Euro Mag travel advice please - Italy Dolomiti in August with Family

[chaka]

not sure if this belongs in tech talk or here. apologies if I have it in the wrong place.

We're heading on a family vacation to northern Italy late August* this year, and will be spending several days in the Dolomiti area, in and around Brunico, Dobbiaco, and also several days on Lago di Garda around the town of Malcesine.

We have twin 7 yr old boys and are hoping to get some advice from the collective on cool kid friendly hikes, activities in these areas, particularly for the Brunico/Dobbiaco piece.

Wants:
`1) good easy hikes to not crush the kids
2) cool views, scenery (this should be easy from what I hear for that area!)
3) ideally hikes pass through refugios or other sources of great local food and drink (both parents and kiddos food obsessed)

In addition to hikes, we'd love any other ideas you think are worth seeing, doing, eating, drinking.

thanks for your advice!

* yes, we know we are vacationing at the same time as millions of other Europeans. It is what it is.

[Rusty Nails]

Not far from Lago di Garda is Valpolicello. Probably missed the spelling on that one. Anyway, great wines. Huge Amarones that rock. Also, there are some easy Via Ferrata routes right outside of Riva di Garda on the North end of the Lake. A little area just north of Riva is a rock climbing mecca. With a basic harness and caribiner, a seven year old can have a memorable and safe trip! Plenty of local guides and guide books, including online resources. Finally, on Lake Garda, lotsa folks like Sirmione - very quaint and tons of ice cream. Skied Brunico plenty, but never hung out there much in the summer. Not as scenic as Arabba or other places around the Sella Ronda, but fine.

[~mikey b]

Bob Mazerai

[coldfeet]

I have been to Sesto / Sexten and spent a night in Brunico / Bruneck once on the way back. (In case you weren't aware, most things including placenames, restaurant menus, etc are in both Italian and German in that part of Italy.) That was a few years ago and Reinhold Messner was renovating the castle above Brunico for one of his Messner Mountain Museums. The museum wasn't ready yet but they let us wander around the parts of the castle that weren't under construction. It should be ready now. The kids might have limited patience for museum exhibits but hey, it's in a castle. It's only a few minutes walk from the center of town.

You can probably pick up brochures with hiking information from the tourist info office and hotels. That's certainly the case in the Sesto valley. Hikes range from strolls along the valley floor to trails into the woods, to above treeline. There should be plenty of huts, both day and overnight. The food is good and the scenery is great. Have fun.

[chaka]

great stuff please keep the advice coming thanks!

Great tip on the Messner Museum, I'd definitely like to check that out!

[LeeLau]

This won't help with the hiking but there are some of the shorter bikerides that were also good hikes

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/South-T...es-part-1.html

Brixen is just around the corner too.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/South-T...es-part-3.html

[coldfeet]

You may have already seen this but check out http://www.hochpustertal.info/ for the tourist information site of the Alta Pusteria valley where Dobbiaco / Toblach and the other smaller towns are.

Click through Summer and Hiking and you can get a hiking map: http://www.three-peaks.info/fileadmi...13/Wandern.pdf. The paper version is a free fold-out brochure available at tourist info centers and hotels.

[chaka]

I appreciate everyone's input thanks! Especially coldfeet delivering the goods, that site and map are great.

Can anyone help me understand the wolf threat in the Dolomiti better, and what types of firearms, holsters I should be considering for my 7yr old sons?

[freak]

i would say that clearly depends on how much you want to threaten the wolfes.
the critical point for any kind of wolf-threatening in this part of the world is to find a wolf though. you usually have to spent 15 to 20 years searching for one, so i would not see a high chance of success during a "several days" vacation.

freak~[&]

edit: i can unfortunately not provide any hiking-advice, since i am absolutely clueless on what 7yr olds will enjoy on a hike.
if you really would consider a drive to brixen though (i know americans actually like to drive around) id rather go to the Dolomitenhütte www.dolomitenhuette.at/ which is a very nice hut with great food in a spectacular location. There are some nice short hikes around there as well and the distance from Toblach is even a bit shorter than to Brixen, which is not very interesting in my opinion.

[quixotle]

I'll be going in august too so keep in mind i haven't been to the places i'm recommending but you might want to looking into taking the lift up to Rifugio Lagazuoi, there's an open air museum, and you can come back down via the WWI tunnels via ferrata. For an easy hike with nice scenery take the Seceda lift out of Ortisei out of Val Gardena. Can hike as far as you feel like and head back, or go down via Col Raiser. Both should prove to be quite easy but scenic judging from what photos I've scene.

[AmmergauerTele]

This place is pretty cool and quite close to that WWI open air museum. There is a hut there and hiking. Views are amazing. You can drive the car there. It should keep the interest of 7 yr olds for a bit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Torri

Open air WWI museum was quite good. Absolutely amazing fighting from the high ground - down the street from Lagazuoi cable car.

Day at Venice is always great just wandering the streets and having the kids try on all the "Death Masks."

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Never been in the summer, but:

Otzi is in Bolzano.

Rifugio Fulciade near Passo San Pelegrino is the best Rifugio in the universe.

Rifugio Lagazuoi has the best views.

[Fuzz]

We spent a week in Malcesine with our then 6-year old last year (wrote a little blog post about it here).

There are several walking paths that start from Malcesine and go up Monte Baldo -- great with kids. Even if you don't go all the way to the top, it's worth going a little ways up for some great views of the lake and castle. Btw, we did encounter a pack of (seemingly) wild dogs on one of the trails (one was carrying a dead rabbit or cat in its mouth) -- just something to be aware of with younger children.

The castle at Malcesine is worth a visit -- our son loved running around the castle plus you get great views and some great exhibits about the history of the area (including invaders pulling ships over the mountains).

The paved lakefront path is really nice in both directions, for either walking or biking.

Definitely take the gondola up Monte Baldo -- fantastic views. Nice large area to walk around and explore. Sometimes they have concerts up there too.

We did a short trip on a sailboat from Malcesine harbour as well -- I think it was 10 EUR per person. You can also take the commuter ferry to some of the other towns (e.g. Limone sul Garda).

[chaka]

fantastic advice thanks everyone. you've given us many great ideas.

Fuzz- great blog!

Wild dogs... we talking the same caliber to take down a wild dog as a wolf? Or should I drop the caliber and holster recommendations down a notch....

[Tectonically_Neglected]

Climbing area N of Riva = Arco, site of the first Rock Masters competition! I think there's a cable car that runs to the a mountaintop overlooking the Lago di Garda from Arco.
Lago di Garda tourist info. Should be epic mtb area. Personally, I'd push going to Lago di Garda as far back in your vacation as possible as LdG can be a shit show during summer holidays: lots and lots of tourists. End of august things should start to quiet down a bit again. Later = better.

We did some nice walking and bouldering around the Sella pass area. With all the boulders (scarmbling), trees and fabulous view, quite a nice experience. Not sure if that fits your trip though. Too far off your path?

Should the weather be bad and you're looking for another off day activity: Innsbruck is semi-fairly close by (driving distance).

Guns and holsters? Haha, good luck with that. Maybe bring along your light sabres and AK47's too? :-P

[klar]

You are unlikely to encounter any but in regions where wolves traditionally hang out (i.e. not the Dolomiti), flocks of sheep are traditionally accompanied by bad ass Maremmano dogs that look like huge, cuddly teddy bears but will potentially fuck you up if you go out of your way to try and cuddle a lamb. Wild dogs (abandoned pets and their offspring) are far, far more common than wolves. If you kill one with a light saber you would probably be congratulated. It is however illegal to kill wolves.

"I am not a golden retriever."

[AmmergauerTele]

Highly recommend going to see Otzi in Bolzano as well. We went to this museum and my kids loved it. Go to the website with your kids for 3+0 minutes before you go so they have an idea about Otzi. It was really impressive. Bolzano itself is a great town that I wish we spent more time in visiting. I would give my left nut to be back in Sud Tyrol!

[AmmergauerTele]

We also wanted to go to a performance at the Verona Coliseum but was unable to pull it off. I heard great things about it - http://www.arena.it/en-US/HOMEen.html.

Also, recommend drinking about a gallon of this type of wine a day as mentioned above. http://www.winemag.com/May-2013/Amar...lar-Sensation/

Located just north of Verona, amazing!

Walk the streets of Verona, explain Romeo and Juliet, take the kids to the Romeo and Juliet balcony. Grab a dinner on a quiet street in Verona…..Checkout Vicenza….Wash, Rinse, Repeat. So jealous, love that area of Italy.

[geo039]

Fully agree. Ma-G stayed a few weeks there recently and loved it.

We also wanted to go to a performance at the Verona Coliseum but was unable to pull it off. I heard great things about it - http://www.arena.it/en-US/HOMEen.html.

Also, recommend drinking about a gallon of this type of wine a day as mentioned above. http://www.winemag.com/May-2013/Amar...lar-Sensation/

Located just north of Verona, amazing!

Walk the streets of Verona, explain Romeo and Juliet, take the kids to the Romeo and Juliet balcony. Grab a dinner on a quiet street in Verona…..Checkout Vicenza….Wash, Rinse, Repeat. So jealous, love that area of Italy.