UPDATE: Due to popularity and demand, I recently wrote up a Planning Guide for the Alta Via 2. It’s very comprehensive and contains all the info you need to plan for this awesome trek. Please take a look here: https://gohikealps.com/alta-via-2-planning-guide/
About the Dolomites and Alta Via 2
The Dolomites are a mountain range area in the North East of Italy, a part of the so-called Southern Limestone Alps. In my humble opinion they are next to magical and boast some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere in the world I’ve been. It’s no wonder they’ve been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 (Click here for the UNESCO site describing the details and click here for Dolomites on Wikipedia)

Val de Chedul and the path down to Selva Val Gardena
There’s a number of long distance trails across the range, called “alte vie”, numbered 1 through 6 (I’ve seen some sources cite 8 in total). Long distance means they generally take more than a week to complete from end to end. It’s a matter of opinion which are most beautiful and they vary in difficulty. There’s, of course, literature written on them and plenty of info on the Internet, too.
Alta Via 1 and 2 are the most popular. Alta Via 1 is said to be somewhat easier and apparently there’s more organized tour activity. We decided to go on Alta Via 2 mainly because it is considered more strenuous and, therefore, not as crowded. We were also somewhat familiar with the northern part of the trail from a skiing trip we had made to Val Gardena which is next to the Sella Group. On skis you’re able to ski around the entire Sella Group on a lift system called Sella Ronda but this time we, of course, wanted walk over it and not go around.
Alta Via 2 starts in Brixen (or Bressanone in Italian) and goes South about 160km (100 miles) to Feltre. It’s divided up to 13 stages so following that segmentation it would take 13 days to complete. We used Trekking in the Dolomites: Alta Via Routes 1 and 2, with Alta Via Routes 3-6 in Outline by Gillian Price (NOTE: Link takes you to Amazon!) as a planning guide and found it very useful. However, we wanted to do things our way just a bit:
- Even at the expense of losing out on some of the mountain hut atmosphere and awesome photo opportunities (this pains me!), we decided we wanted to stay at hotels for a few nights to make sure we had a hot shower and a private room. The latter point is something to think about if you’re not used to sleeping in a dormitory.
- Partially because of the above and by our preference, we wanted to walk longer stretches than suggested in the book.

Morning Snow Near Rifugio Genova
Our Ambitious Alta Via 2 plan
We traveled to Italy at the end of June so it was well into summer. We had planned a 7 day trip from North to South that would have taken us from Brixen to Rifugio Rosetta, more than half way through the Alta Via 2:
- Day 1: Brixen to Rifugio Genova (about 9½h from Brixen walking, we considered taking a lift up to save some energy)
- Day 2: Rifugio Genova to Passo Gardena (8h walking planned)
- Day 3: Passo Gardena to Passo Pordoi (6½ h walking planned)
- Day 4: Passo Pordoi to Malga Ciapela (4h walking planned after which we thought we’d go up the Marmolada, weather permitting)
- Day 5: Malga Ciapela to Passo Valles (8h walking planned, with an option to go up on a lift from Passo di San Pelegrino)
- Day 6: Passo Valles to Rifugio Rosetta (8h walking planned)
- Day 7: Back to Brixen in public transport
I’ll admit the plan was somewhat ambitious. Comparing to the book we basically squeezed 8 days of walking into 6. We thought this was doable, though: we’re used to long stretches, are experienced in the mountains and are in fairly good shape. Furthermore, we did count on going up twice on lifts which really is something to consider if you plan something as strenuous as this. There’s no shame in it…
From Rifugio Rosetta the plan was to make our way back to Brixen using public transport. As it turns out, our plan didn’t quite work out.

Climbing up to Rifugio Pisciado
Change of Plans – Lost Luggage and a Day in Venice
We flew into Venice in the morning and had expected to just pick up our rental car and be on our way to Brixen direct from the airport. We had planned to visit Venice on our way back because Venice, of course, is a place everybody should see.
Getting off the plane, we were greeted with beautiful weather but no luggage – my stuff was there but my wife’s was not. All of her gear was now out there, somewhere, and the lost luggage people at the airport had no idea whatsoever where her bag was or when, or if, it would arrive. They said they would call when they knew something but gave no sign as to when this might be.
Clearly a quick change of plan was necessary. We decided to stay in Venice and wait for the bag. We had a car and driving into Venice was not very practical – a boat would be better for that. We got a room in Mestre, which is just across the water from Venice on the mainland. It was fairly painless to find parking and a reasonably priced room from there and then go to Venice by bus. This is what we did and spent a nice day and evening in Venice.

Venice
The day in Venice was away from our hiking, though. The airport people never got back to us so we called them every few hours. Every time we called, same response: no info. Our frustration grew since we now had no idea when we would be able to get on our way. Even though it was nice to see Venice, we did not want to spend more time there since it was eating away into our Alta Via 2. Neither was it a feasible option to just leave and go buy all new gear when logic said the bag would be found eventually.
The next day came along and still no call from the airport. We, however, continued calling back at regular intervals. We had already done shopping in Mestre for some essentials when all of a sudden on our third or fourth call that day, the missing bag had appeared from somewhere.
Once we finally had all our stuff, we were eager to get into the mountains. It was already afternoon so there was no way for us to start our hike that day so we took our time on small, scenic roads across to the A22. The A22 is a major highway that goes north to Tirol in Austria via the famous Brenner Pass, while Brixen is on the Italian side in Südtirol. Once in Brixen, after some asking around we were able to get a room at a downtown hotel and spent a nice evening in historical Brixen.
By the way, we were told that the locals call the town Brixen, not Bressanone and German was the main language, not Italian. This seems to be the case in many parts of Südtirol.

View to Sassolungo from near Puezhütte
Dolomites Alta Via 2 for us… Brixen to Moena.
We spent a night in Brixen and with some help from our friendly hotel host were able to find reasonably priced parking for our car. Because of the time we had lost due to the lost luggage, we needed to change our plan. Also the weather forecast for our first day in the mountains was lousy, it was going to rain all day.
As often happens, the reality was not exactly as planned. This is always something to keep in mind in the mountains. Weather is what it is and there’s nothing you can do about it. And there’s not much you can do about the airline losing your stuff either. Lesson learned: leave some slack into your plans!
Our trip turned out like this:
- Day 1: Bus from Brixen to Placione and a walk in heavy rain and fog from there to Schlüterhütte (aka Rifugio Genova). Read the story here: Dolomites Alta Via 2, Day 1: Brixen to Schlüterhütte
- Day 2: A nice walk from Rifugio Genova (Schlüterhütte) to Passo Gardena with exceptional views! Story here: Schlüterhütte to Passo Gardena: Day 2 on Alta Via 2
- Day 3: Over the Sella Massif – a clear morning at Passo Gardena, a (dangerous!) snow storm on top of the mountain and then down to Passo Pordoi. Story here: Passo Gardena to Passo Pordoi – Whiteout!
- Day 4: From Passo Pordoi to Malga Ciapela and the last part on a bus. Another day of continuous rain with only occasional glimpses of the Marmolada between the clouds. Marmolada, by the way, is the highest mountain in the Dolomites. Story here: Passo Pordoi to Malga Ciapela, Marmolada Behind the Clouds
- Day 5: Finally a beautiful day! A trip up the Marmolada on a cable car to see some exceptional views and then a long, hot walk to Passo di San Peligrino via Forca Rossa. Story here: Malga Ciapela to Passo di San Pellegrino
- Day 6: Tough decision to cut the trip short but a day to remember. Hike to Moena on Alta Via Bruno Federspiel and being in danger again. (Waiting to be written still!)
- Day 7: Back to Brixen on bus & train.

View from Forc. de Sieles to Seceda on Alta Via 2
Summary
Hiking the Dolomites Alta Via 2, albeit only about half of it and even that with some difficulties, was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. You can’t really do anything about the weather, it is what it is. I do have to say, though, I was surprised at the amount of snow still in the mountains. We were there the first week of July and I would have expected less. Maybe there had been an exceptionally snowy winter which caused this. It does happen and other people have been caught in snow this time of year, too.
The walk was strenuous but, then again, we had an ambitious plan with a lot of added kilometers per day compared to the suggested staging. Had there been better weather, I think we would have been able to make our original plan happen but it would have been a stretch and we would have had to take those couple of cable cars up.
Lessons Learned
- Build some slack into your trip. Delays happen, either at the airport, the mountains or both. This is not specific to this trip, of course.
- Get paper maps beforehand for your whole trip. We got 3 maps from Brixen and expected to buy the fourth one along the way but that didn’t happen. We couldn’t find the missing map in any of the places along the way! Stupid mistake on my part that was the main reason we changed our plan for our last day.
- Be prepared for the weather. There’s so many trips I’ve carried extra layers of clothing and not used them. I used everything on this trip and ski goggles would have been nice in the snow storm on Sella.
- About Via Ferrata gear: You don’t necessarily need it and it is extra weight to carry. We had ours with us just in case and ended up using them (see Day 3 on the Sella). Also, if you have Via Ferrata gear, there are good ones along the way that you can choose to do, e.g. Tridentina on the North side of Sella (again our Day 3) or the “climber’s variant” of AV2 on the west side of Marmolada.

Lone Marmot Observing Us near Passo Pordoi on Dolomites Alta Via 2
To do the Dolomites Alta Via 2
- Get in shape if you’re not already, it is a strenuous trip.
- Fly to Venice or Munich. See my post on airports, particularly my Munich airport preference.
- If you’re only doing Alta Via 2 and don’t plan to go elsewhere, you might be OK without a car since Brixen is easy to reach by train either from Munich or Venice. (Note – after AV2 we continued to meet friends at another location so we needed a car).
- We thought it was a good idea to spend a night in Brixen to get an early start the next morning. Click here to check out accommodation in Brixen/Bressanone from booking.com.
- Get the maps beforehand. If you don’t want to pre order them, get all the necessary maps from Brixen just in case. Keep in mind we didn’t have the next map South which would have been Tabacco 022. We used Tabacco maps 030, 07 and 06 (note links take you to Amazon!):
- Make sure you have the necessary gear for a multi-day Alpine hike. Plan ahead. This is a long walk and deserves planning. Click here for the Ultimate Packing Guide for the Alps!
- I recommend getting a book. We found this one helpful: Trekking in the Dolomites: Alta Via Routes 1 and 2, with Alta Via Routes 3-6 in Outline
- Enjoy it. This is a truly awesome trek!
Start the read from our first day on the trail here: Dolomites Alta Via 2, Day 1: Brixen to Schlüterhütte
Thanks for your detailed write-up, can’t wait to read the rest of the days trip reports for the Alta Via 2. My husband and I are planning to go this summer – second half of July. Hoping for less snow and more summery weather than you had, but still not the high crowds of August. Again, thanks for the write up and great photos, it’s really helpful for our trip planning!
Thanks for you kind comment, Katharine! Great to hear you’ve found my site useful and I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time and less snow :). Please feel free to subscribe for GoHikeAlps updates – Day 4 of our trip should be coming up by the end of the week!
Cheers
Pekka
thanks so much for the report! wife and i are off to tackle the AV2 and your info was super helpful! cheers!!!
A parking question:
– any suggestions for parking in Brixen? Have never been hiked in Italy and was wondering if it would be easy enough to figure out…
Pura Vida,
Jon P
Hi Jon,
Thanks for the comment! We found it hard to find any free parking for a week in Brixen and ended up leaving our car at the hotel we stayed at the night before hitting AV2. They did charge us and it was not cheap but at least the car was safe in their garage. I think you can park at the Plose ski lift but that’s not in town so if you come back by train to pick up your car, it’s going to be a bus/taxi ride away. Hope this helps!
Pekka
thanks for the tips – v helpful –
you can never be sure what the weather is going to do – most days on our recent trip day started wonderfully and then deteriorated in the afternoon/evening so well worth starting early.
we did a loop route – parking in Santa Magdalena and then heading up to Schluetterhuette on the first evening, over to Passo Gardena day 2, down to passo Pordoi and on to Rif Viel de Pan day 3, day 4 – Malga Ciapella and up Marmolada and back over to Canazei (hitched a lift) and up to Rif Friedrich August (favourite of places we stayed) , Day 5 round the Sassolungo/Sassopiato – to Rif Comici for lunch then down to Selva and up to Rif Firenze and then on the last morning back up and over the Odle on path 29 (stay left when it gets steep – don’t get distracted by the signs up to Sass Ri as it gets v v steep on the way up to the top). Worked brilliantly for a 6 day trip.
Thanks for your comment – sounds like you had a great trip!
There’s an amazing number of choices for round-trips in the area and it’s hard to beat the scenery. I wanted to go walk the rest of AV2 this summer but couldn’t due to logistical reasons – for my time slot it was amazingly difficult to get to Passo San Pellegrino with public transport and renting a car wasn’t an option this time.
I went on the Lechtaler Höhenweg in Tyrol instead. That was also a great route and I’ll be writing about it on this site sometime soon… I’ll surely walk the rest of AV2 sometime later!
Cheers
Pekka
Dear Pekka, would You please advise, where is posible to buy paper map of AV2 in Brixen?
I bought mine in a local sports store (called Sportler I think) which was on the side of the old town across from Goldenes Kreuz Hotel. At least back then they had a very thorough selection.
Thank you for all the info! Planning on hiking the Alta Via 2 mid June and wondering If the huts are full in capacity do you know whether they allow camping on the site? I did the TMB and some of the rifugios allowed tent camping on their property and some did not…..trying to plan in case of itinerary changes.
Thank you appreciate any additional info!
Hi Robin! I would contact the rifugios directly to be on the safe side. I didn’t plan on camping myself so didn’t really pay attention to that. As for being open and capacity, most open in June but exactly when varies from hut to hut and probably also year to year based on conditions. Hope you have a great trip!
Hi all,
My boyfriend and I will hike the AV2 trail this July (the whole trail).
Reading the different travel reports get me a bit confused. Some state all via ferrata’s can be bypassed, others make it sounds like that is not the case.
Can any of you comment on that from their own experience? Are their via ferrata’s that cannot be bypassed with alternative routes? I know for instance that at one point there is a two-day variant you can take to bypass via ferrata’s on the track.
But is this the case for all and are there many bridges crossing cliffs?
I am experienced in hiking multiday tracks through th mountains. As long as I have my feet on the mountain I have a good head for heights, but I am not sure how technical and in what form the via ferrata’s come (especially the ones you cannot choose another option if you like).
Thanks in advance!!
Hi – Sorry for the delayed response. My understanding is that you can do the entire route w/o going on via ferratas. The portion I did, I didn’t have to go on one, although there were a couple of spots which were secured by cables, but which I don’t think count as actual via ferrata.
My boyfriend and I are planning a similar route to yours ending in San Pellegrino Pass. We’re looking into the maps you have recommended above – as we are finishing at San Pellegrino Pass, do we need the fourth map you have linked?
Thanks!
Hi Katy – you only need to first three from Brixen to Passo San Pellegrino. Have fun!
Thanks for the super informative info. You had listed 4 maps, but if I want to finish the entire trail, what other maps would I need? Thanks a bunch!
Hi Amy – The only one missing on the list is this one: Tabacco 023 “Alpi Feltrine-Le Vette-Cimònega”
If you didn’t spot it already, there’s plenty more info about this trip in the Planning Guide I wrote.
Very useful, practical information. We hiked the entire Eagles Way last summer, and your info was helpful as this was the first trek we undertook anywhere in Europe, so weren’t familiar with the huts, packing, etc. Can you provide some info on Alta Via 1?
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the positive feedback and very happy to hear you found Gohikealps useful! Walking the entire Eagle’s Way is quite an achievement! I’ve only been able to walk parts of it myself, for example on my Lechtaler Höhenweg trip, a little bit in Karwendel and then some more on other trips I haven’t had a chance to write up here, yet.
As for Alta Via 1 – I haven’t had a chance to walk it myself, yet, apart from tiny bits here and there. It’s high up on my list but it’s always hard to find enough time. So far on Gohikealps I’ve only written about trails I’ve walked on myself but there’s no reason I couldn’t put together a sort of “Info Pack” planning guide since I pretty much have already done the research in anticipation of going there myself. Would that be useful? What do you think?
Cheers
Pekka