Arabba is a small village in the heart of the Dolomites, and a crossroads of passes. It sits at about 1,600 metres on the upper Cordevole river, at the foot of the Pordoi, the Campolongo and the Fedaia, and its position makes it the natural halfway point of the Sella Ronda, the circuit around the huge Sella massif. The mountains here are the pale, jagged towers that make the Dolomites famous, and the whole range was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.
The village belongs to Livinallongo, a Ladin-speaking valley whose people have their own language, a relic of the Roman era, and the signs are often in Italian, German and Ladin. In the First World War, the front line ran through the valley, and the summit of nearby Col di Lana was blown up in a mine explosion in April 1916 after a long underground battle. Today the mountain is called the Col di Sangue, the blood hill, and there are memorials and trails for walkers.
The road in each direction is a delight. The climb north from Arabba to the Campolongo is short and open, a handful of hairpins with views of the Sella walls, while the road south to the Pordoi climbs in a long series of switchbacks. To the south-east the white mass of the Marmolada, the highest mountain in the Dolomites, rises above the valley, and its glacier is visible on a clear day. In winter this is a ski resort, with lifts rising directly from the village, and in summer the pastures are full of cattle and wildflowers.
Practical matters need some thought. Arabba is small, and while it has a handful of hotels, bars and shops, you should not count on fuel here, so fill up in Cortina or Corvara, or in Canazei on the other side of the Pordoi. In summer, the passes are crowded with motorbikes and cars, especially at weekends, and a morning start is a great help. The roads are generally open from late May to October, depending on snow, and the weather can change fast. A hot chocolate or a bowl of barley soup at a mountain hut is a classic Dolomite treat.