Dolomiti · 19–28 August 2026

Alta Via 1

Lago di Braies to Belluno. Nine stages, nine huts, one long walk south down the spine of the Dolomites.

118 km6,000 m ascent 9 rifugihigh point 2,752 m

How to read this

Times assume ~3 km/h flat, ~300 m/hr up, ~450 m/hr down, with a pack. Sustainable, not fast. Calibrate on Days 1–3: if you're consistently 45 minutes early, shift everything earlier and take more side trips. If you're late, cut the optional waypoints first — never the water stops.

BreakfastRifugio breakfast runs 07:00–07:30. Most huts do 06:30 on request — ask the night before, it's routine. Days 5, 7 and 8 need it.

DinnerTypically 18:30–19:00, usually a fixed seating. If you're going to miss it or want a later table, say so at check-in.

Storm windowAugust convection builds between 14:00 and 17:00. Be off exposed high ground — ridges, forcelle, open limestone — by 14:00. This drives the start times on Days 3, 5, 7 and 8.

Terrain shadowEvery published sunrise and sunset time assumes a flat horizon. Among 500-metre rock walls the real numbers move by 30–90 minutes. Each stage flags what to expect, and there's a per-hut table at the end.

Cash€444 is due in cash across Tissi, Passo Duran and Pian de Fontana. There are no ATMs on the trail. Draw it in Dobbiaco.

FacilitiesBeside a hut name: wifi, laundry, sauna. Every rifugio on this route has it except Fodara Vedla (Day 1) and Pian de Fontana (Day 8). Connections are slow and sometimes down, and card payment often depends on the same link — the other reason to carry cash. Pull the next day's forecast before you leave a connected hut.

What to wearEach stage opens with a kit strip built from elevation, exposure and terrain. The sun shirt is an always; so is the rain shell. Zip-offs earn their place on Days 3, 4 and 8 only.

WeatherEach stage carries a live forecast for that hut, plus a link to the regional bulletin that governs it. The route crosses a provincial border at Lagazuoi and the authoritative service changes with it — see the reference section.

0

Wed 19 Aug Travel

Travel → Dobbiaco / Toblach

La Villetta

—

distance

—

ascent

—

on foot

Travel day. The only jobs tonight are cash, packing and an early night.

sun shirtrain shell

Travel day — nothing to plan. Repack tonight so the sun shirt is on top.

Regional forecast: South Tyrol mountain weather — the Province of Bolzano service, the authoritative one this far north.

06:16 sunrise 20:15 sunset 05:40 first light dark 20:50

Moon Waxing crescent, 35% — sets ~22:30

The day

—

Check in to La Villetta

afternoon

Draw €444 in cash

No ATMs after this point. Tissi €240, Duran €100, Pian de Fontana €104 — all cash only.

~16:00

Optional: Mahler composing hut

Gustav Mahler summered here 1908–10 and wrote most of the Ninth Symphony in a hut in the woods east of town. ~40 min round trip. Or Lago di Dobbiaco, a flat 3 km stroll.

18:30

Dinner in town

Last non-rifugio meal for nine days.

20:00

Repack · confirm Bus 442 ticket

05:45

Alarm

06:45

At the St.-Johannes stop

Arrive early — it fills.

07:01

Bus 442 departs

Arrives Lago di Braies ~07:29. Advance booking required Jul–Sep.

1

Thu 20 Aug Moderate

Lago di Braies → Rifugio Fodara Vedla

1,966 m

12 km

distance

+900 m

ascent

5–6 h

moving

All the hard work is front-loaded into the first two hours, then a long easy traverse across the Sennes plateau. You start at the most photographed lake in the Alps and finish at a cluster of century-old farm buildings on a hanging meadow.

sun shirtshortswarm layerrain shell

You start in the shade of a north-facing cirque and climb 900 m. Shorts and the sun shirt; the warm layer lives in the pack until the Sennes plateau, where the wind picks up, and comes out on the terrace at Fodara.

Regional forecast: South Tyrol mountain weather — the Province of Bolzano service, the authoritative one this far north.

06:17 sunrise 20:13 sunset 05:42 first light dark 20:48

Moon First quarter — half-lit, sets ~23:45

Terrain shadow Lago di Braies sits in a deep north-facing cirque and gets no direct sun until well after 08:00. Your 07:45 start is in shade, which is a gift on the climb. Fodara Vedla's open shelf holds evening light to ~19:45.

The day

07:29

Arrive Lago di Braies

1,494 m

07:45

Depart

15 min for photos and pack faff.

08:15

Far end of the lake

Flat lakeshore path (trail 1), east side. Emerald water, boathouse, the whole postcard — and blissfully empty at this hour.

10:15

Forcella Sora Forno · 2,388 m

The day's work. Switchbacks through dwarf pine, then two short cabled sections on polished rock, then the Forno (“oven”) gully — a genuine heat trap. Cresting it, Marmolada, the Tofane, Pelmo and Cristallo all open at once. You cross into Parco Naturale Dolomiti d'Ampezzo.

10:45

Rifugio Biella · 2,327 m

Break 30 min. Refill here — water is scarce between the lake and this point.

11:15

Depart Biella

12:45

Rifugio Sennes · 2,116 m

Wide easy track across the plateau. Grazing cattle, huge sky, almost no elevation.

13:15

Depart Sennes

14:15

Rifugio Fodara Vedla

Restored alpine farm buildings on a shelf. Reportedly excellent showers.

17:00

Optional: meadow above the huts

Five minutes uphill. The Croda Rossa catches alpenglow.

19:00

Dinner

Optional waypoints

Croda del Becco / Seekofel · 2,810 m+2 h 15

Leave the AV1 at Forcella Sora Forno 10:15 → summit 11:30 → back at the forcella 12:30. Arrive Fodara 16:30. Zig-zag path north-west, cables at one awkward corner, big 360° over the Braies group. Day 1 is short enough to absorb it — go if the weather is clean.

Circumnavigate Lago di Braies+45 min

Adds the quieter western shore where the reflections are better. Push everything to a 16:00 arrival.

Row a boat on the lake+1 h 15

Rentals open ~09:00–10:00, so this costs you the early start entirely: depart 10:45, arrive Fodara 17:15. Feasible, but it burns the day's slack and puts you on trail through the storm window. Honest read: skip it — you'll see prettier water at Lago Coldai on Day 6.

Notes

Detour to the hut. None. Fodara Vedla sits directly on the AV1 as it descends toward Pederü.

2

Fri 21 Aug Easy

Fodara Vedla → Rifugio Fanes

2,060 m

8–9 km

distance

+570 m

ascent

3.5–4.5 h

moving

Your shortest day by a wide margin. Treat it as a deliberate rest day and use the surplus, because after tomorrow you have none until Day 6. The schedule below starts late on purpose.

sun shirtshortsrain shell

Short, low and sheltered — you drop to 1,548 m at Pederù before climbing back. The lightest day of the trek to dress for.

Regional forecast: South Tyrol mountain weather — the Province of Bolzano service, the authoritative one this far north.

06:18 sunrise 20:11 sunset 05:43 first light dark 20:46

Moon Waxing gibbous, 58% — sets ~00:30

Terrain shadow Fanes sits in a karstic bowl with Cima Dieci rising to the east, and loses direct sun early, around 19:15–19:30. If you go out to Lago di Limo, be back by 19:00 or you'll walk the last stretch in flat grey light.

The day

08:00

Breakfast

Sleep in. No reason not to.

09:00

Depart

10:00

Rifugio Pederü · 1,548 m

Switchbacking gravel service road, views into Val dai Tamersc. Road-accessible: real coffee, real lunch, bus stop, luggage-shuttle point.

10:30

Depart Pederü

Coffee stop.

12:30

Rifugio Fanes

Up Val di Rudo and Valun de Fanes on trail 7 — jeep track, steady rather than steep. You climb into a karstic bowl on the Fanes plateau, which in Ladin folklore is the kingdom of a legendary mountain people.

12:45

Check in · lunch · laundry · dry socks

14:00

Rifugio Lavarella — 10 min walk

Since 2019 it houses the highest brewery in Europe at 2,050 m: an unfiltered lager and a wheat beer, brewed to the German purity law with Dolomite spring water.

14:45

Lé Vert / Lago Verde

Small green lake just below Lavarella, signposted off the trail. Two minutes of effort, disproportionate payoff.

15:15

Back at Fanes

19:00

Dinner

Optional waypoints

Passo di Limo & Lago di Limo · 2,159 m+1 h 30

Depart Fanes 15:30 → lake 16:15 → back 17:15. You cross this tomorrow morning anyway, but doing it in evening light with an empty pack is a different experience entirely. Marmots everywhere, including the rock formation locals call the “Parliament of the Marmots”. The best use of the spare afternoon.

Malga Gran Fanes+1 h

Small simple hut out on the flat meadow past the pass. Combine with Limo: back at Fanes 17:45.

Col Bechei+3 h

From Passo Limo. Would put you back at ~18:30 and cost you tomorrow's legs. Skip.

Do nothing—

A legitimate choice. Tomorrow is the biggest climbing day of the trek.

Notes

Detour to the hut. None. Fanes and Lavarella sit 5–10 min apart, both essentially on route.

3

Sat 22 Aug Hard

Fanes → Rifugio Lagazuoi

2,752 m — high point of the trek

13–14 km

distance

+1,050 m

ascent

5.5–7 h

moving

The high point of the AV1 and the biggest climbing day. The terrain shifts completely — green pastures give way to a bleached, lunar, shell-scarred landscape. An early start matters: the last climb is fully exposed, and you want the afternoon free, because Lagazuoi is the richest single site on the route.

sun shirtzip-offswarm layerhat + glovesrain shell

The one day zip-offs genuinely earn their place: warm on the Fanes plateau, then loose scree and exposed wind above 2,400 m. At 2,752 m the Lagazuoi terrace is cold once the sun drops — you want the warm layer and a hat for sunset.

Regional forecast: you cross the provincial border today, so check both — South Tyrol for the morning on the Fanes plateau, ARPAV Dolomiti Meteo for the afternoon on Lagazuoi.

06:20 sunrise 20:09 sunset 05:45 first light dark 20:44

Moon Waxing gibbous, 70% — sets ~01:15, so truly dark skies only after that

Terrain shadow Lagazuoi is the one hut on the trek that sees near-true sunrise and sunset. At 2,752 m on an exposed summit ridge there is nothing between you and the horizon in either direction. That is why the terrace view is what it is.

The day

06:45

Breakfast

Request the night before.

07:30

Depart

08:15

Passo di Limo / Lago di Limo · 2,172 m

Gentle warm-up between Mt. Lavarella and Col de Bechei.

09:45

Forcella del Lago · 2,486 m

Flat open meadow past Ucia de Gran Fanes, then follow signs left for the climb. The route is clearly visible from the turnoff.

10:30

Lago di Lagazuoi · 2,182 m

Steep loose scree descent on a reinforced trail — the slowest section of the day. Poles out, carbide tips bare. Take the trail below the lake; the upper trail is closed for rockfall.

11:00

Depart lake

Break 30 min.

13:15

Forcella Lagazuoi · 2,573 m

A gradual grinding climb through moonlike terrain, past Austrian emplacements that thicken as you approach the old front line.

14:00

Rifugio Lagazuoi

The hut appears late. This last hour is the hardest of the day and it comes at the end.

14:45

Piccolo Lagazuoi summit cross · 2,778 m

An easy comfortable path, ~15 min up. Marmolada, Sella, Tofana, Fanis, Civetta in a full circle.

15:45

Frontline Trail · WWI open-air museum

The largest open-air WWI museum in the Dolomites: restored trenches, gun emplacements, tunnel mouths, all signposted. An easy 15-min descent from the hut gets you into the heart of it.

17:30

Lagazuoi EXPO Dolomiti

Small exhibition space at the cable car station with rotating shows. Good weather backstop.

19:00

Dinner

20:09

Sunset from the terrace

The single best view of the trip. This is why people book Lagazuoi a year out.

Optional waypoints

Austrian tunnel sections below the hut+30 min

Slot at 17:30 instead of the EXPO. Headlamp required.

Sunrise from Piccolo Lagazuoi+45 min

Alarm 05:30, up by 06:00, sunrise 06:21, back by 06:45 for breakfast. Arguably better than the sunset, and nobody else is up here.

Download the audio guide—

“The Great War on Little Lagazuoi” — free, English available, covers both tonight's museum and tomorrow's tunnels. Get it on hut wifi tonight.

Notes

Weather bail-out. If storms threaten mid-morning, drop via Rifugio Scotoni → Passo Falzarego and ride the cable car up.

4

Sun 23 Aug Easy

Lagazuoi → Rifugio Averau

2,413 m

10 km

distance

+600 m

ascent

4–5 h

moving

A short, historically dense day through the most contested ground of the Dolomite front. This is the day with the most worthwhile add-ons and the time to take them: the schedule assumes you do the tunnels and Cinque Torri and Nuvolau, and it still fits.

sun shirtzip-offswarm layerhat + glovesrain shell

The Galleria tunnels are cold, wet and unlit whatever the weather outside. Long legs and a warm layer for the descent, gloves for grip on the damp fixed cable, then strip down at Falzarego. Nuvolau at sunset is cold again.

Regional forecast: ARPAV Dolomiti Meteo — the Veneto bulletin, issued 13:00 daily with updates at 16:00 and 09:00.

06:21 sunrise 20:08 sunset 05:46 first light dark 20:43

Moon Waxing gibbous, 80% — sets ~02:00

Terrain shadow Averau sits below the Nuvolau tower on its west side and holds evening light late, near-true sunset around 20:00. Nuvolau, 160 m higher, holds it a few minutes longer with a clean 360° horizon. Inside the Galleria none of this matters — it's pitch dark regardless of the hour.

The day

05:45

Optional: up for sunrise (06:21)

07:30

Breakfast

08:15

Enter the Galleria Lagazuoi tunnels

Entrance just below the cable car station, signposted left. Italian sappers dug this through the mountain in 1917 to mine the Austrian positions above.

09:45

Exit at Passo Falzarego · 2,105 m

~1–1.5 h through. Steps are big, steep and wet; descending is much easier than ascending.

10:15

Rifugio Col Gallina · 2,054 m

Coffee. Good pastries at the pass café.

10:45

Lago Limides · 2,190 m

Small lake on trail 441 that reflects the Tofane. Barely a detour, high photo return.

12:00

Rifugio Scoiattoli / Cinque Torri · 2,255 m

Lunch, 60 min. Watch climbers on the towers. Lift and hut opening info.

13:00

Cinque Torri WWI open-air museum

Restored Italian trench system and barracks among the towers, free to wander. Different in character from Lagazuoi — this was the Italian side looking up.

13:45

Depart

14:45

Forcella Nuvolau · 2,413 m

15:00

Rifugio Averau

Check in, drop pack.

15:30

Rifugio Nuvolau · 2,575 m

~25–30 min and +160 m on an exposed rocky path. Built 1883 — the oldest refuge in the Dolomites, on a knife-edge summit with a true 360° panorama. The one to prioritise.

17:00

Back at Averau

19:00

Dinner

Widely considered the best food on the AV1.

19:30

Order tomorrow's packed lunch · request 06:30 breakfast

Day 5 is your longest.

Optional waypoints

Sunset from Nuvolau rather than Averauconflicts with dinner

Sunset is 20:08; you'd leave Averau ~19:30, mid-meal. Either ask for the early seating at check-in or tell them you'll eat after — at 15:00, not at 19:25.

Ra Gusela viewpoint+40 min

Slot at 17:00 after Nuvolau. Dramatic angle back at the massif.

Sass de Stria · 2,477 m+1 h 30

Fortified knoll north of Falzarego, riddled with Austrian positions. Only if you skip the tunnels — doing both puts you at Averau after 17:00.

Normal path down from Lagazuoi−45 min

Arrive Averau 14:15. Frees time but forfeits the best non-hiking experience on the route.

Notes

Tunnel gear — non-negotiable. Headlamp (both hands are on the fixed cable, so a handheld torch won't work), sturdy shoes, gloves for grip on damp steel. Helmet strongly recommended. €9 entry as of 2025. Option: send packs down on the cable car and do the tunnels unweighted.

5

Mon 24 Aug Hard

Averau → Rifugio Passo Staulanza

1,766 m

19–20 km

distance

+500 m

ascent

7–8 h

moving

Longest day of the trek, and quietly one of the most beautiful — the Mondeval plateau is a glacial basin of grassy plains and scattered boulders unlike anything else on the route. The extra 3.8 km to Staulanza means your side-trip budget is thin. 07:00 departure is not optional.

sun shirtshortswarm layerrain shell

Twenty kilometres, most of it on the open Mondeval plateau with no shade at all. This is the highest-sun-exposure day of the trek — the sun shirt is doing real work, not just keeping you warm.

Regional forecast: ARPAV Dolomiti Meteo — the Veneto bulletin, issued 13:00 daily with updates at 16:00 and 09:00.

06:22 sunrise 20:06 sunset 05:47 first light dark 20:41

Moon Waxing gibbous, 88% — sets ~02:45

Terrain shadow Your 07:00 departure is roughly 40 min after true sunrise, but the Nuvolau traverse will still be in shadow, which is good, because it's the fiddly bit. Passo Staulanza is a wooded road pass and loses direct sun by ~19:00. The Mondeval plateau in the middle of the day is fully open and unshaded.

The day

06:30

Breakfast

Requested last night.

07:00

Depart

08:30

Passo Giau · 2,236 m

Rocky traverse skirting Nuvolau's base on trail 452 — steep and fiddly, hard work in wet. Descends through high Val di Zonia past Col Piombin; chamois often on the Cernera ridges. Busy café and car park at the pass.

08:45

Depart

Quick coffee. Check your GPS track here — the route beyond is poorly marked and multiple parties lose it.

09:45

Forcella Giau · 2,360 m

Short steep climb on trail 436. Look back at the Tofane and Cinque Torri.

10:15

Lago delle Baste

A short spur right off the AV1. Monte Pelmo reflects in it — the shot everyone comes for. You pass the boulder field called La Città di Sassi on the way.

10:35

Rejoin the AV1

11:30

Malga Prendera · 2,148 m

The best walking of the day: wide grassy plains, easy underfoot.

12:30

Forcella Ambrizzola · 2,277 m

Becco di Mezzodì, Croda da Lago and Lastoi de Formin all on display.

12:50

Forcella Col Duro · 2,302 m

You're off the high exposed ground by 13:00 — this is the point of the early start.

14:00

Rifugio Città di Fiume · 1,918 m

Lunch, 45 min. Descent through pasture and larch with Pelmo's north wall filling the sky. Best strudel reputation on the route. This is where most people end the stage.

14:45

Depart

Do NOT take the road — follow signs into the woods, trail 472.

16:00

Rifugio Passo Staulanza

Roots, scree, slippery when damp, inadequate signage. Budget the full 75 min.

19:00

Dinner

Optional waypoints

Mondeval Man burial site · 2,150 m+40 min

10:35 → 11:15; everything after shifts 40 min, arriving Staulanza 16:40. Below the lake, past the abandoned Malga Mondeval de Sora, marked by an info board beside a large overhanging boulder. A Cro-Magnon hunter, ~40 at death, buried with grave goods 7,500–8,000 years ago; the skeleton is now in the Museo Vittorino Cazzetta in Selva di Cadore. Follow signs toward Forcella Ambrizzola from the shed at the malga. 16:40 puts the wooded descent inside the storm window — low and sheltered, so acceptable, but it is your last slack.

Monte Mondeval summit · 2,455 m+1 h 30

Highest point of the plateau, grassy slanted approach with hands-on sections near the top. Would put you at Staulanza 17:30. Too much on this itinerary.

Skip Lago delle Baste−20 min

Arrive 15:40. Only if you're running behind by mid-morning.

Notes

You can afford one addition. Decide before you leave Averau, not at Forcella Giau.

6

Tue 25 Aug Moderate

Passo Staulanza → Rifugio Tissi

2,250 m

11 km

distance

+950 m

ascent

4.5–5.5 h

moving

Short, with one sustained 620 m climb in the middle. From here to the end, Monte Civetta dominates — you spend three days walking around it. The north-west wall is called la parete delle pareti, the wall of walls, and Tissi looks straight at it.

sun shirtshortswarm layerrain shell

A 620 m climb in the open, then an early arrival. Tissi faces west over Alleghe and holds sunset almost to book time, so bring the warm layer out for the alpenglow on the Civetta wall.

Regional forecast: ARPAV Dolomiti Meteo — the Veneto bulletin, issued 13:00 daily with updates at 16:00 and 09:00.

06:24 sunrise 20:04 sunset 05:49 first light dark 20:39

Moon Waxing gibbous, 94% — bright enough to wash out the stars, but it lights the Civetta wall after dark

Terrain shadow Tissi is the best evening hut on the trek after Lagazuoi. It sits on Col Reàn facing the Civetta wall to the east with an open western horizon over Alleghe, so it loses morning sun late (Civetta blocks it until ~07:30) but holds sunset almost to book time. Lago Coldai is in a bowl and cools fast once shaded — swim by 13:15, not later.

The day

07:30

Breakfast

08:15

Depart

09:15

Palafavera · 1,507 m

Forest descent past a ski area and campground.

11:15

Rifugio Coldai · 2,132 m

Lunch, 45 min. The grind: military road 564, then path 556. Steady, largely exposed.

12:00

Depart

12:20

Forcella Coldai → Lago Coldai · 2,143 m

12:30

Swim

Cold but genuinely swimmable in late August, and you'll be sweaty from the climb. One of the few places on the AV1 you can get in the water.

13:15

Depart the lake

14:00

Forcella Col Negro · 2,248 m

Loose descent with visible rockfall debris above. Views open down to Alleghe.

14:30

AV1 fork · ~2,100 m

Turn right and climb. The main AV1 continues down toward Vazzoler.

14:50

Rifugio Tissi

~150 m / 15–20 min above the fork. You retrace it tomorrow.

17:00

Cime di Col Reàn · 2,281 m

A short stroll behind the hut to a summit cross set on the lip of a vertical drop. Marmolada's glacier to the left, Tofana di Rozes far right. Stay behind the cross — the cliffs are crumbly.

17:30

Forcella di Col Reàn

Just out the back. Best angle down onto Alleghe and its lake.

19:00

Dinner

Request 06:45 breakfast — tomorrow's heat is the issue.

20:04

Sunset on the Civetta wall

Orange, then pink, from the terrace.

Optional waypoints

Rifugio Coldai as a longer stop+30 min

Right at the top of the climb, natural break, and you're not in a hurry today.

Alleghe cable carnot recommended

The Col dei Baldi gondola connects down to Alleghe town. Only relevant if something has gone wrong.

Notes

Detour to the hut. Yes — the only real one on the route besides Pramperet. At the fork around 2,100 m, turn right and climb ~150 m.

Cash. €240 due, cash only.

7

Wed 26 Aug Hard

Tissi → Rifugio Passo Duran

“C. Tomé” · 1,605 m

16–17 km

distance

+650 m

ascent

6.5–8 h

moving

Completing the circuit of Civetta. The modest ascent figure badly understates the Vazzoler-to-Carestiato climb, which trip reports consistently call the most miserable stretch of the trek in heat.

sun shirtshortsrain shell

The heat day. The Vazzoler→Forcella del Camp climb faces south-west with no shade from about 10:00 — dress as light as you can and carry the water instead.

Regional forecast: ARPAV Dolomiti Meteo — the Veneto bulletin, issued 13:00 daily with updates at 16:00 and 09:00.

06:25 sunrise 20:02 sunset 05:50 first light dark 20:37

Moon Waxing gibbous, 98% — up essentially all night

Terrain shadow Leaving Tissi at 07:15 you're in Civetta's shadow for the first hour of descent, worth having because the rest of the day has none. The Vazzoler → Forcella del Camp climb faces south-west and is in full sun from roughly 10:00 onward. Passo Duran is enclosed between the Moiazza and Tamer and loses light by ~19:15.

The day

06:45

Breakfast

07:15

Depart

07:35

AV1 junction

Retrace yesterday's detour.

07:50

Forcella di Col Reàn · 2,107 m

09:15

Rifugio Vazzoler · 1,714 m

Loose descent, then flat meadow past farm ruins at Case Favretti, then larch, juniper and alpenrose. The towers on your left are Torre Venezia, then Torre Trieste.

09:20

Giardino Botanico “Antonio Segni”

A 5,000 m² alpine botanical garden a few steps from the hut, established 1968 and named for the former Italian president. Two sections — one left deliberately wild to show natural seasonality, one recreating high-altitude Dolomite habitat with plants and lichens that normally live far above this elevation. Free, signposted.

09:50

Cake, and fill every bottle

Vazzoler's cheesecake and strudel reputation is remarkably consistent. The next stretch is dry and sun-exposed — the most likely place on the trek to get into hydration trouble.

10:00

Depart Vazzoler

11:00

Forcella Col dell'Orso · 1,823 m

Service road for the first stretch.

12:45

Forcella del Camp · 1,933 m

The crux: steep, narrow, loose gravel, exposed roots, almost no shade, little margin for error.

13:15

Rifugio Carestiato · 1,834 m

Break 30 min. Relief, and a well-earned drink. The Moiazza wall rises directly above.

13:45

Depart

14:45

Rifugio Passo Duran

Gravel track down through pasture to the road pass.

19:00

Dinner

Request 06:00 breakfast and a packed lunch — tomorrow is the hardest day.

Optional waypoints

The chapel above Vazzoler+10 min

Small chapel on the hill right of the hut, with marble tablets naming climbers lost on Civetta and the Moiazza. Slot at 09:50, depart 10:10.

Torre Venezia viewpoint+20 min

~10 min past the hut, head-on look at the tower. Pushes departure to 10:20 and the climb 20 min further into the heat — your call.

Skip the botanical garden−30 min

Depart Vazzoler 09:30, climb 10:00–12:15, arrive Duran 14:15. Meaningfully cooler on the crux. Take this trade if the morning is already hot.

Notes

The heat problem has no clean fix. The exposed climb sits between Vazzoler and Forcella del Camp, and no realistic departure gets you through it before the sun is high. Leaving Tissi an hour earlier only buys you an hour. Carry 2+ litres out of Vazzoler.

Detour to the hut. None. Rifugio Passo Duran “C. Tomé” and Rifugio San Sebastiano are adjacent at the pass — confirm which door is yours.

Cash. €100 due, cash only.

8

Thu 27 Aug Hardest day

Passo Duran → Rifugio Pian de Fontana

1,632 m

14–17 km

distance

+1,000 m

ascent

7–8.5 h

moving

The hardest stage of the AV1 by near-universal agreement. You enter Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi and the character changes: wilder, emptier, more exposed, with limited escape once committed. Check the forecast tonight — this is the stage where weather genuinely matters.

sun shirtzip-offswarm layerrain shell

A 06:30 start in deep shade, so long legs for the first two hours, then zip them off before the Moschesin climb. Pian de Fontana loses the sun by 18:30 and cools fast — have the warm layer reachable, not buried, when you arrive sweaty.

Regional forecast: ARPAV Dolomiti Meteo — the Veneto bulletin, issued 13:00 daily with updates at 16:00 and 09:00.

06:26 sunrise 20:00 sunset 05:51 first light dark 20:35

Moon Effectively full — rises at sunset, up all night. Moonrise over the Schiara is the compensation for the worst descent on the route

Terrain shadow Your 06:30 departure is four minutes after true sunrise but well before the sun clears the ridges, so the road walk and the Forcella Dagarei climb are in cool shade. Pian de Fontana sits under high Talvena ridges and loses direct sun by ~18:30 — the hut goes cool early, so have a layer accessible when you arrive sweaty.

The day

06:00

Breakfast

Requested last night.

06:30

Depart

07:00

Rest area with Pramperet signs

Paved road walk, no shoulder, blind curves. Done early while traffic is light — the other reason for the start time.

07:45

Forcella Dagarei · 1,642 m

Steep climb through shaded pine, past pasture and cattle, into the national park.

09:30

Malga Moschesin · ~1,800 m

Undulating, several scree crossings, blue AV1 triangles plentiful. The malga is no longer operating — no services, but a fine snack spot. Also the last realistic bail-out point.

10:15

Forcella del Moschesin · 1,940 m

Abandoned military barracks, Cime de Zita and Talvena in view. At the barracks, ignore the path and signs pointing left — continue straight toward Pramperet.

11:05

Pramperet junction

11:20

Rifugio Sommariva al Pramperet · 1,857 m

~30 min round-trip detour off the AV1. Your only hot food today. Do not skip this to save half an hour.

12:00

Depart

Lunch, 40 min.

12:15

Back at the junction, rejoin path 514

13:15

Portela del Piazedel · 2,097 m

Steady climb across smooth limestone slabs marked in red paint — a strange, almost lunar landscape.

14:15

Forcella de Zita Sud · 2,395 m

Short narrow scrambling section at the top. Final major ascent of the trek. You want to be here by 14:30 at the latest.

14:20

Begin the descent

A warning sign marks the lip.

16:00

Rifugio Pian de Fontana

−760 m knee-buster, zig-zagging, singled out in report after report as the toughest descent on the route. Poles essential.

16:15

Ask the guardian for the La Pissa bus timetable. Write it down.

This determines the entire pace of tomorrow.

19:00

Dinner

Converted shepherd huts — two bunkhouses and a separate dining room. Dorms only; hot showers cost extra.

Optional waypoints

Cima de Zita Sud summit+20 min

14:15 → 14:35, arriving Pian de Fontana 16:20. A short spur from the forcella for a substantially wider panorama over the Bellunese Dolomites. Your last high point. Take it if you reach the forcella by 14:15 and the sky is clear — skip it without hesitation if anything is building.

Anything else—

No. Get to the hut.

Notes

Cash. €104 due, cash only.

9

Fri 28 Aug Moderate

Pian de Fontana → La Pissa → Belluno

Hotel Astor

11–12 km

distance

−1,350 m

descent

4.5–5.5 h

moving

One short climb, then a long descent out. Honest assessment: the least scenic day and the one most likely to go sideways logistically. The last 5 km on gravel forest road is monotonous, and the AV1 gives you no finish line. This schedule is provisional — the bus timetable you got from the guardian last night overrides it.

sun shirtshortsrain shell

1,350 m of descent to 500 m, ending in a warm valley. Shorts throughout. Keep something clean in the pack for Belluno.

Regional forecast: ARPAV Dolomiti Meteo — the Veneto bulletin, issued 13:00 daily with updates at 16:00 and 09:00.

06:28 sunrise 19:58 sunset 05:53 first light dark 20:33

Moon Full moon at 06:18 this morning, with a partial lunar eclipse at the same instant — but the moon is right at the western horizon and you're in a deep valley under Talvena and the Schiara. Almost certainly blocked by terrain. Mentioned so you're not disappointed rather than surprised.

Terrain shadow You start in shadow and stay in it for the first hour. The gravel switchbacks below Bianchet are mostly in forest, which is the one mercy of that section.

The day

06:31

Optional: sunrise from the grassy shelf

Worth being up for on the last morning.

07:00

Breakfast

07:30

Depart

08:00

Stream crossing, Val dei Ross

Drop through beech woodland.

09:00

Forcella La Varetta · 1,701 m

Last climb of the Alta Via 1.

09:45

Traverse below Cima de La Scala

Monte Schiara on your right — the peak the harder AV1 finish crosses by via ferrata. You're on the walker's variant, correctly.

10:30

Rifugio Bianchet · 1,245 m

Break 20 min. The last hut of the trek. Have the drink; there is nothing after this but gravel. Signage through here is poor and several parties report wrong turns.

10:50

Depart

12:20

Trail exit at the road

~5 km of gravel switchbacks on trail 503. Watch for the “Fermata Autobus” sign on a side path to the left. The final kilometre gets rough again with rock steps and drops.

12:30

La Pissa bus stop

~400 m to your right, on the opposite side of the road. People miss this and watch the bus go by.

~13:00

Bus to Belluno

Dolomitibus Line 1, Agordo ↔ Belluno, ~30 min.

~13:45

Belluno — check in to Hotel Astor

15:30

Belluno tourist office — collect your AV1 completion pin

There is no marker at La Pissa. This is the only official acknowledgment you finished.

16:30

Piazza dei Martiri · Piazza Duomo · the arcades

19:30

A proper meal that isn't polenta

Optional waypoints

An earlier busstart 06:00

An ~11:15 departure would require leaving Pian de Fontana by 06:00 and moving continuously with no Bianchet stop. Only attempt this if the guardian tells you the next bus is unreasonably late.

Cutting the switchbacksnot recommended

Steep forest shortcuts exist between hairpins. Trip reports advise against them with a loaded pack on tired legs, on day nine.

Notes

Bus reliability. Inconsistent, with at least one documented case of a scheduled bus simply not arriving. Have the local taxi number saved. A shared taxi to Belluno ran ~€80 split ten ways.

Reference

Departures, arrivals and slack

Day | Depart | Arrive | Distance | Moving | Side-trip budget
1 | 07:45 | 14:15 | 12 km | 5–6 h | Moderate — Croda del Becco is the big option
2 | 09:00 | 12:30 | 8–9 km | 3.5–4.5 h | Large — the rest day
3 | 07:30 | 14:00 | 13–14 km | 5.5–7 h | Small on trail, large at the hut
4 | 08:15 | 15:00 | 10 km | 4–5 h | Large — tunnels, Cinque Torri, Nuvolau all fit
5 | 07:00 | 16:00 | 19–20 km | 7–8 h | Minimal — pick one addition
6 | 08:15 | 14:50 | 11 km | 4.5–5.5 h | Large
7 | 07:15 | 14:45 | 16–17 km | 6.5–8 h | Small — garden only; heat is the constraint
8 | 06:30 | 16:00 | 14–17 km | 7–8.5 h | None — Pramperet lunch, Zita if clear
9 | 07:30 | 12:30 | 11–12 km | 4.5–5.5 h | Bus-dependent

Light and moon · Dolomites, CEST

All times ±3 min. The route spans only ~0.5° of latitude, so the difference between the north and south ends of the trail is under five minutes on any given day. First light and dark are civil twilight — enough to walk and read a map without a headlamp, but not enough for tricky ground.

Date | Night | First light | Sunrise | Sunset | Dark | Daylight | Moon
19 Aug | 0 · Dobbiaco | 05:40 | 06:16 | 20:15 | 20:50 | 13h 59m | Waxing crescent, 35%
20 Aug | 1 · Fodara Vedla | 05:42 | 06:17 | 20:13 | 20:48 | 13h 56m | First quarter, 50%
21 Aug | 2 · Fanes | 05:43 | 06:18 | 20:11 | 20:46 | 13h 53m | Waxing gibbous, 58%
22 Aug | 3 · Lagazuoi | 05:45 | 06:20 | 20:09 | 20:44 | 13h 49m | Waxing gibbous, 70%
23 Aug | 4 · Averau | 05:46 | 06:21 | 20:08 | 20:43 | 13h 47m | Waxing gibbous, 80%
24 Aug | 5 · Staulanza | 05:47 | 06:22 | 20:06 | 20:41 | 13h 44m | Waxing gibbous, 88%
25 Aug | 6 · Tissi | 05:49 | 06:24 | 20:04 | 20:39 | 13h 40m | Waxing gibbous, 94%
26 Aug | 7 · Passo Duran | 05:50 | 06:25 | 20:02 | 20:37 | 13h 37m | Waxing gibbous, 98%
27 Aug | 8 · Pian de Fontana | 05:51 | 06:26 | 20:00 | 20:35 | 13h 34m | Effectively full
28 Aug | 9 · Belluno | 05:53 | 06:28 | 19:58 | 20:33 | 13h 30m | Full 06:18 + eclipse

The moon waxes across the entire trek — you leave on a crescent and finish on a full moon. Two consequences: stargazing is best early, since on Days 1–2 the moon sets before or around midnight and both Fodara Vedla and Fanes are dark, low-traffic sites; and moonlight is best late, from Day 6 onward, when the Civetta wall from Tissi and moonrise over the Schiara from Pian de Fontana are worth stepping outside for.

Terrain shadow — when the sun actually leaves you

Hut | Elevation | Sun lost | Why
Fodara Vedla | 1,966 m | ~19:45 | Open shelf, good exposure
Fanes | 2,060 m | ~19:15 | Karstic bowl, Cima Dieci to the east
Lagazuoi | 2,752 m | ~20:05 (near true) | Summit ridge — nothing blocking either horizon
Averau | 2,413 m | ~20:00 | Nuvolau above holds light a few minutes longer
Passo Staulanza | 1,766 m | ~19:00 | Wooded road pass, earliest loss on the route
Tissi | 2,250 m | ~19:55 | Open west over Alleghe; Civetta catches alpenglow behind you
Passo Duran | 1,605 m | ~19:15 | Enclosed between Moiazza and Tamer
Pian de Fontana | 1,632 m | ~18:30 | Under high Talvena ridges — goes cool early

Your two best evenings are Day 3 at Lagazuoi and Day 6 at Tissi. Both are days you arrive by mid-afternoon, so there's no conflict — just don't schedule a long side trip into either evening.

Hut facilities

Confirmed from route guides and guest reports. Anything not listed simply isn't confirmed rather than known absent — ask at check-in.

Night | Hut | Wifi | Laundry | Sauna
1 | Rifugio Fodara Vedla | — | ✓ | —
2 | Rifugio Fanes | ✓ | — | —
3 | Rifugio Lagazuoi | ✓ | — | ✓
4 | Rifugio Averau | ✓ | ✓ | —
5 | Rifugio Passo Staulanza | ✓ | — | ✓
6 | Rifugio Tissi | ✓ | — | —
7 | Rifugio Passo Duran | ✓ | — | —
8 | Rifugio Pian de Fontana | — | — | —
9 | La Pissa → Belluno | ✓ | — | —

Laundry lands well. Fodara Vedla on Day 1 and Averau on Day 4 split the trek almost in half — wash at both and three sets of socks and shirts carry you the whole way. Fodara takes drop-offs around 15:30 and returns them after breakfast, so hand it over as soon as you arrive.

Rifugio Carestiato also does laundry, but it's a Day 7 mid-afternoon stop rather than an overnight, so it's only useful if something has gone badly wrong with your sock rotation.

Two saunas, both worth planning around. Lagazuoi has a barrel sauna on the clifftop deck looking out over Passo Falzarego — you arrive at 14:00 on the biggest climbing day of the trek, so there's time. Passo Staulanza has a Finnish sauna and steam bath in its wellness area, which lands at the end of your longest day. Those are the two days your legs will most want it, which is lucky.

Every hut has a drying room even where nothing else is listed. Use it for boots and shells regardless of the forecast.

What to wear

The strip on each stage is a starting point built from elevation, exposure and terrain, not from a forecast — check it against the live figures at the top of that stage and adjust. Three things hold on every day of the trek:

The sun shirt is an always. You asked whether it is, and it is. UV rises roughly 10–12% per 1,000 m, and you spend most of nine days between 1,600 and 2,750 m with very little shade. A light long-sleeve hooded shirt beats a t-shirt plus sunscreen on almost every count — it doesn't sweat off, doesn't need reapplying, and is cooler in direct sun than bare skin. Pack a t-shirt for hut evenings, not for walking.

Rain shell always in the pack, however good the morning looks. August storms in the Dolomites build fast in the 14:00–17:00 window and there is no shelter above the treeline.

Zip-offs pay for themselves on Days 3, 4 and 8. Those are the three days with a genuine temperature swing inside the day: exposed scree and wind at 2,752 m, the cold wet tunnels, and a 06:30 start in deep shade before a 2,395 m pass. On the other six days shorts are fine start to finish.

Two specifics worth flagging. Day 4 wants gloves — not for warmth but for grip on the damp fixed cable in the Galleria, and it's genuinely cold in there whatever the surface weather. Day 8 wants the warm layer reachable, not buried: you arrive at Pian de Fontana sweaty from a 760 m descent at a hut that loses direct sun by 18:30.

Weather — which service to trust where

The AV1 crosses a provincial border, and the authoritative forecast changes with it. National and international apps smooth over terrain that is the whole story here; the regional services run high-resolution models against local mountain stations and are consistently better.

Days 0–3 · Alto Adige / South Tyrol. South Tyrol mountain weather, from the Province of Bolzano — the full portal adds radar, a live lightning map, satellite, webcams and per-municipality thunderstorm push alerts. It publishes a forecast-reliability percentage alongside each outlook, which is unusually honest and worth reading. There's an official app.

Days 4–9 · Veneto. ARPAV Dolomiti Meteo, issued from the Teolo and Arabba stations at 13:00 daily with updates at 16:00 and 09:00 the next morning. Its forecast zones — Cortina, Val Fiorentina, Pelmo, Civetta, Agordino, Val di Zoldo, Dolomiti Bellunesi — map almost exactly onto your Days 5–9.

Day 3 is the handover. You start on the Fanes plateau in South Tyrol and finish on Lagazuoi, on the Belluno side. Check both that morning.

Cross-check: Dolomiti.it aggregates all the provincial bulletins on one page if you only have time for one tab.

The live forecast on each stage above comes from Open-Meteo, which on the Alps resolves to the high-resolution ICON-D2 and AROME models and is fetched with your hut's actual elevation. It's a useful first look and it works without an account, but it is a raw model output — the regional bulletins carry a human forecaster's judgement, and on a storm day that judgement is the thing that matters. Ask the guardian too: they read these mountains daily, and several will ask your route before letting you leave.

Why the temperatures look cold

The figure on each stage is the temperature at that hut's altitude. The regional sites headline valley maxima — South Tyrol quotes Bolzano at 262 m and the Pustertal towns; ARPAV quotes Belluno at 383 m. At roughly 6.5 °C per 1,000 m (11.7 °F per 1,000 m · 3.6 °F per 1,000 ft), that is a large gap and it is not an error in either number:

Bolzano at 30 °C (86 °F) → Fodara Vedla, 1,966 m, is around 19 °C (66 °F) on the same clear day.

The same air puts Lagazuoi, 2,752 m, near 14 °C (57 °F), and that is before wind chill.

On an overcast, wet day, knock another 5–8 °C (9–14 °F) off — which is how you end up at 12 °C (54 °F) at 2,000 m in late August.

Each block prints the elevation the model actually used, read back from the response rather than from what was requested, so you can see at a glance which altitude the number belongs to. On Days 1, 5, 8 and 9 there is a second reading for the day's high pass, because that is where you will be coldest and most exposed — Forcella de Zita Sud on Day 8 typically runs 5 °C (9 °F) below the hut you sleep in that night.

Two other reasons a comparison can look wrong: the regional sites lead with today and tomorrow, while these blocks are pinned to your stage dates; and a forecast more than about a week out will move a lot before you get there. Re-check both at every hut with wifi.

Wifi on the route

Every rifugio on this itinerary has wifi except Fodara Vedla (Day 1) and Pian de Fontana (Day 8). Both gaps land badly: Fodara is your first night, when you'd most want to confirm you arrived, and Pian de Fontana is the night before you walk out — so download the La Pissa bus times and the Day 9 forecast at Passo Duran on Day 7, and ask the Pian de Fontana guardian for the timetable in person.

Phone signal is largely absent between huts. There is reportedly a sliver of it at Pian de Fontana's supply-pulley shed. Connections are slow throughout, and card payment at the huts often runs over the same link — when the wifi is down, the card machine is too.

Standing notes

Order packed lunches the night before at Averau (Day 5), Duran (Day 8) and Pian de Fontana (Day 9).

Headlamp day: Day 4, the Galleria Lagazuoi. Both hands are on the fixed cable, so a handheld torch won't work.

Poor-signage stretches to pre-load on GPS: after Passo Giau (Day 5), Città di Fiume → Staulanza (Day 5), Forcella del Moschesin (Day 8), Bianchet → La Pissa (Day 9).

Water-scarce stretches: Braies → Biella (Day 1), Vazzoler → Carestiato (Day 7).

If you're running late, cut in this order: optional summits and viewpoints; museum and garden stops; the length of lunch, but never lunch itself on Days 5, 7 or 8; swimming at Lago Coldai. Never cut water refills, and never push over an exposed forcella after 15:00 with weather building.

Further reading

Alpine Exploratory — the most reliable stage-by-stage description of the route and its variants.

Moon & Honey Travel — hut-by-hut detail and booking guidance.

Green Eyed Globetrotters and In A Faraway Land — first-person accounts with the honest bits about the hard descents.

Lagazuoi and Cinque Torri — official sites for the WWI museums, tunnels and lift schedules.

Alta Via 1 on Wikipedia and the route overview — background and the official stage numbering.

start / finish rifugio pass or waypoint optional attention

Built for offline use — once opened, this app keeps working with no signal, and shows the last fetched forecast until you are back in range.
Distances vary by ±1–2 km between sources depending on GPS track and variant.
Sun and moon times are calculated for ~46.5°N, 12.1°E and assume a flat horizon.