Exploring Northern Italy - 2016
We enjoyed an incredible journey to Northern Italy this past September. We split our time hiking in the Italian Alps known as the Dolomites, and exploring the diverse, wealthy and picturesque northern Italian cities.
We will post two photo blogs, the first one will focus on our time hiking in the Dolomites and the second, will outline the time we spent in the many small and large cities of Northern Italy.
The Dolomites are located in the far northeast of Italy, close to the Austrian border and are part of the southern Alps mountain range. They are also known as the “Pale Mountains”, taking their name from carbonite rock dolomite. The mountains encompass 548 square miles, so we were only able to visit a few of the many amazing areas.
In addition to the Dolomites natural beauty, there is a rich history dating back to the First World War. The front line between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces ran through the Dolomites. The Italian military built
or “iron paths”. The military used steel cables, ladders and other fixed anchors to enable the soldiers to climb vertical walls, hike on ledges and reach the peaks of the mountains. Today, refurbished versions of the via ferratas and new cable systems are available to use. Scott did climb one of the via ferratas on our trip.
Another special experience we enjoyed in the Dolomites, was hiking “Hut to Hut”. Rather than hiking up and down the mountains to a village, we stayed several nights in refugios or mountain “huts” which are family owned homes that have group sleeping accomodations (and sometimes private), shared bathrooms and Italian and/or Austrian food and wine.
The following photos capture just some of the incredible beauty we saw along our hiking ventures.
Tre Cime di Lavaredo
Ra Stua to Fodora Hike
Fodora to Fanes
Fanes to Capanna Alpina
Via Ferrata Coi Dei Bos
Lagazoui
Sella Massif
Drive to Bolzano
