Are you looking for an incredible drive, stunning views, and maybe a short 10 Km hike? Tre Cime, better known as the Three Chimneys, is an epic place to go.
Our Tre Cime adventure was done in three parts. All.in.one.day!
One of the main reasons we were doing a Dolomite road trip was to see the famous Tre Cime, Three Chimneys. I was practically drooling at the thought of finally getting there, but our Day 4 did not disappoint!
If you missed Day 3, a day of Thanksgiving, and more cows, with a bacon ending. Check it out.
Tre Cime – Part One – Views, views, views
First, we drove to the park, stopping along the way at the Vista Panoramica, a small parking area with a view of the three chimneys and an interpretive sign. You have to pay for your parking ticket, but it’s pretty worth it since it has a gorgeous view. We were there only about 15 minutes.
A little further on, we pulled over to take photos and enjoy the views of the mountains from Lago di Landro, which had a stunning reflection of Mount Piana. Again, this was a short stop, and we were in no hurry since our plan was just to drive the road and do a hike at the top.
Tre – Cime – Part Two – Where it all fell apart
One of the main reasons we were doing a Dolomite Road Trip was to do some hiking. One of those hikes is the Tre Cime 10 km walk. To do this, you have to drive up through the national park on one access road. At the top, you park and head down to the trailhead, which takes you around the mountain to another face where you can see the three chimneys.
We started up the road about 9:00 in the morning, and there were a few cars on the road in front of us, but we still stopped, oohed, aahed, and took some photos. On one of these stops, we met a Sardinian couple coming down the mountain. We stood around and chatted with them for a few minutes. Lovely.
We continued on our way, following the many signs pointing the way to the top. When we arrived at Lago Atorno, we hit a traffic jam. The lake itself is really pretty, and many people were walking around it, probably while the driver of their car was waiting in line.
Our Dolomite Road Trip Looked like this:
- Drove from Ramstein area in Germany
- Overnighted in the Brenner Pass
- Day 1 – Vipiteno, Bolzano, and Selva Val Gardena (volksmarch)
- Day 2 – Siusi, Seiser Alm, Compatsch and Kastelruth – Cow festivals
- Day 3 – Völs am Schern, Tiers Cow Festival, Via Coller, St. Magdalena Bacon Festival
- Day 4 – Tre-Cime and Lago di Braies
- Day 5 – Kronplatz Peak, The Lumen Mountain Photography Museum and the Messner Mountain Climbing Museum
- Day 6 – 9 – Back to Bolzano, Bergamo, Annecy and the Retours des Alpages
Download a snapshot pdf of our Dolomite road trip for further planning.
We knew there was a part of the road where we would have to buy an access ticket for 30 Euros. Other than collecting fees, their other job is to monitor how many cars have gone through to the top of the mountain. This is limited to the size of the parking lots, which purportedly fills up pretty early in the morning.
Yes, it was full! At that point, they just don’t let anyone else in. So you have two choices: turn around or wait. Many, many, did I say “many?” Many people were waiting. I actually walked up the road and counted the cars along the way. I got to over 60 when I overheard another tourist say that there were over 170 cars in line waiting.
Jim and I chose to turn around and go down the mountain.
Tre Cime – Part Three – Success…well, almost.
You might think not getting to do what we planned would have ruined our trip, but no, we loved it. I mean, loved it!
Jim and I, after traveling together for decades, are pretty flexible. As we were trying to decide what to do, we figured Lago di Braies, which was on our plan, was not too far away. We decided to throw in the towel and go there. (Check out what we thought of Lago di Braies here.)
Afterward, we thought, what the heck, let’s try and go up the mountain. We needed to stop and get something to eat, and we knew we wouldn’t get up there until late afternoon, which meant our planned walk wouldn’t be possible, but at least we could go up and enjoy the views. It was our new plan, so off we went.
We stopped in Toblach for lunch at Hans Pizzeria where we shared a salad and calazone. It was okay, good but nothing special. However, the views of the mountains from the outdoor seating were pretty spectacular, and it was a warm fall day, so we really enjoyed it.
We headed up the road again, trying not to stop too many times to gawk and photograph the vistas so that we could get up to the ticket station and hopefully be let in.
We were! Yes, we paid 30 Euros for driving up the rest of the road and enjoying the views. If you are wondering why we didn’t go the next day, it’s because there was a huge snowstorm projected, and they were telling us the road would probably be closed.
Our Rating
As you can see we only gave it four out of five stars. This is simply because there are so many people who want to do this, even the first week of October, which is certainly not the high season, that we did not get to do what we wanted.
Did we enjoy driving the road? Yes.
Were the views stunning and impressive? Yes
However, paying 30 Euros to get to the top, park, take in the views, then head back down is a little pricey in my book. We knew, at this point, that was what we were going to do. It was our choice, and we don’t regret it, because it was spectacular, but of course I would have liked to stay a bit longer.
Not far from the parking lot is Rifugio Auronzo, where we had our second disappointment. We thought, at least, we could order a piece of cake and coffee and sit outside and enjoy the views. But! It closed down for the season one day before. One! We missed it by one day. This is the problem with going to the Dolomites in October, the summer season has ended and places like this close down.
Well, spoiler alert, we never made it in time to do a 10 Km walk. It is said to take about 3 hours, but I figured with altitude, it might be pushing our boundaries, and I planned to take about 4 hours. Therefore, when we did finally make it to the top, it was just too late to walk. Darn it. Now I have to go back.
Conclusion
We learned a couple of lessons on our Tre Cime journey. First, there are always lots of people going to Tre Cime, regardless of the time of year. Secondly, if you want to be sure to get to the top and park, especially if you want to hike, get up and go super early. I mean, super early! However, don’t let any of this stop you. There are plenty of things to do in the area, like rowing a boat on Lago di Braies. The views are stunning!
Author Bio: Corinne Vail is a travel photographer, food lover, and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 14 years. For many years she lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands teaching the children of the US. military. She’s visited over 90 countries, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.