Great Dolomites Road from Bolzano

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Bolzano

   Bolzano lives with two languages and does so with a certain comfortable pride. It lies in a wide valley at the meeting of three rivers in South Tyrol, surrounded by steep slopes of vines and apples, with the pink limestone peaks of the Dolomites rising to the east. Until 1919 it belonged to Austria, and German is still the first language of most people in the province, though Bolzano itself is mostly Italian-speaking. Signs are in both, the cooking mixes dumplings and strudel with pasta and espresso, and the city feels like a conversation between two cultures.

   Read the complete Bolzano write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bolzano is where the day begins. Next is Carezza.

2. 2. Carezza

   Lago di Carezza has a reputation for being the most beautiful lake in the Dolomites, and in good light it earns it. It sits at about fifteen hundred metres in a forest of spruce below the jagged crest of the Latemar and the great towers of the Rosengarten, and its water is a deep, shifting emerald that changes from green to blue to turquoise depending on the sky and the angle of the sun. The German name is Karersee, and the Ladin name is Lec de Ciareja. Local people call it the rainbow lake, and there is a legend to match.

   Read the complete Carezza write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Carezza comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Passo Costalunga.

3. 3. Passo Costalunga

   Passo Costalunga, known in German as the Karerpass, is the saddle at 1,752 metres that carries the road from the Bolzano side into the Val di Fassa. It is not a spectacular pass in itself, with its broad, wooded crossing and gentle slopes, but it sits at the foot of some of the most famous mountains in the Dolomites, and the view from the pass is one of the best things about it. To the south rise the Latemar, a ragged crest of pale rock, and to the north the Rosengarten, or Catinaccio, with its pink and orange towers.

   Read the complete Passo Costalunga write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 30 km into the recorded legs you reach Passo Costalunga. Next is Canazei, mostly downhill.

4. 4. Canazei

   Canazei is a small Ladin town at the head of the Val di Fassa, and the first impression is of towering rock. The Marmolada, the highest peak in the Dolomites at 3,343 metres, rises to the south-east with its glacier, while the cliffs of the Sella group fill the northern horizon, huge walls of pale dolomite that glow pink and orange at sunrise and sunset. The Dolomites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2009, and no one who stands here is likely to wonder why.

   Read the complete Canazei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Canazei, about halfway. Next is Passo Pordoi.

5. 5. Passo Pordoi

   The Pordoi Pass is the highest on the Sella Ronda, at 2,239 metres, and the road from Arabba climbs it in thirty-three hairpins that are among the most photographed in the Alps. The road is wide, the surface is generally excellent and the bends are well graded, so it is one of the most enjoyable climbs in the Dolomites, a place where you can find a rhythm and let the bike dance. At the top you come out beneath the vertical cliffs of the Sella, with the Marmolada glacier shining to the south-east.

   Read the complete Passo Pordoi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Passo Pordoi sits at 43 km, about halfway. Nothing on this route is higher. Next is Arabba, mostly downhill.

6. 6. Arabba

   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.

   Read the complete Arabba write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Arabba comes up about 73 km into the recorded legs. Next is Passo Falzarego.

7. 7. Passo Falzarego

   Falzarego is a pass that rewards the effort of the Dolomites, a bare grey saddle at 2,105 metres between Cortina d'Ampezzo and the high valleys of the Cordevole, ringed by pale, ruined-looking peaks that glow pink at sunset. The mountains here are sheer, jagged and strangely close, with the great cliffs of Lagazuoi and the Tofane on one side and the stacked towers of the Cinque Torri on the other. There is almost no vegetation at the top, only rock, scree and a few huts, and the sky feels very large.

   Read the complete Passo Falzarego write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach Passo Falzarego. Next is Cortina d Ampezzo, mostly downhill.

8. 8. Cortina d Ampezzo

   The peaks of the Tofane, Cristallo, Pomagagnon and Sorapiss surround it, and the whole area is part of the UNESCO Dolomites World Heritage Site. The town has about five thousand residents, and many more in the holidays, with elegant shops, bars and a long history as a mountain resort.

   Read the complete Cortina d Ampezzo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Cortina d Ampezzo. That is the ride.