Hiking from Alta Badia to Cortina d'Ampezzo Getaway

Arrive in Alta Badia on your own (private transfer available on request) and check into your Hotel. Located in a large valley surrounded all around by the gorgeous peaks of the Dolomites, Alta Badia is truly the “heart of the Dolomites.” Geographically in the South Tyrol (Südtirol), this area was part of Austria prior to the First World War. Here you’ll find unique mountain scenery with villages rich in natural beauty and ancient traditions, witness the simple everyday life of the local people (the “Ladini”), as well as the customs and traditions of the ancient Ladin culture.  

In the afternoon, you will meet with a Dolomite Mountains representative who will provide a trip briefing and orientation, as well as maps, and everything necessary for your self guided adventure.

After breakfast, take a private transfer to a restaurant built just at the edge of the Fanes-Sennes-Braies Natural Park, located in an incredible setting. From here, begin your hike with a steep, one-and-one-half-hour ascent. Shortly after, you will enter in a fairytale valley, set between mountains, carpeted with green pastures. You’ll hike numerous ups and downs for about three hours, until you reach a cozy mountain hut. This cheery converted farm offers light meals (option to have lunch here). Pass by a beautiful mountain lake at 2,159 meters (7,083'). In summer, the waters here are surrounded by gentians, buttercups, and globe flowers. Descend to reach your rifugio for tonight.
(~4-5 hours hiking, 9.1km / 5.7 miles, 520m / 1,705' ascent, 200m / 660' descent.)

The hike to the Alpe di Sennes uplands entails a good range of scenery and habitats: grandiose Dolomite groups headed by the Croda Rossa are foremost features, their lower flanks cloaked by flourishing woods of a healthy mix of evergreen conifer and deciduous species. Todays hike will be on a stony track, a former wartime mule route, traversing a series of grassy basins dotted with bushes and dwarf mountain pine, the ideal home of marmots and chamois. Enjoy superb view east on the Croda Rossa Massif (2,818m / 9,245'), so-called for its blood-red rock due to the presence of iron oxide.

From your rifugio, hike to nearby Rifugio Sennes and follow the trail towards Rifugio Malga Ra Stua (1,688 m / 5,538'), a cozy hut-cum-dairy farm set in a valley lying between the Croda Rossa (northeast) and Lavinores (west) Dolomite groups. The name “stua” comes from “dam” (the nearby stream used to be harnessed for energy to operate machinery for the medieval quarry of red stone next to the hut). Take a private transfer to your hotel in Cortina.
(~4-5 hours hiking, 10,1 km / 6,3 miles, 300m / 985' ascent, 600 m / 1,970' descent. Option for a longer hike.)

Cortina d’Ampezzo is a charming alpine resort town surrounded by stunning peaks. Host to the 1956 Winter Olympics, and co-host to the forthcoming 2026 Winter Olympics, Cortina enjoys a reputation for great skiing in winter, and in the summer attracts hikers and climbers who challenge the rocky faces of the nearby mountains. This chic Venetian town also caters to the high society crowd, offering many year-round social activities, shopping, and fine dining.

Breakfast and departure on your own (private transfer available on request).