrians were fighting for ... read more

I have a relatively adventurous streak, but a general clumsy nature and lack of co-ordination has seen me steer clear of adding rock climbing that to my usual outdoor adventures (100m up a rock face is not the right place for an oops moment). However when one of my hiking groups sent around details of a trip to the Italian Dolomites with Coletts Mountain Holidays I took one look at the pictures and said hell yeah, time to climb some real mountains! The Via Ferrata (It = Iron Way) is essentially clipping yourself onto steel cables to provide a fixed route up the mountains I normally would leave to those mad climbers. Full safety kit is required, harness, cows tails (the bits you clip on) and helmet in the event of rock fall from above and ... read more

The past weekend, for a quick lil' Saturday day trip, I went with my Italian host family to the Dolomiti Mountains up north in the Veneto region. It was a trip with the youngest daughter's school, so it was some children of the class, and their family members. It was an absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous scenery. We left at 6:30AM so we were able to see the sunset, and we didn't leave the mountains until around 4:30pm... so I also saw the sunset on the ride home. The snow was wonderful, and I was well dressed to not have to feel the cold -- thanks to the "tuta" that my Italian host-mother gave me to use. During the first part of the day, I went walking through the snow with some of the other adults -- one ... read more

(Laura) Hi all, I’m going to take a stab at this travel blog thing, here goes…….The Dolomites are spectacular! I can’t begin to describe the amazing beauty at every turn. We drove up into the mountains through a huge storm but Lorenzo our awesome driver made it look easy. We arrived at the Seelhaus Chalet (www.hotelseelaus.it) just as the sun broke through and lit up the alpine meadows like a scene from Heidi. Just 50 miles from the Austrian border we forgot we were in Italy for a couple of days. The Seelhaus is named after a local folk tale meaning “soul is gone” (so the Devil won’t bother knocking). The Dolomites are similar in appearance and culture to the Alps and at 7800 ft I couldn’t get Julie Andrews singing, “the hills are alive…” out ... read more