Dolomites region form Venice?

[baltimorebarb]

Anyone ever done this on the train? Any tips or advice?

 

barbara

[Mijura]

Hi Barb,

 

Took train from Venice to Vienna three years ago. It seemed at least an hour before we reached the mountains. Besides, which towns would you visit?

If you know where in the Dolomites you want to go, you could check out the web site of Treni Italia or the company in the U.S. that sells Eurailpasses. They would show time schedules.

 

Once, many years ago, my husband and I drove from Milano to Merano and to Dobiacco up near the German border. It took a LONG time (5 or 6 hours) to reach Merano, and much longer to Dobiacco.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Barb from Philly

[Hlitner]

We have spent a lot of time in Italy..although we have yet to explore the Dolomites. We will certainly drive into this region on a future trip. Personally, I would rent a car in Venice and drive to the Dolomites. This is a very hilly rural region..and your explorations would be limited if you rely totally on trains. Its only 72 miles from Venice to Trieste and it would take less than an hour via the A4 (interstate type road). Driving in Italy is always an interesting experience but it can be fun. We have driven much of the country and our main problem has been trying to find parking in some of the cities (we have more than our share of parking tickets...never paid).

 

Hank

[franu]

Where in the Dolomites are you interested in going? While staying with friends in Conegliano, we were taken by car to Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites. This is the town where they had the 1956 winter Olympics. It is a very pretty town to walk around. We later drove up higher into the mountains. It was breathtaking. I don't believe that you can see this area by any other means of transportation than a car.

 

I also enjoyed seeing a small city? Vittoria Veneto en route as well as some alpine type inns. Have a great trip

Fran

[baltimorebarb]

Thanks for your responses.

 

Regarding the question, where we want to go, originally we wanted to rent a car and head to Cortina d'Ampezzo (sp?) for a day trip but once we figured out that we would have to go to the airport to rent a car, we thought thsi might be more time and trouble than it is worth. It looks close but I read that it can take 2 1/2 hours from Venice to Cortina. Then add the hour for the water bus and it hardly seems worth a day trip with 2 three year olds in tow.

 

So, I was wondering if the train would be easier but I think Cortina is still 3-4 hours by train. I noticed that TrenItalia stops in Belluno, a 2 1/2 hour train ride, but would we be able to see the Dolomites? I have been having a hard time getting this info from the internet so I ap[recaite all tips and info.

 

barbara

[Hlitner]

I am a little curious as to why you would have to go to the airport to rent a car? Unless you are renting on a Sunday.. you should have no problem picking up a car at piazzale Roma area (there are many car rental dealers in this area) and than you just drive out of Venice over the causeway. Belluno would be an easy drive once you got out of the immediate Venice area. Cortina would be a bit more difficult since you would have to use the S51 from near Belluno.. but those S roads, although slower, are much more interesting than the A roads. We made it from Verona into Venice in about 1:15 and Belluno is about the same distance (and same type of roads). Trains do sound nice..but when you factor in the waiting time..late trains.. limited schedules.. we have learned to use cars. Ironically, the last time we were in Tuscany we decided to take the train into Florence for dinner to avoid parking problems and Florence traffic. We drove to a small train station not too far from San Gimignano and waited over an hour for a train that never arrived! We found out the following day that there had been a 1 day strike on that particular line (this was the first time we ran into localized strikes). This is all part of the charm of Italy!

Hank

[baltimorebarb]

Again, I have to thank you for the info. When I did a search of car rentals, I typed in Venice as the pick up city and every car rental company (including an italian company) noted the airport as the pick up. So, I assumed that was the only pick up place for cars. I would rather drive than be at the mercy of a train schedule since we are just trying to do a day trip.

 

I am going to try again and see what I come up with!

 

barbara