Dolomites With Kids: The World's Most Family-Friendly Hiking

While so many of the world’s great hiking destinations bill themselves as being the exclusive province of dedicated mountaineers and athletes, the Dolomites in northern Italy couldn’t be any different! Sure there are plenty of options for folks whose idea of vacation is exercising in different places, but on plenty of trails you’ll see families, seniors and even young puppies enjoying the clean air and beautiful scenery.

I’ll be honest and say that as adventurous parents of a tween and teen, we didn’t even realize how perfect the area is for tiny travelers until we got there! But this is the stuff of dreams and we really hope to return in a few years to enjoy more of the area.

What makes the Dolomites so family-friendly?

Ski lifts and gondolas take out the hard, boring part of many hikes

Because this is Italy’s biggest ski area in the winter, there are lifts and gondolas everywhere. It’s easy to take a lift up, hike around the top of a mountain to take in stunning views, and then take the lift back down. You’ll probably break a sweat, but won’t be huffing and puffing up steep terrain with a baby on your back while your toddler complains that they’re tired and hungry.

We’ve done it that way and there’s definitely a feeling of accomplishment. But you’ll cover more interesting ground and everywhere will finish the day happy, which counts for a lot when you’re traveling with children!

One caveat is that I recommend searching the internet for images of specific lifts. Some are lovely enclosed gondolas, while others are just open chair lifts and some are chair lifts with a bubble. Depending on your kids’ ages you may want to avoid the open lifts if you don’t feel that they can be calm enough to ride safely.

Hikes are meant to be broken up with stops at rifugios

Leave it to the Italians to figure out how to add coffee, wine and good food to strenuous outdoor activities! Actually you’ll find similar Alpine huts throughout the area – particularly in neighborhing Switzerland. But the Italians probably do it better.

You’re never far from a snack and a scenic place to rest your weary legs on longer hikes in the Dolomites. On popular routes you’ll find these every 1-2 miles, while they’re spaced further apart on long trails that are intended as multi-day treks.

Each rifugio (literally a “refuge”) is a little different, but these huts generally have some commonalities. There’s nearly always a nice clean restroom for customers – even if you just buy a coffee or soda. You’ll usually find some snacks or baked goods all day long and a limited menu of hot food at lunch, which could include options like a sandwich, a soup and a pasta. Fair warning: some of the menus are limited enough that people with dietary restrictions may not be able to find anything. We didn’t actually eat any lunches at rifugios because they generally didn’t have gluten-free options for our daughter that were also pork-free. Generally the more remote the rifugio, the more limited you can expect the menu to be (those at drivable trail heads offer much more variety).

Even if you don’t eat a whole meal, rifugios almost always have a playground for kids and chairs with a view for their parents! Our favorite on this front was Malga Schgaguler Schwaige in the Alpe di Siusi – we enjoyed a spritz and cheese board with a stunning view while our kids frolicked on big play structure and jumped on the trampoline. We could have stayed for hours but sadly had to catch the last gondola back down. The Troier Hutte is pictured above and it’s a total crowd pleaser thanks to tons of activities for all ages and good food.

There are farm animals everywhere!

So many hikes in the Dolomites go through grazing land that you’ll encounter friendly farm animals basically everywhere. This was such a delight for my daughter! On some of the longer hikes we did, right when she was feeling like she was out of steam a cow or donkey would appear around the bend. Even on the lengthy Tre Cime hike, there were cows about 4 miles in to lift her spirits.

Plenty of the rifugios have animals on site – some even in formalized petting areas – and others are just adjacent to the trail. Of course it’s critical to supervise children and teach them good practices like not walking behind a hoofed animal.

If you stop at Baita Odles near the Col Raiser lift, don’t miss the bunnies in the back!

The infrastructure is designed for families

While the Dolomites isn’t very familiar for most Americans, it’s a popular year-round destination for Europeans of all ages – they come to hike and relax in the summer and to ski in the winter. Because it’s so popular for European families, there are lots of family-friendly amenities!

For instance, the wonderful hotel we stayed at in Val Gardena actually offers your choice of a traditional hotel room or a full-fledged apartment! We opted for a one bedroom apartment, which had a large bed for us adults, an extra twin bed in our room plus two more real twin beds in the living room. The building offers laundry facilities, an indoor pool and a huge breakfast spread as well.

Or you can choose a family resort with all the bells and whistles: a huge outdoor pool with kid-oriented water features, evening children’s programming, family suites and more! Just know that all of the amenities come with a steep price tag.

There are tons of options available at all price points and in all areas of the Dolomites. Just be sure to reserve on the early side, we some hotels only have a certain number of family rooms available that can accommodate a family of four or more.

What to pack for hiking in the Dolomites

The packing list for hiking in the Dolomites with kids isn’t too different from other places, except that you’ll almost always have access to food and water along the way. Yay!

Comfortable daypack
Water bottle or bladder – you can refill at the rifugios along the way
Hiking shoes or boots with good tread (my son’s favorite boots)
So many snacks!
Trekking poles – while optional, I wished that I had them for our longest hikes
Rain jacket/warmer layer for variable weather

🎧 Listen up!

Want to hear the ins, outs and behind the scenes of visiting the Dolomites? Check out this podcast episode:

You’ll also find tons of tips for the rest of your family trip to Italy here:

Great easy hikes in the Dolomites for families

I’ve broken down these kid-friendly hikes in the Dolomites into rough geographic areas to help you plan. Because many of the hiking areas have a variety of interconnected trails, there are truly thousands of options at your disposal so this list is more of a jumping off point than an encyclopedic guide!

We really liked having a rental car in the Dolomites, as it allowed us to explore at our own pace and move around efficiently. That said, we did use the public bus one (thanks to the bus pass included with our hotel stay) and it worked fine… it just added 30 minutes of waiting time that we could have otherwise used for hiking. Read up on tips for renting a car in Italy, as there are some important things to know before you proceed.

One final note: the main hiking season in the Dolomites is June through September. Outside of those months, trails may have snow and services like lifts are less likely to be open (though a few are). Research in advance if you’re looking at a shoulder season trip to make sure you’ll be able to access the hikes you want.

Western Dolomites

Seceda

Without a doubt, one of the easiest and most rewarding hikes in the Dolomites for families is the Seceda. It’s a classic!

For the easiest route, you can take the Furnes-Seceda cable car to the top, walk along the relatively flat path at the top of the ridge and then walk back the same way. The elevation gain here is minimal (unless you talk the upper path when you get off the cable car – we didn’t but should have).

If you want a bigger challenge or you want to visit more of the popular rifugios in this area (like Troier Hutte), you can take Furnes-Seceda up and then hike to Col Raiser to go down. This is what we did and it worked out fine. Troier is a really popular stop and for good reason. The food is good, the view is amazing, and there’s plenty for the kids to do: farm animals, a playground and sometimes even a ping pong table.

From the Col Raiser parking, you’ll have to walk about 20 minutes down hill to pick up the public bus at Maciaconi – many hotels (including ours) include a digital bus pass when you check in for exactly that reason.

Alpe di Siusi

This was possibly the most beautiful place we visited on our recent trip to Italy! It was overcast and threatening to rain in the valley below, but this gorgeous alpine valley was bathed in sunshine.

There are tons of hikes you can do here depending on your level of fitness and how much time you have. We were pretty short on time so we walked to the lovely Malga Schgaguler Schwaige and then back.

One thing to keep in mind here is that the cable car deposits you at nearly the highest point in the area and the hikes all go downhill from there… meaning that you have to go back uphill at some point. The good news is that Alpe di Siusi is its own ski area, so there are small open chairlifts dotted around the valley. It would be a great place for novice skiers, and you can tell because there’s a ski school right next to the playground when you exit the cable car!

Next time we visit the Dolomites, we’ll plan a full day to trek the perimeter of this stunning valley. If you will visit late in the day, you can actually drive up before 9am or after 5pm (when the cable car makes its last downhill trip). You could even stay in the valley, which would be a real treat! That place has indoor and outdoor pools, a kids’ club to keep the youngsters busy while you visit the spa and unlimited hiking or skiing right at your doorstep.

Santa Maddalena view

One “hike” that we missed due to driving delays is the view of Santa Maddalena church at sunset. I’m not sure this one even qualifies as a hike, as friends tell me it’s a short, easy stroll on a gravel path from the parking lot.

This is sort of on the back side of the Seceda, so if you’re staying in Val Gardena you’ll want to have an early dinner and then drive that way about 90 minutes before sunset – it’ll take you approximately 40 minutes from Ortisei or 50 minutes from Selva.

Vallunga

Another option our hotel recommended for an easy evening stroll is Vallunga, which is a pretty area with a gravel path just above Selva. You can park at the trailhead – even with your stroller – and then walk as far as you’d like. You’ll see a pretty little church and a waterfall, and there’s plenty of green space for the kids to run around if they have any energy left after a busy day of hiking and playgrounds!

Eastern Dolomites

Cinque Torri

The Cinque Torri, about thirty minutes west of Cortina d’Ampezzo, is arguably one of the most unique hikes we’ve ever taken. Instead of walking along while you look at beautiful scenery, this hike takes you though actual restored World War I trenches and bunkers as part of an open-air museum!

My son became laser focused on visiting the Dolomites after reading about the mountainous trench warfare in this excellent book dozens of times. At Cinque Torri we could imagine ourselves as soldiers looking out through the bunkers, hauling munitions around the rocky terrain and taking cover in the trenches. The display panels are excellent and provide a lot of information about the soldiers’ experiences through their own words.

It’s also a pretty area for hiking, offering great views and a wide range of trail options. You can choose to just go through the open air museum or opt for a longer route around the towers. Some of the sections in the museum are quite steep and uneven, and I saw one mom struggling with a hiking backpack. It’s not a difficult hike, but you’ll want shoes or boots with great traction. My kids loved all the rock scrambling! Trekking poles wouldn’t necessarily be helpful hear because of the uneven nature of a lot of the walking.

It’s good to know that access to the open air museum in the summer is mostly provided via a chairlift with an optional bubble cover. Be sure to consider if that’s the right choice for your family.

When driving to Cinque Torri, put “Seggiovia Cinque Torri” in your GPS lest you drive to the wrong place… as we did. You can read more about this issue in my list of Dolomites travel tips (aka mistakes).

Lago di Braeis

For a relaxing hike with absolutely dynamite scenery, be sure to make a reservation to visit Lago di Braeis! Also known as Pragser Wildsee, this stunning turquoise lake is surrounded by mountain peaks. You’ll find a healthy mix of walkers/hikers and visitors just relaxing on the banks or renting canoes to paddle around.

The loop trail around the lake is about two miles in total and is somewhere between a hike and a nature walk. In fact, it’s only the portion on the left side of the lake (with the hotel behind you) that requires any real exertion. Most people head to the right when beginning the loop trail. We completed the circuit in about 90 minutes, including plenty of photo stops. If you opt for the full walk around Lago di Braeis, be sure to bring a carrier rather than a stroller if your kiddo can’t walk the whole thing. Behind my husband in the photo below, you can see the line of people trudging up one of the sets of steps.

If you’re looking for a casual stroll (perhaps even with a stroller) and don’t want to break a sweat, you can cover the same distance by going to the far side of the lake where the rocky beach is and then returning along the same route; be sure to also head a little ways to the left to grab some family pictures with fewer crowds. You’ll miss some scenery by skipping the undulating section, but I won’t judge you if that’s the right choice for your family!

A few logistical notes… you’ll need to book some type of access to get to Lago di Braies. You can book an affordable shuttle bus for the family if you plan to arrive by public transportation. If you prefer to drive yourself, you’ll want to book early enough to secure a spot in P2 (right on the lake) to avoid the infrequently scheduled parking shuttle bus from P1. We pulled into P1 just as a shuttle was loading and leaving, so we had to wait another 30 minutes for the next one to arrive and then again during the shuttle’s lunch break for our return. For our July visit I booked four or five days in advance and that was not early enough to secure the closer parking; by the day before, even the further parking was sold out.

Lago di Dobbiaco or Lago di Misurina

Lago di Braeis isn’t the only stunning mountain lake in this part of the Dolomites! For a more low-key experience, try Lago di Dobbiaco (Toblacher See) or Lago di Misurina (Misurina See). Both lakes have mostly flat circuit trails that are under 2 miles with opportunities for a coffee or snack near the parking.

We stayed in Dobbiaco for this leg of our family trip to the Dolomites so we opted to visit Lago di Dobbiaco (pictured above) as a warm-up the morning of our much harder Tre Cime hike – more on that below. We subsequently drove through Misurina (which is right near the road to Tre Cime) and I had serious lake envy! Our drive by of Lago di Misurina was under clear skies, which definitely makes any lake more stunning compared with the overcast morning we had in Dobbiaco.

If you want to spend more time there, I’d recommend visiting Lago di Misurina as there’s much more going on – a whole town, a chair lift to enjoy great views, boats for rent and fishing just to name a few. But truly either is a lovely place to enjoy la dolce vita mountain-style.

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

I hesitate a little bit to include the Tre Cime di Lavaredo hike for families, because of all the hikes we did this is the one that will be just fine for some families and way too intense for others. Some of the other blogs we read before doing this hike downplayed the level of difficulty (in my opinion) and I always want to be honest so that you can plan what’s right for your family.

This is one of the most famous and popular Dolomites hikes, taking you on a loop around the three massive limestone peaks. The scenery is stunning, with layer after layer of mountain peaks as far as the eye can see and closer ridges dotted with tiny churches and rifugios. If you make it to the most distant point on the hike, near Rifugio Locatelli, there are even a few small alpine lakes for variety. As you come into the final third of the hike near the rifugio at Malga Langalm, there’s an entire herd of grazing cows that will delight the kids (and teens)!

My watch clocked this hike in at 6 miles exactly, with an elevation gain of around 1,300 feet and a duration of four hours. The tricky part is that there is a steep ascent followed by a long descent and then a loooong, moderate ascent. The final section of the hike is narrow and curving as it follows the side of the mountain. It rained when we were in the last two miles of the hike so that area was slick as well – I was definitely on high alert here and at times felt uncertain of my footing! The highest elevation by my watch is just over 8,000 ft, putting this in the “high elevation hiking” category that will be even more taxing for those who live and exercise at sea level (though child’s play for any Coloradans reading this article).

If you still want to experience the majesty of Tre Cime but my description has you hesitating, you can consider a less strenuous option. Instead of making the full loop, hike out to the scenic viewpoint at the beginning of this section – Forcella Lavaredo – and then go back out the way you came. This should take around 90 minutes and just requires the first steep ascent, which should be doable for most families. You’ll still get awesome views of the Tre Cime along this walk, and even plenty of great views from the parking lot on a clear day!

You’ll begin this hike from Rifugio Auronzo, which is accessed by car or public bus. Like Lago di Braies, you’ll need to reserve your parking spot here at a cost of 40 EUR. Book in advance to ensure that you get a spot and it’s at roughly the time you want, as the morning slots sell out pretty early – those are popular due to both the duration of the hike as well as the pretty high likelihood of afternoon storms in the summer (which I can verify). Rifugio Auranzo has pay restrooms and a restaurant with a decent variety of dishes and desserts to refuel after your hike.

Where to stay in the Dolomites with kids

The Dolomites encompass a large area of northern Italy and some of the drive times are much longer than they look on a GPS, so you’ll need to be strategic about where you stay. While we initially planned to spend four nights in the Val Gardena area of the western Dolomites, at the last minute I opted to split our stay into two nights each in Val Gardena and Dobbiaco. Overall that worked well for our family since we can move pretty fast with our older kids, but I do wish we’d had a third night in Val Gardena!

In Val Gardena, we loved our stay at Residence Antares in Selva di Val Gardena. It was conveniently located and the apartment had plenty of space for a family of four (or even five). Since the residences are part of a hotel complex, you get the best of both worlds! The staff was also very helpful in providing recommendations. The breakfast (not included in our rate) was a little pricey for our teen since he’s considered an adult, but there was a huge variety and it was a great opportunity to load up before a full day of adventures. I would definitely stay there again and recommend it to others.

If you want to be closer to the action – walking distance to cable cars, restaurants and more – check out Residence Cesa Sassela in Ortisei. It doesn’t have the hotel component like Antares, so there’s no on-site breakfast option. But both options have nice indoor pools. and saunas to relax in after your adventures are done for the day.

We didn’t have such great luck with our accommodations in the eastern Dolomites, where our last-minute change in plans left very few options that could accommodate four people in one room. We didn’t care for the hotel where we stayed – the room itself was nice but the owner/manager was the coldest person we met in all of Italy and made us feel very uncomfortable.

That said, Dobbiaco was a great base for the hikes we did and I would recommend the area. Emma Historic Hotel has quite a few family rooms (sleeping 4-5 people) and includes free breakfast; it’s just a few minutes outside of Dobbiaco. I also recommend looking at Camping Olympia, which has an aparthotel in addition to camp sites; we had an excellent dinner here at Restaurant Samyr.

Where to eat in the Dolomites with kids

This won’t be quite as comprehensive section as others, as our family’s dietary needs/preferences (no pork, a gluten-free child and no beef for me) leave us much more limited than most travelers. On that note, I would say that most families will look forward to enjoying mid-hike lunches at the many rifugios that dot the mountainsides throughout the Dolomites. However, if you have dietary limitations you’ll want to pack a lunch or prepare to eat at a regular restaurant with a more expansive menu.

The food in the Dolomites reflects the region’s blending of cultures. It skews more Austrian than Italian, especially as you move further east (our hotel in Dobbiaco was just 15 minutes from the border). You’ll encounter plenty of sausage, speck dumplings, veal, potatoes and noodles; there are also pizzerias in almost every town, because this is still Italy.

If you’re approaching the Dolomites from Milan, Verona or Lake Garda be sure to stop in Bolzano on your way in. As one of the largest cities, you’ll find the best variety of food here. We had a solid meal with good service at FranziskanerStuben, a traditional trattoria. For any dining in Bolzano, be sure to avoid crossing into the ZTL – there are parking lots just outside, though we needed cash to pay for the ticket since the card reader was broken.

For a solid post-hiking meal in Selva di Val Gardena, we really enjoyed Ristorante Pizzeria Sun Valley Stubele. It’s one of the few places in town that’s open late but the food was tasty and the service was friendly. Note that the pizzeria is under Hotel Sun Valley – it has a cozy vibe but could be easy to miss if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

One of our best meals on our entire two week Italy trip was at Restaurant Samyr just outside Dobbiaco. It’s a higher end restaurant but also offers some kid-friendly options. My son and I absolutely loved the duck pictured at the beginning of this section, and the uniquely-presented tiramisu was fabulous.

Planning your trip to the Dolomites

Hopefully I’ve convinced you of a simple fact by now: the Dolomites offer the most kid-friendly hiking in the world. This stunning, four-season region absolutely deserves a spot on your family’s next Italy itinerary!

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Dolomites With Kids: The World’s Most Family-Friendly Hiking