Rome to the Dolomites, in ten days

We traveled through Italy between July 4th and 14th 2026 — Rome, then Montepulciano, Lecco, Riva del Garda, Molveno, and finally the Dolomites.

We wanted to be in Rome for that first weekend, so the route was built around it. If you don’t have that constraint, I’d plan differently.

Where to fly in and out of

If the core of your trip is the Dolomites, fly through Venice if you have the option. Milan also works, but it can mean a longer drive depending on where in the Dolomites you’re staying.

Lake Como and Lake Garda

We stayed a few days in Abbadia Lariana. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a base.

One morning we drove to Varenna and took a round-trip boat over to Bellagio, where we spent a few hours. It was also pretty hot. I recommend checking the ferry times a bit in advance and try to go as early as you can to avoid the stronger heat and the crowds. We couldn’t find parking so close to the ferry port, so we parked at the train station instead.

In the afternoon, we prioritized resting or going for a dip into the lake to refresh from the heat. In the evening, we took the car and went for dinner in Lecco.

The following day we headed to Riva del Garda, with a short stop in Salò. Several of the towns around Lake Garda felt like the fancier end of things, with nicer hotels. Riva del Garda itself was a very lively city, with a lot of water-related activities going on.

Molveno

We broke the drive between Garda and the Dolomites at Molveno. It was definitely worth the stop and some of us even felt like we should stay one full day as a relaxing stop before the Dolomites - if we had the time.

The Dolomites

We had four days in the Dolomites, but only two of them were full ones — the first was a half day and the last was spent driving out. It wasn’t enough. The days were tiring, and we ran out of time for some of the hikes we’d wanted to do.

Day 1 — Val di Funes and Val Gardena, half a day

We arrived from Molveno with half a day left, which was enough to drive through Val Gardena, make a quick stop at St Geovanni church (there was parking nearby) and do a 20 minutes uphill walk to St Magdalena church where there was no access by car.

Day 2 — Seceda and Ortisei

We had an 11am cable car reservation for Seceda and arrived before 10:30 to leave ourselves margin to find parking — and we needed it. The parking nearest the lifts filled up, so the bigger car ended up in central Ortisei instead. There are several garages there, about a 10–15 minute walk from the lifts.

The cable car from Seceda is pretty expensive (74 euros in 2026). There is the possibility of doing the full hike up, or taking a cheaper lift from Santa Cristina. We did not have a lot of time and our group didn’t want to hike, so we went for the main cable car from Ortisei.

Day 3 — Braies, Landro, Tre Cime and Misurina

The fullest day of the trip: Lago di Braies first, then Lago di Landro, up to Tre Cime, and Lago di Misurina at the end of the day. Braies and Tre Cime both needed their parking booked well in advance.

Lago di Braies

There was a little bit of traffic on the way to Lago di Braies, where we arrived at around 11am. It was crowded, and the line to go on the boats took around 30-40 minutes. The loop hike around the lake we took nearly 2h as we stopped for so many pictures and a quick swim. I would have spent the whole day, if I had the chance, Lago di Braies was the most beautiful place I have ever been to.

Lago di Landro

Lago di Landro was a pretty nice surprise on our way from Lago di Braies to Tre Cime, where we also stopped for lunch at the restaurant in front of lake.

Tre Cime

Tre Cime is incredible, but we did not have too much time to enjoy it. We had a small mistake on our license plate at the entrance, but the guard was kind enough to fix it for us and let usin.

Since we only had a few hours, we went for part of the hike from Rifugio Auronzo in the direction of Rifugio Lavaredo. I would recommend staying the whole day in order to have time to do two of the main hikes from there:

• Towards Cadini di Misurina, stopping by the Tre Cime viewpoint
• The full loop around Tre Cime, stopping by Rifugio Lavaredo

Lago di Misurina

We went for a very quick stop at Lago di Misurina before heading back to the hotel on our away from Tre Cime. There were no more sunrays on the lake, so I would probably recommend going there earlier, if possible.

Day 4 — Lago di Carezza, on the way to Milan

We stopped at Lago di Carezza as we drove out towards Milan. We arrived there at around noon. It looked incredible, and it was much closer to what we’d braced for at the other places: crowded, with no parking spots free (probably there would be some if we waited a little while).

Renting a car

Our group was big enough that we took two cars. I’d definitely advise renting — it saves time and gives you far more flexibility. On the second weekend of July there was much less traffic than we’d expected: no actual jams, and barely any waiting. Parking can be a bit challenging in certain places, but overall we did not have any issues and we recommend reserving, whenever possible, for extra piece of mind.

You can reach most of the main places and cities by bus, and we saw plenty of them on the road. From what we observed, though, they fill up easily. It might still be a good option for a group of less than 3 people, and with more days to enjoy only a single place or area each day.

Parking

Parking turned out mostly fine, and was much less stressful than I’d expected. Part of that is that two of the main places require a reservation in advance, which caps how full they get.

Prices are what we paid in July 2026. For both Braies and Tre Cime the tickets were valid through the day; Tre Cime specifically ran 12 hours from the timeslot we chose at booking.

Seceda is the odd one out: the cable car can be reserved but the parking can’t, which is what makes the buffer worth building in.