Ortisei, Dolomites, Italy (July 2026)

Although we enjoyed several landmarks of the Dolomites, the best was yet to come, which we found in Ortisei. After we checked in at the lodging, we walked out to explore the town. There was a festival going on. The entire town was partying under the large tent, drinking beer and burgers. 

After we listened to live music for a while, we explored a few shops. The area is well known for wooden products, art galleries, and colorful buildings. Strolling on the streets was pleasant. 

On the way back to our lodging, we found a sculpture of a worker who symbolized the hard-working people of the town. 

The next morning, we learned that there would be a bike marathon and many passes would be closed. So we planned not to drive that day. Instead, we planned to walk to take two famous cable cars. The first one was Seceda, and due to its popularity, I had to make a reservation in advance and also had to buy a separate ticket just to ride the cable car. The Super Summer Pass we bought would not cover it, effective this year. Ouch! Seceda is famous for its sharp ridges of the mountain. Indeed, it looked like having been cut out by the knife. But, I felt it was an inflated sell. It was not as worthy as the extra cost for the cable car. 

As we came down from Seceda, we walked over to another cable car, called Alpe de Siusi, located a few streets away. This is equally popular as Seceda, but for a different reason. Alpe de Siusi is a high plain where people enjoy hiking on the trails, and wildflowers spread across the plain. We did not see too many wildflowers, unfortunately, but we were able to walk on the hiking trails enjoying the surrounding mountain peaks. 

We found a trail near our lodging, called Luis Trenker Promenade. Luis Trenker was a famous alpinist, actor, film director, and writer who was born in Ortisei. The houses built on the mountain slopes were like paintings. Accidentally, we found a tunnel that would lead directly to the Seceda cable car station, which we had to walk around to get there. 

 Our trip to the Dolomites was coming to a close. We spent two nights in Cortina d'Ampezzo, one night in Arabba, and two nights in Ortisei. But our itinerary was too short to explore the Dolomites in depth. The prohibitive prices of lodging and cable car rides kept us from staying longer. We wish we had stayed longer, though. We successfully checked off another trip on our bucket list. Thank you, Lord! - Jeffrey