Classic hut-to-hut routes · Italy

Alta Via 1

The gentlest of the Dolomite high routes, north to south from Lago di Braies to Belluno, past the war-scarred Lagazuoi and under the Civetta wall.

Distance
~120 km
Days
8–12
Total ascent
not in our source
High point
Forcella del Lago, 2,486 m
Season
late June to late September

Alta Via 1 is the Dolomites walk people mean when they say they want to do the Dolomites. It runs south from the lake at Braies through the Fanes plateau, over the Lagazuoi with its First World War tunnels, past the Cinque Torri and along the enormous north-west face of the Civetta, and drops to Belluno.

It stays on paths. There are short protected sections you can avoid, no glacier and no scrambling that needs gear, which is why it is the one to start with. The rifugi are excellent and busy, and many take bookings only by phone or email.

Who it suits
Level: Confident walkersWalkers who want the Dolomites' scenery without via ferrata, and anyone doing their first Italian hut route.
The nights
Rifugi almost every night, several run by the same families for generations; half board is the norm and worth taking.

Stage points and the shelters near them

Published path grades around the stage points run T1 to T6, from 8 of 9 stages. That describes the terrain there, not the exact line of the route. A via ferrata grade appears somewhere along it.

31 shelters within 4 km of the stage points, from the shelter table. Distances are from the stage point, not walking distances.

  1. 01Lago di Braies

  2. 02Rifugio Fanes

  3. 03Rifugio Lagazuoi

  4. 04Rifugio Nuvolau

  5. 05Passo Staulanza

  6. 06Rifugio Coldai

  7. 07Rifugio Carestiato

  8. 08Rifugio Pian de Fontana

  9. 09Belluno

    No shelter in our table within 4 km of Belluno; this stage usually ends in a village or a private inn.

How booking works

Alpine Club huts on this route take reservations through hut-reservation.org, the shared system of the German, Austrian and Swiss clubs. We link straight to it and earn nothing from a hut booking.

Members of any Alpine Club pay a reduced rate at all club huts, whichever club they joined, and membership usually includes mountain rescue cover. On a week of hut nights it pays for itself. Join the ÖAV

Plan Alta Via 1 around my datesOpens the planner with this route's area and length filled in.

Common questions

Every answer below is counted from the 31 shelters our table holds along this route. Where a shelter does not state something, it is counted as not stated rather than assumed.

How long is Alta Via 1, and how many days does it take?
About 120 km, usually walked in 8–12 days. The highest point on the route is Forcella del Lago, at 2,486 m.
When can you walk it?
The season is late June to late September. Of the 31 shelters along the way, 2 publish when a warden is present, and the most common season among them is June to October, stated by 1 of them.
Where do you sleep?
In 31 shelters within 4 km of the stage points, of which 31 are run by an Alpine Club. 0 of them can be booked online through the clubs' own system; the rest take a phone call, and every number we hold is on the shelter's own page.
Do you need to book ahead?
1 of the 31 shelters state that a reservation is required and 5 that it is recommended. The other 25 do not say either way, which is not the same as saying no.
What if you arrive out of season?
1 of the 31 shelters state that a winter room is left open. That is a room, not a service: no warden, no meals, and you carry what you need.
What is the highest place you sleep?
The highest shelter we hold on this route is Rifugio Lagazuoi, at 2,752 m.

Other classic routes

Distance, days, ascent, high point and season are approximate and taken from Wikipedia, Alta Via 1. Shelters from refuges.info (©Les contributeurs de Refuges.info, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR) and OpenStreetMap (ODbL).