Iconic Dolomites day trips

From San Vito di Cadore, the Dolomites' most famous sights are an easy drive away. Within an hour you can reach the Cinque Torri and its WWI open-air museum, the Lagazuoi tunnels, the meadows of Passo Giau, and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo — the most recognisable silhouette in the whole range.

History and high passes

• Cinque Torri & the Great War — five great rock towers rising straight from the meadows, ringed by easy loop trails and one of the finest open-air Great War museums in the Dolomites: restored trenches and walkways you can wander freely among the front-line positions. A chairlift from Bai de Dones does most of the climb, so it's ideal with children and history lovers, and Rifugio Scoiattoli and Rifugio Averau are right there for lunch under the towers. Half a day, summer.
• Galleria del Lagazuoi — one of the most extraordinary WWI sites in the Dolomites. Ride the cable car from Passo Falzarego (about 30 minutes' drive) up to Rifugio Lagazuoi in three minutes, then descend on foot through the Galleria: a 1,100-metre Italian mine tunnel dug by hand into the mountain between 1915 and 1917, now restored with carved steps and a fixed cable — a bring-a-headlamp, cold-even-in-August kind of adventure, classed as an easy via ferrata. It's roughly an hour down to the pass; you can also take the open-air Kaiserjäger path or extend towards Col dei Bos for real wilderness. Half a day, summer.
• Sass de Stria — a short, steep climb up a small peak that sat right on the front line above Passo Valparola, threaded with trenches and old tunnels and topped by a sweeping view over the Falzarego battlefields. A lot of history and panorama for little effort — an easy scramble with a few aided steps. Half a day, summer.

The Passo Giau loops

• Passo Giau → Rifugio Città di Fiume — one of the finest balcony trails in the area, the great north wall of Monte Pelmo in view almost the whole way as you traverse open pasture on the flank of the Croda da Lago. Rifugio Città di Fiume, on the Alta Via 1, makes the natural lunch stop before you turn back. Half to full day, summer.
• Passo Giau loop via Averau & Rifugio Scoiattoli — a greatest-hits ring past two of the best-loved huts in the Dolomites: Rifugio Averau below the Nuvolau, and Rifugio Scoiattoli right beneath the Cinque Torri, where lunch comes with the towers overhead and the whole Ampezzo skyline laid out. Full day, summer.
• Passo Giau → Croda da Lago & Lago Federa — a walk to the jewel-green Lago Federa, cupped beneath the sheer Croda da Lago wall and famous for the golden larches that ring it in autumn, with Rifugio Palmieri right on the shore. A jeep service runs from Lago Pianozes if you'd rather shorten the climb. Full day, summer — or late September to October for the larches.

La Stua & the Fanes rings

• La Stua – Rifugio Lavinores – Rifugio Senes — a quiet, classic circuit up onto the rolling high pastures of the Sennes plateau, linking two welcoming huts far from the crowds. Gentle underfoot for its length. Full day, summer.
• La Stua – Rifugio Biella — big, open Fanes-Sennes country on a broad track that's as good by mountain bike as on foot, climbing steadily to Rifugio Biella beneath the Croda del Becco. Full day, summer.
• La Stua – Lago di Fosses – Rifugio Senes – La Stua — a full-day loop through lakes and wide plateaus, past the still waters of Lago di Fosses and back via Rifugio Senes; bring a picnic and take your time. Summer.

Misurina & the Tre Cime

• Cimabanche – Prato Piazza – Vallandro – Carbonin loop — park at the old casa cantoniera at Cimabanche for a sweeping circuit up to Prato Piazza (Plätzwiese), a vast green plateau under the red walls of the Croda Rossa, with the option to climb Monte Specie for one of the finest Tre Cime panoramas. Prato Piazza is at its best in the early morning. Full day, summer.
• Lago di Misurina – Monte Piana — from the Tre Cime shuttle car park at Misurina, climb (about two hours on foot, or by jeep taxi) to Monte Piana, a flat-topped summit that was a bitter front line in the Great War — today an open-air museum of restored Italian and Austrian trenches, with the Tre Cime filling the horizon. Half to full day, summer.
• Lago di Misurina – Tre Cime di Lavaredo — the classic, the most famous silhouette in the Dolomites. Drive the toll road from Misurina up to Rifugio Auronzo (about €40 per car in 2026, and full by 8am in peak season — a parking reservation may be needed), then walk the roughly 10 km loop past Rifugio Lavaredo and Rifugio Locatelli for the head-on view of the three north faces. A full summer day.

 Walks & Rifugi, Families & Kids, Getting Here