Hiking in the Italian Dolomites and Exploring Venice

After Madagascar, we spent about a week in Italy exploring Venice and touring the Dolomites which is a mountain range in northern Italy. Our time in the Dolomites was a group tour organized through Backroads. As a family, we’ve done a couple of trips through Backroads and all have been fantastic. All of their trips are activity focused so we did one that involved hiking, biking, and rock-climbing. Since we were on one of their family trips there were three other families on the trip in addition to ours. 

 I really can’t express to you how beautiful it was here. The most northern part of the Dolomites used to be part of Austria before the 2nd World War, so it felt less and less Italian as we moved further into the mountains. By the last day, we were eating Schnitzel and the locals were speaking German to each other. 

As soon as we landed in Italy we hopped in a car and headed up into the mountains. After a quick lunch, and an introduction to the other families, we started biking further into the mountains. Soon we came to a town that we could look around. As we were looking around, a couple of families close by, it started to absolutely pour. Now, this might not seem like a big deal to you, but please remember I’m from California and have lived there for my entire life. The sky just randomly deciding to flood us with water was an unusual occurrence for me, especially during the summer. A couple of other families and ours headed into a coffee shop and sat talking until the rain passed. It was a funny experience and I loved the opportunity to become closer to the other kids at the beginning of the trip. 

Most of our days were spent hiking through the mountains. On our first hike we explored some underground tunnels and bunkers left over from World War 2. Most of the mountains we hiked have snow during the winter and function as ski resorts, so they’re really accessible for any activities (and food!) you want to try. On this day, the parents split off and completed a longer hike around the mountain while the kids did rock climbing. We took a gondola up the mountain and then hiked to some rock faces before climbing up. It was such a cool way to get a new perspective. 

One of the mountains we hiked around

On another day, this time biking, we biked through a couple of the small towns that are all around the mountain range. The towns are absolutely adorable. In another life, I could definitely see myself living there for a couple of years to work as a ski instructor or a tour guide. We stayed in a couple of different towns during our trip. After biking through some towns which was a neat way to look around, we put our bikes in a gondola to get up on top of a mountain. There, we were met with rolling hills and fields of wildflowers. If I was ever going to recreate The Sound of Music at some point in my life, this is the closest I’ve ever been. The scenery was absolutely stunning. 

My favorite area we biked through

Now, it wouldn’t be a trip to Italy without mentioning the food. Seriously, I think if I could eat in Italy for the rest of my life, I would die very happy. I loved all the different pasta, pizza, and other dishes we tried. I also loved seeing the cuisine become more Austrian as we got further into the mountains. 

On our last day, which was the furthest north we ever got, we did a hike up to the top of a mountain just up from the town we were staying in. When we reached the top we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and there was a band playing Austrian folk music. I distinctly remember having a conversation with some of the other kids about something and looking up to seeing a bunch of people, my grandparents included, dancing to the Austrian music. It was the most adorable thing ever! Also at this restaurant was a sort of zoo, so we got to see some lamas, goats, and other assorted animals. This was sort of weird, but also cool to see these animals in such an unexpected place. On our way down the mountain we stopped at a small alpine lake for a swim. The other kids and I took turns jumping in, even though it was freezing, and we ended the afternoon with an ice cream. Let me just tell you it was a picture-perfect day.

We swam to the other side of this lake

That night we had a celebratory dinner to commemorate our last night with Backroads, and the next morning we headed back to Venice for a couple of days. We spent our time in Venice shopping and looking around. It was quite nostalgic because my parents took me there when I was three, and I vaguely remember some of the sites, so it was interesting to recreate some photos many years later. If you’re looking for a good place to eat near the Rialto bridge that’s pretty casual I recommend Farini. They have a bunch of different options and my mom and I really enjoyed that it was so quick and easy.

On our last night in Venice we went out on a boat into the lagoon to look around. I got some great photos because a storm had just ended and the dark clouds made everything look cool. We also got to see a rainbow! It was the perfect way to toast the end of the perfect trip. The Dolomites definitely go down as one of my favorite places I’ve ever been. If anyone who’s into being active and having an adventure is considering going, I would say you definitely should.

A view from the back of our canal cruise boat

Well, everyone, until next time!