La Dolce Vita in the Dolomites | HNHO - Flockhill Lodge in NZ | Highlight - San Brite in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Mimi Lichtenstein
Mom of 3 | I help plan immersive vacations and 1+ month family sabbaticals 🌎 that refresh personal and professional lives | Author of Where to Next? Adventures in Luxury Travel newsletter
Bon giorno Traveler,
Today I’m heading home from a blissful two weeks in Madrid, the Dolomites, Lake Garda and Milan.
They are such different destinations, but so complementary when you like a trip full of contrasts.
As our kids grow, their time with us shortens, making the time we spend together that much more important. So I plan trips that I know our kids (and Jason and I) will love.
Allison, Jessie and Trevor love being active, great food, exploring new places, stepping a bit outside their comfort zone and doing cool things.
With that in mind, for our family vacation this summer, I planned us a trip to the Dolomite Mountains of Italy.
Your family may be similar to some or all of the above, but with other unique traits. The fun of creating a custom trip is learning about what makes each member of your family tick – what do you love to do? What pace of travel is just right? How much activity do you want to balance with your free time? Do you want to be active every day? Do you want to immerse yourself in the local culture? Learn about history? Speak the language? Meet locals?
What did our Dolomite Mountains trip look like?
There's not enough time to share everything so I've included below a page from my journal on day 3 and here are a few more highlights...
I chose to start us with a couple of nights in Cortina. We stayed at a new boutique hotel (with a great spa), went e-mountain biking (the kids LOVED this!) and enjoyed a Michelin star dinner.
That was followed by a helicopter ride up to our first hut, four days of guided refugio to refugio hiking (with our bags transported for us) through spectacular landscapes, exploring WWI tunnels and staying in mountain refugios (I picked quality ones with private rooms, great food and in unique locations). There was a spectacular view at every turn.
Then two nights in La Villa, a small town in Alta Badia, in a family owned boutique hotel, with a three story spa. We took a helicopter to see the Marmolada Glacier from above, waving at the hikers who had scaled it early that morning (see video HERE) and were dropped off at a via Ferrata.
After our final day of intense activity there were massages for all and time to soak in the hot tub and cold plunge pool (my feet particularly appreciated the cold plunge) or lounge in the sauna. More delicious food and local wines.
After La Villa, Jason departed for home with two of our kids and Jessie and I went to Lake Garda and Milan. More on that in the next few weeks.
You know when your 17-21 year old kids are on vacation, waking up at 7:30a, hiking 6-14 miles/day for 5+ hours, including vertical ascents of 2500+ feet, with no complaints, you've succeeded in planning a great adventure!
The above might be a lot for some people, but it was perfect for us. And that is the key for you – figuring out what combination of experiences, places, people and pace is just right for your family!
We all loved our dinner at San Brite, the Michelin star restaurant in Cortina, so much that I’ve chosen it for this week’s highlight. Read more about it below. There were so many highlights that more will show up in the coming weeks.
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As you can tell, I’m in love with the Dolomites!
They offer so much and in so many ways!
So many adventures – hiking, mountain (or e-mountain) biking, via ferratas, paragliding, rock climbing, helicopters.
And WWI history, incredible food, welcoming people, a cultural blend of Italian, Ladin and Austrian/German, wine tasting and cooking classes.
The brilliance of this destination is there are so many options and levels on how you “do” the Dolomites:
Accommodations
Pace
Activity Level
Accompanied
Luggage
There are also so many places you can do a pre/post Dolomites stay. A city like Venice or Milan (easy because you may fly into those airports) are great options. Or consider by the water in Lake Garda or Lake Como or further out on the coast, Cinque Terra. Those are all doable, but of course you can combine with other parts of Italy, Switzerland, Austria or even Spain, as we did. The possibilities are truly endless.
As you enjoy your summer vacation this year, make it a point to dream about what you want to do next summer. Because the time to begin planning it is as soon as this one is over!
I encourage you to open up your calendar and select a date and time the first week of September and schedule in time to brainstorm, talk with your family, look at dates and then reach out to start planning. You will get your choice of the best places, guides and accommodations! And once it’s confirmed you will feel a tremendous sense of relief that you have it “on the calendar!”
The Inspiration articles below include BBC pictures of the world's best treks, France's most beautiful countryside villages, Bali's best hotels and a The New York Times article on the Azores.
And information regarding extreme tourism for billionaires, why walking helps us think (I did a lot walking and thinking in the Dolomites) and a hack on bypassing long waits for passport renewals. I will 100% be taking advantage of this tip!
Warmly,
Mimi
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