Family Travel Unpacked: Make the Most of Travel With Kids

Dolomites with Kids: What Families Need to Know

• Melissa Conn • Season 1 • Episode 25

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0:00 | 13:09

Planning a family trip to the Dolomites? Learn which hiking spots work best for kids and which ones are too challenging in this practical guide.

Melissa shares honest insights from her Northern Italy trip with her 11 and 14-year-old kids, comparing family-friendly experiences like Seceda and Alpe di Siusi with more challenging hikes like Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Discover where to stay in the Dolomites with kids, driving tips for mountain roads, how to handle timed entry reservations, and whether this Instagram-famous region lives up to the hype for families.

Episode highlights:

  • Best family-friendly spots: Seceda and Alpe di Siusi
  • Why Tre Cime di Lavaredo is YMMV
  • Essential GPS tip for navigating mountain roads
  • Timed reservation requirements

Italy travel info:

Don't miss this inspiring, practical travel with kids podcast hosted by family travel expert Melissa Conn, founder of The Family Voyage, certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, and mom of two who proves family travel is achievable for everyone.

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Hey there and welcome back to Family Travel Unpacked. I'm your host, Melissa, and in case you're new here, you can always find tons of detailed destination guides, travel tips, hacks, and more on my website, the family voyage.com. In our last episode, we talked all about visiting Italy with kids, everything from navigating the cities to dealing with summer heat. But I wanted to do a separate focused episode on the Dolomites because this region has absolutely exploded in popularity lately. I don't know about you, but my Instagram feed is absolutely full of the same videos over and over again, but I can't say that I'm mind And honestly, I understand why. It's stunning, it's different from anywhere else in Italy, and it can be absolutely fantastic for families if you plan it right. We visited the Dolomites in July as part of our Northern Italy trip last summer. Our son was 14 and our daughter was 11. In our planning and our travels, I learned a lot about what works and what doesn't when you're visiting the area with kids. So today I'm gonna walk you through the highlights, the logistics, and most importantly, help you figure out if the Dolomites should be on your family's Italy itinerary. So first let's talk about what the Dolomites actually are. These are dramatic jagged mountain peaks in northeastern Italy. They're part of the Italian Alps, but they have a really distinctive look. The rock formations are just incredible, and UNESCO designated the whole area as a world heritage site. The scenery's completely different from the rest of Italy. You're trading in Renaissance architecture and gelato shops for alpine meadows and cable cars. The region's also unique from a cultural perspective. It was part of Austria until after World War I, so there's a strong German Austrian influence. Most people speak German as their primary language. The food is definitely more Austrian, especially in the East, and the architecture feels more alpine than Italian. It's an interesting blend. In terms of family friendliness, I think this is where the Dolomites really shine. A lot of the hiking areas can be accessed by gondolas or ski lifts, which saves you from pushing your kids up, the steepest climbs and lets your family save their energy for enjoying the beautiful scenery when you're hiking around closer to the top. And most of the hikes have these mountain huts called refugios. They're perfect places to stop for a snack or a coffee, and a lot of times they have playgrounds to let the kids have fun and farm animals that you can pet. When you're planning a Dolomites trip, you need to think about where you'll stay. The region's pretty spread out and different areas give you access to different attractions and hikes. We split our time between two bases, which wasn't our initial plan. First, we stayed in Val Gardena at the Antares residences, which we really liked. Val Gardena is a beautiful valley, and from there you have easy access to some of the best family friendly spots, particularly Seceda and Alpe di Siusi, which I'll talk about in more detail in a minute. Then we moved on to the Dobbiaco area to be closer to Tre Cime de Lavaredo, which is probably the most famous site in the Dolomites. I'm not gonna recommend our specific hotel there because honestly, the hospitality was really cold and unfriendly, very un-Italian, and we just didn't enjoy it. But Dobbiaco is a great base if Tre Cime is high on your priority list. Other popular bases in the region include Cortina d'Ampezzo, which is gonna be hosting the Olympics any minute now, and Bolzano, which is the largest city in the region. But I wouldn't personally stay in those cities. They aren't as convenient for outdoor activities and you lose a lot of that mountain charm. Also, they both have ZTLs. I talked about this in the last episode, so definitely go back and take a listen. But basically that means that if you're staying in the center, you'll have to park your car in a garage somewhere else and then walk to go get the car when you're ready to start your day. In my opinion, that's a real inconvenience when you're trying to hit the trail early. Now let's talk logistics. Our family drove from Bologna up to Val Gardena, then over to Dobbiaco, and finally down to Venice. I need to be really honest about the driving in the area because this is important. The mountain roads in the Dolomites are narrow and winding. If you get car sick easily or if you're anxious about mountain driving, that could be very challenging. It definitely was for me, even from the passenger seat. It's not dangerous if you're a confident driver, but it's definitely not like cruising on a highway. The worst part for me was definitely crossing between the western and eastern sides of the Dolomites, and thankfully we only had to do it once because we had two different bases. If we go back again, we'll probably just visit one side at a time to avoid that crossing for the sake of my own mental health. Aside from that, here's a really important tip that I learned the hard way. When you're using a GPS or a navigation app, don't just enter the name of the town or the hike as your destination. Enter the specific trailhead or lift entrance. The Dolomites have a lot of tiny villages and winding roads, and some of them aren't actually accessible to cars. Be specific with your GPS and you'll save yourself tons of stress. Over on the Family Voyage, I wrote an entire article about the mistakes that we made in the Dolomites so that you can hopefully avoid them. Be sure to go and have a read, because I've got a few specific stories that highlight just how annoying these little things can get. Okay, now let's get to the actual experiences. I'm gonna start with two that I think are absolute must-dos for families, Seceda and Alpe di Siusi. Both of these are accessed by cable cars from Ortisei, which is in Val Gardena, and that's why staying in that area is so convenient. You can actually walk between the two lifts, so that's really easy. Seceda is just spectacular. You take the cable car up from Ortisei and when you get to the top, you're looking at these iconic, dramatic peaks, the kind of views that don't even look real they look like they must be from a postcard. The Seceda Ridge line is one of the most photographs spots in the Dolomites, and when you see it in person, you totally understand why. Now the great thing about Seceda for families is that once you get up there on the cable car, the terrain is really manageable if that's what you want it to be. You don't have to do a grueling hike to see the most epic scenery. You can just walk along the ridge and take in the views without it being too demanding. And then walk back and take the lift down. If you prefer a more challenging hike, which we did, you can head down the valley next to the Seceda Ridge where all the little rifugios are. You can grab a bite to eat or coffee and then take the much longer hike to the Col Raiser lift. It eventually drops you in the town of Santa Cristina, and then you can take the bus back to Ortisei. Alpe di Siusi is equally amazing, but in a different way. It's Europe's largest alpine meadow. It's just this vast, beautiful rolling plateau surrounded by mountain peaks. You take a different cable car up from Ortisei and once you're there it feels like you're in the sound of music or something. There are tons of different walking paths and Refugios depending on what distance you wanna tackle. The views are incredible and it's just really peaceful and beautiful. We went there after the Seceda, so we got gorgeous afternoon light, which made it feel so magical. Both Seceda and Alpe di Siusi are perfect for families because you get that wow factor of the dolomite scenery without any of the physical difficulty. If that's what you want. The cable cars do the hard work of getting you up the mountain, and then you can just enjoy being up there without exhausting your kids. I'd really love to get back to this area to do more hiking and honestly just relax and soak in the views. There are more than enough trails in Val Gardena to keep a family busy for a few days. Now on the eastern side of the Dolomites, I wanted to talk about Tre Cime di Lavaredo, which is one of the most famous places in the mountain range. You've definitely seen photos of it. It's got three huge rugged peaks, and it's just iconic. But here's the thing: Tre Cime is absolutely stunning, and it's also a lot more challenging than the Seceda or Alpe di Siusi, especially for kids. First, there are the logistics. You need a timed entry reservation to access the area. They're trying to manage crowds, which I think is good. So you need to plan ahead and book your specific entry time slot. I only booked a few days ahead, so we actually had to go on a different day than we had initially anticipated. Now, once you're there, the hike around Tre Cime is longer and more difficult than you might expect. Parts of it are relatively flat, but there are some sections with pretty significant uphill climbing and the terrain can be rocky and uneven. Honestly, our daughter really struggled with this hike. She was 11, and while she's not a super athletic kid, she's also not someone who normally complains about walking too much. But at Tre Cime,, she was exhausted. We had to take a lot of breaks, and by the end she was just done. Our total time on the trail was four hours on the dot. Now, I wanna be clear. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't do the hike with your kids, but you need to be realistic about your family's hiking abilities and mental toughness. If you have kids who are experienced hikers and you've prepared them for what to expect, they might be totally fine. But if your kids aren't used to longer, more challenging hikes, or if you have younger kids, it might not be the best choice for you. The full loop is a little over six miles and about two thirds of the way through there's a serious climb. Unfortunately, you're probably not at your freshest by that point. And then in the last mile, there's one section that's incredibly narrow and windy with loose gravel. In our case, it actually started raining right before we got there, so that part was super slick and I was really worried about losing my footing. But the views are absolutely incredible. So if your family's up for it, it's worth doing. Just don't assume that it's gonna be an easy casual walk. It's a real hike, and you need to plan accordingly. That means lots of snacks, lots of water, and probably lots of stops. There are a few rifugios along the way where you can grab a snack or even a hot meal, especially if you get an early enough reservation to time that with lunch. I also wanna mention Lago Di Braies quickly. This is that gorgeous turquoise lake that you've probably seen on Instagram. It's really photogenic. But here's the reality. It also requires a timed entry reservation, and when we were there on a Thursday in July, it was mobbed with people. It's beautiful, but it's also kind of a victim of its own social media fame. You're not gonna have a peaceful, serene experience there unless you're visiting in the off season or you're there at the crack of dawn. You're probably gonna be surrounded by crowds of people taking photos. And unless you booked super, super early, you might have to contend with a shuttle bus for parking like we did. We went, we saw it, and I don't regret it. It's very pretty we were able to avoid a lot of the crowds by taking the loop trail around the lake. If you have any mobility issues, you could head to the right as you're looking at the lake and treat it as an out and back. That'll be a lot easier than doing the full loop. I'm really glad that we went to Lago Di Braies, but I wouldn't say that it was a highlight of our trip in the way that the Seceda or Alpe di Siusi were. Your mileage may vary, but just know what you're getting into. Now let's talk about when to visit the Dolomites. We went in July and the weather was absolutely perfect. Remember, you're up in the mountains, so even in the middle of the summer, temperatures are gonna be pleasant. That's actually one of the great things about the Dolomites. If you're visiting Italy in the summer you're worried about the heat in cities like Rome or FlOrtiseince, the Dolomites are a perfect cool escape. But July and August are also peak season, which means more crowds because everybody else wants to come for the reliable weather and the long days too. If you could swing late June or early September, you might get fewer crowds and still good weather. But for hiking, you can't go much earlier than June or much later than maybe mid-October. Some of those trails can be impassable and you don't wanna put yourself in a dangerous situation if you're unfamiliar with the area. If you wanna visit the Dolomites for spring break, bring your skis. There are tons of lifts all over the region and the season lasts into early April. In Val Gardena, you could ski for the whole day for 80 euros per adult in March, which is less than half the price of popular resorts in Utah and Colorado. It's definitely on my son's bucket list. So here's the bottom line. Should you include the Dolomites in your Italy itinerary? If your family loves outdoor experiences and mountain scenery- Absolutely. If you want something different from the typical Italy trip of cities and beaches, yes. If you want cooler weather in the summer, heck yeah. But you need to be realistic about what kind of trip it is. You're gonna be doing activities, taking cable cars, and walking around mountain terrain. If you have very young kids or family members with mobility issues, some of the experiences might not work for you. I also think it's important to manage your expectations about crowds. The Dolomites are unbelievably popular right now. Places like Tre Cime and Lago Di Braies are gonna be crowded during that peak season. It doesn't mean you shouldn't go, but don't expect to have those iconic spots all to yourself. For our family even with the challenges and the crowds, the Dolomites were absolutely worth it. Standing at the Seceda and looking at those incredible peaks, walking through the alpine meadow at Alpe di Siusi, those are experiences we'll remember forever. The scenery is just that spectacular. If you want more detailed information about visiting the Dolomites, including specific logistics, packing, tips, and mistakes to avoid, head over to thefamilyvoyage.com and click on the Italy section. I have a somewhat hilarious list of my worst mistakes, and also a detailed guide to visiting the Dolomites with kids. There are tons of photos so you can see exactly what to expect, and I have details on all the different trails that we did. And if you're planning a trip to Italy with kids more broadly, definitely go back and listen to the previous episode where I covered everything from Rome to Venice to dealing with the summer heat. Thanks so much for listening to Family Travel unpacked. If you found this helpful, I'd love it if you'd leave a rating or review wherever you're listening. It really helps other families find the show. And if you have any questions about the Dolomites or other destinations, you can always reach out through my website. Just drop a comment on any of the articles you read. Until next time, happy travels.