Should You Rent a Car for the Dolomites? The Best Route and What I'd Do Differently

We booked flights, hotels and the rental car three months ahead and figured the hard part was done. It wasn't. A few small things turned out to matter more than anything else.

There were four of us, including my parents, who are in their 70s. This is the route we drove, how the car side of it went, and what I'd change next time.

Rent a car. Really.

If you're fine driving, rent a car in the Dolomites. The driving is easier than it looks in videos. The roads wind a lot but they're well kept, and parking was mostly fine. Once I had to climb out the passenger side because a pillar was too close. That's about it.

We had four people, three big suitcases and three small ones, so I took the biggest car available: an MG HS hybrid SUV. Even though it was the biggest SUV they had, driving it was no problem at all. Great fuel economy too. With two people and a small car it would be even easier.

The catch is that a car gives you total freedom, and that makes planning harder. With a group of four or more, everyone has a place they want to go. At one point I decided it would be faster to plan the whole thing myself. So I did.

Hertz at Milan airport: ignore the Google reviews (mostly)

Hertz at Milan airport has a terrible rating on Google. I was nervous. In the end the staff were really nice and pickup was easy.

I took full coverage, and I'm glad I did. When I returned the car, they didn't even inspect it. Any scratch would have been covered anyway, so there was nothing to stress about.

I also added roadside assistance for about €80, and that's the part I regret. Driving here turned out to be comfortable. No flat tire, no sketchy roads, nothing close to needing help. I paid because I was scared before the trip even started. If you're a confident driver, skip it.

The route

Night 1: near the airport. If your flight lands in the evening, don't drive into the mountains after a long-haul flight. Sleep near the airport, beat the jet lag, and drive with a clear head the next morning.

Nights 2–3: the Seceda side (Ortisei). Hotels in Ortisei itself are very expensive, and the good-value ones book out early. I stayed in Brixen (Bressanone) and drove in.

On the way east: Cortina d'Ampezzo. A stop of a few hours.

Nights 4–5: the Tre Cime side. Stay in Dobbiaco (Toblach). I stayed at an Airbnb in Auronzo, and that was a mistake.

Then back to Milan.

Seceda

On signs and in your GPS you'll see Ortisei, Urtijëi and St. Ulrich. They're all the same town. I was confused at first, but typing "Ortisei" into Google Maps worked fine.

Two things catch people out. You still have to reserve a lift slot after buying your ticket, and there's a pass with almost the same name that doesn't work on the Seceda lifts. I go through tickets, the Gardena Card and parking here: Seceda cable car: the new reservation rule and which ticket to buy

The drive from Ortisei to Cortina

This was my favorite part of having a car. Put Cortina d'Ampezzo into Google Maps from Ortisei and just follow it. The road goes over the mountain passes, and the views are incredible the whole way. Pull over whenever you want to. That's the whole point of having a car.

Cortina d'Ampezzo

Do you have to stay overnight? I don't think so. We only stayed about three hours. It's cute, with plenty of shops and food, and staying a night would have been nice. But hotels aren't cheap, and the Olympics pushed prices even higher. For the Tre Cime, Dobbiaco is the better base anyway.

Where to eat: Baita Resch

We stopped for lunch at Baita Resch, a mountain restaurant just above Cortina, right on the way in from Ortisei. Good food, and a terrace looking over the whole valley. Google Maps

Tre Cime

The parking at the top is reservation only, and once you're within 5 days of your date there's no refund, even for bad weather. I also messed up our base and had to find a workaround the night before. All of it is here: Tre Cime parking and bus: how to book

What I'd do differently

• With parents, you travel to tick off sights. If you want a slow trip, that's a separate trip.
• Pack a beer and a picnic mat. You can sit right on the grass almost anywhere up there. I only brought water.
• Bring more snacks than you think. You'll be outside all day, and mountain huts mostly sell pizza and bread.

Sitting in nature and doing nothing isn't how I usually travel. But that's the part I miss.

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