Alta Via 1 — optional excursions 29 waypoints for the side trips, summits and logistics points on a 19–28 August 2026 AV1 traverse. Names are prefixed D0–D9 by stage so they sort by day. Coordinates verified against Google Places, not recalled; treat them as accurate to roughly the building or feature, and navigate on your Cicerone track. Deliberately NOT included, because no reliable coordinate was found and a wrong pin in the mountains is worse than none. All are easy to find on the ground: D2 Le Vert / Lago Verde - signposted, just below Rifugio Lavarella D2 Ucia de Gran Fanes - on the flat meadow past Passo di Limo D2 Col Bechei - from Passo Limo (+3 h; too much before the Lagazuoi day) D3 Piccolo Lagazuoi summit cross - ~15 min on an easy path from the hut D3 Frontline Trail entrance - 15 min descent from the hut on trail 401 D4 Galleria Lagazuoi tunnel entrance - just below the cable car top station, signed left D6 Cime di Col Rean summit cross - ~10 min stroll behind Rifugio Tissi D7 Chapel above Vazzoler - on the small hill right of the hut D7 Torre Venezia viewpoint - ~10 min past Vazzoler D8 Forcella de Zita Sud and Cima de Zita Sud - the forcella is on your Cicerone track; the summit is a ~10 min spur from it 1250 D0 · Mahler composing hut [+40 min] Gustav Mahler summered here 1908–10 and wrote most of the Ninth Symphony in this hut. CHECK HOURS — listed as Wed and Fri 15:00–17:00 only, and reports say it is sometimes shut entirely. Worth the walk for the setting even if the door is locked. Museum Optional 1494 D1 · Braies boat rental [+1 h 15] La Palafitta boathouse, 09:00–18:00. ~€45–55 per boat for 45 min, cash cheaper than card. Costs you the early start: you would leave around 10:45 and reach Fodara ~17:15. Scenic Area Optional 2810 D1 · Croda del Becco / Seekofel [+2 h 15] Leave the AV1 at Forcella Sora Forno ~10:15, summit ~11:30, back at the forcella ~12:30. Cables at one awkward corner. Biggest 360° payoff of Day 1 — go if the weather is clean. Day 1 is short enough to absorb it. Summit Optional 2327 D1 · Rifugio Biella [on route] First hut. REFILL HERE — water is scarce between Lago di Braies and this point. Lodging On route 1966 D1 · Rifugio Fodara Vedla Night 1. Laundry service — drop it around 15:30, back after breakfast. NO WIFI. Walk 5 min uphill behind the huts for alpenglow on the Croda Rossa. Lodging Overnight 2050 D2 · Rifugio Lavarella (brewery) [+30 min] Highest brewery in Europe. Unfiltered lager and a wheat beer brewed to the German purity law with Dolomite spring water. 10 min from Rifugio Fanes. Best use of the spare afternoon on your shortest day. Restaurant Optional 2159 D2 · Lago di Limo [+1 h 30] You cross this tomorrow morning anyway, but walking out in evening light with an empty pack is a different experience. Marmots everywhere. Scenic Area Optional 2752 D3 · Rifugio Lagazuoi Night 3, high point of the trek. Barrel sauna on the clifftop deck. Summit cross is ~15 min on an easy path from the hut; the Frontline Trail WWI museum is a 15 min descent on trail 401. Best sunrise AND sunset of the route. Lodging Overnight 2105 D4 · Passo Falzarego [on route] Where the Galleria Lagazuoi tunnel descent comes out. Tunnel entrance is just below the cable car station up top, signposted left. HEADLAMP MANDATORY — both hands are on the fixed cable. Gloves for grip, helmet recommended. ~€9. Trailhead On route 2477 D4 · Sass de Stria [+1 h 30] Fortified knoll riddled with Austrian positions, trenches and tunnels. ~2.2 km and +309 m from the Valparola car park, with ladders and cable aids. Only if you SKIP the Galleria — doing both puts you at Averau after 17:00. Summit Optional 2190 D4 · Lago Limides [+15 min] Small lake on trail 441 that reflects the Tofane. Barely a detour, high photo return. Note it can be low or nearly dry late in a hot summer. Scenic Area Optional 2255 D4 · Cinque Torri / Rif. Scoiattoli [+45 min] Restored Italian WWI trench system and barracks among the five towers, free to wander. The Italian side looking UP at Lagazuoi. No potable water at the hut. Restaurant Optional 2137 D4 · Rifugio 5 Torri [+20 min] The supply pulley that serves Rifugio Nuvolau lives here. Kitchen 12:00–14:00 only. Restaurant Optional 2575 D4 · Rifugio Nuvolau [+1 h] THE ONE TO PRIORITISE. ~25–30 min and +160 m above Averau on an exposed rocky path. Built 1883, oldest refuge in the Dolomites, true 360° panorama. Go up for sunset (20:08) and come back down to sleep — but tell Averau at check-in, not at 19:25. Summit Optional 2595 D4 · Ra Gusela [+40 min] The rock fin below Nuvolau. Dramatic angle back at the Averau/Nuvolau massif. Scenic Area Optional 2143 D5 · Lago delle Baste [+20 min] TAKE THIS ONE. Short spur off the AV1; Monte Pelmo reflects in it. You pass the boulder field called La Città di Sassi on the way. Cheapest side trip of your longest day. Scenic Area Optional 2455 D5 · Monte Mondeval summit [+1 h 30] Highest point of the plateau, grassy slanted approach with hands-on sections near the top. TOO MUCH on a 20 km day — marked for completeness only. Summit Optional 2150 D5 · Mondeval plateau / Valmo site [+40 min] Mesolithic burial. A Cro-Magnon hunter, ~40 at death, buried with grave goods 7,500–8,000 years ago; skeleton now in Selva di Cadore. Info board beside a large overhanging boulder, below the lake past the abandoned Malga Mondeval de Sora. APPROXIMATE — this pin marks the plateau, follow local signage to the boulder. Museum Optional 1918 D5 · Rifugio Città di Fiume [lunch stop] Lunch, 45 min. Best strudel on the route. LEAVING: do NOT take the road — follow signs into the woods on trail 472. Poor signage, budget the full 75 min. Restaurant On route 2132 D6 · Rifugio Coldai [lunch stop] Top of the 620 m climb. Natural lunch break; no drinking water. Restaurant On route 2143 D6 · Lago Coldai (swim) [+45 min] Cold but genuinely swimmable in late August, and one of the few places on the AV1 you can get in the water. Swim by 13:15 — the bowl shades and cools fast. Water Source Optional 2250 D6 · Rifugio Tissi Night 6. DETOUR: ~150 m / 15–20 min uphill from the AV1 fork at ~2,100 m — turn right where the main trail continues down toward Vazzoler. Cime di Col Reàn summit cross is a 10 min stroll behind the hut. CASH ONLY, €240. Lodging Overnight 1714 D7 · Rifugio Vazzoler [lunch stop] FILL EVERY BOTTLE. The Vazzoler→Carestiato climb is dry, south-west facing and unshaded from ~10:00 — the most likely place on the trek to get into hydration trouble. Cash only. Famous cake. Restaurant On route 1714 D7 · Giardino Alpino Antonio Segni [+30 min] 5,000 m² alpine botanical garden a few steps from Vazzoler, established 1968. One section left deliberately wild, one recreating high-altitude habitat. Free. SKIP IT if the morning is already hot — 30 min earlier on the climb is worth more. Park Optional 1834 D7 · Rifugio Carestiato [break] Relief after the Forcella del Camp crux. Also does laundry, if your sock rotation has gone wrong. Moiazza wall directly above. Restaurant On route 1857 D8 · Rifugio Sommariva al Pramperet [+30 min] TECHNICALLY OPTIONAL, PRACTICALLY MANDATORY. ~30 min round trip off the AV1 and your only hot food on the hardest stage. Do not skip this to save half an hour. Drinkable water. Rejoin path 514 afterwards. Restaurant Optional 1245 D9 · Rifugio Bianchet [break] Last hut of the trek. Have the drink — there is nothing after this but 5 km of gravel switchbacks. Cash only, no wifi, no signal. Restaurant On route 500 D9 · La Pissa bus stop Dolomitibus Line 1, Agordo ↔ Belluno, ~30 min. Watch for the 'Fermata Autobus' sign on a side path LEFT off trail 503. The stop sits across the road from where you emerge. Service is unreliable — get the timetable from the Pian de Fontana guardian the night before and keep a taxi number handy. Bus Logistics 383 D9 · Belluno Tourist Office (AV1 pin) Via Duomo 2, daily 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–17:00. COLLECT YOUR AV1 COMPLETION PIN here — there is no marker at La Pissa. Bring your Dolomiti passport with rifugio stamps; hikers report Strava tracks accepted as evidence too. Sign the register and photograph the finisher board. Information Logistics