Camping in the Dolomites
- Carolina Grace
- Oct 5
- 5 min read
July 29, 2025- August 17, 2025
When I moved to Rome, Italy two years ago the Dolomites were at the very top of my “must-see” destinations list, but it took me a long time to get up north to actually see them. Part of this delay was becuase of the great expectations I had for the Dolomites. For years I had been saving places to stay, things to see, mountains to hike, activities to do, and more, and eventually it became too overwhelming to do it all in one long weekend. I began trying to find a moment where I had no time frames and could stay as long as I’d like, and that was this summer.
This trip, although greatly anticipated, was planned very last minute when I became homesick for Rome while being back in the States for my summer vacation. Amidst my reverse culture shock, I decided that the best thing I could do for myself was something that I have wanted to do for years. So I booked a flight back to Rome, a one-way train ticket to the Dolomites, ordered a tent and other camping gear on amazon, and hit the road.
My first campground of three was Campeggio Dolomiti in Cortina d’Ampezzo, and it was absolutely fantastic. My very first night at this campsite was spent eating some of my favorite packaged food from the States on the riverbank of the campsite, watching the changing colors of the sky change as the sun slowly set behind the mountains.
I had a goal for myself this trip and that was to go on as many hikes as possible, and of the three weeks I was in the Dolomites there was only about 3 days I didn’t go on a hike. Of course, my energy was at an all time high in Cortina since it was my first stop, so I hit the ground running.
The town of Cortina, itself, was absolutely beautiful. I spent a day simply walking through the town’s stores, restaurants, souvenir shops, and cafes, and I loved it. There was a certain buzz in the air this town had that made it feel very lively and active but also comfortable and eager to be apart of it.
The best part about staying in Cortina was definitely it’s easily accessible hiking trials that you can get to by its reliable transit or even just by walking. The center of the town was the starting point for so many trials, so some days I just found myself walking into the city center and finding what hike to do once I got there.
My second campsite of the trip was Camping Colfosco Almi in Colfosco just outside Corvara. That was a much smaller campsite than my first, but nestled quietly in between the towering mountains on each side.
When I tell you that Colfosco had some of the most amazing trails… I mean it. It wasn’t only the trails that I was obsessed with, but also the surrounding rock face that protruded from the grounds and walls around you. I had some of my most ambitious hikes of the trip at this particular place, but all of them somehow ended up being better than the last.
Given this stop was during my second week I felt myself losing the tiniest bit of steam, but on the days where I wasn’t feeling like hiking 4,000+ feet, there were plenty more leaisurely trails and occupying activities to participate in. For exmaple, right outside the back gate of my campsite was a low-incline walk to a cascading waterfall. This was perfect for my “lazy” day I had during this week.
I’ve found that Colfosco’s location is also perfect if you are wanting to venture out from the town itself. By taking a 45 minute bus ride, you can arrive in Ortisei where the famous mountain, Seceda, stands. If you are not wanting to encounter heavy tourism in the Dolomites then Seceda may not be your ideal location, but with a lot of tourism comes a lot of activities. I decide to take advantage of the activity opportunities and my original day plan that consisted of hiking up and down Seceda, turned into a cable car ride to the top and paragliding down!
I had never experienced, or even had the chance to experience, paragliding so getting to do it for the first time in a place as beautiful as the Dolomites was such a special moment.
Side note: if you are an adrenaline junkie and craving that rush, ask your paragliding guide to do tricks… you won’t regret it.
My third and final campground to start week three was Camping Alla Baita on Lake Misurina. Boy oh boy was this fianl week and experience. As you can imagine I was absolutely exhausted by this time, so I allowed myself some slow days that consisted of easier hikes and earlier evenings. There were also more specific things I wanted to see at this stop like Lago di Sorapis and Tre Cime, so I was sure to take care of myself so I could end the trip feeling like I completed everything I wanted to.
I’m going to take a moment to highlight my favorite part of my final week. Of course I enjoyed all the smaller hikes, slow days, and Lago di Sorapis, but the hiking day I took to Tre Cime was unforgettable.
What began as a simple “sight seeing” day spent walking to the base of Tre Cime, taking some pictures, and walking back down, quickly turned into a thrilling, life-threatening, exhilarating day.
I had heard rumors of the Via Ferrata around Tre Cime that required experience and gear to complete to get to the other side of the mountain, but I made the personal executive decision that what little experience and gear I had didn’t matter because my ambition cancelled it out.
My ambition got me farther than I could have imagined. There were moments I was scared, and definitely many moments where I questioned my life decisions, but at the
end of the day, the feelings I had after I completed the Via Ferrata overrides any other negative ones I felt in the moment.
The time I spent wandering around Misurina, hiking to Lago di Sorapis, and climbing the rock face of Tre Cime were the perfect moments I needed to experience before I said goodbye to the Dolomites for now.
This experience was healing for me. This feels like the best word I can muster to describe it as simply as I can because the amount of gratitude, happiness, pride, excitement, satisfaction, and eagerness I felt while on this trip was too much to put into words. So I say this trip healed me.
I planned it when I was just a teenager who was eager to travel around Italy, and I executed it as a young adult who now calls Italy her home. I am so grateful for how far I have come, but I recognize that I wouldn’t have made it here without my own ambition and love to travel and see the world.
Grab your backpacks, put on your hiking boots, get packaged food, buy a one-way ticket, and get lost in nature and within yourself, but don’t let that scare you because you can’t be lost if you have no where you have to be.
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