Dolomite mountains small group day trip from venice

Escape the city and spend a day in the Dolomite Mountains on a full-day trip from Venice! With an expert guide to tell you all about the region, you’ll see two of the area’s finest lakes, Lake Santa Caterina and Lake Misurina, headed up by the heart-stopping Tre Cime di Lavaredo peaks. Enjoy lunch in a traditional ‘trattoria’ (own expense), soak up the scenery on a bracing mountain walk, and then enjoy free time to explore the chic ski resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Numbers are limited to 8 on this small-group tour, ensuring you’ll see the best of the Dolomites with personalized attention from your guide.

Meet your guide in central Venice and then leave the city by luxury minivan, traveling north through the Veneto countryside and into the Sesto region in the Dolomite Mountains. Stop for a coffee (own expense) in Pieve di Cadore, a gorgeous little village known for being the birthplace of the Renaissance painter Titian, and then continue to Lake Santa Caterina.

Stretch your legs on a quick stroll, admiring the lakeside scenery, and then continue by coach to Lake Misurina -- known as the ‘Pearl of the Dolomites.’ Have your camera poised, ready to capture breathtaking shots of the lake against the backdrop of Tre Cime di Lavaredo – the Dolomite’s three distinctive peaks. Travel toward the peaks by coach, stopping at a vantage point to soak up the serene mountain views.

Rest at a local trattoria for lunch (own expense), and then choose to either take a walk with your guide or stay at the restaurant and relax. If you opt to do the walk, then follow your guide along one of the gentler mountain trails to see more of the area’s sublime scenery, as well as its mountain flora and fauna.

Leave the foothills of Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the afternoon and travel by coach to the swanky ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, where affluent Italians go not just to ski, but to see and be seen. Stop for photos at a panoramic viewpoint and drink in views of the bustling town encircled by towering mountains.

Enjoy free time in Cortina to do as little or as much as you want. Perhaps browse its elegant boutiques, or visit one of the street-side cafés for a coffee (own expense). Meet your guide back at the pre-arranged time, and return to Venice, passing the peaks of the Dolomite bathed in the late-afternoon sun. Your tour finishes at the start point in the early evening.