Italy, Dolomites
The Great Dolomites Drive
Distance
187 km
Time
4h 15m
Driving score
9.6
We choose the roads, waypoints are preserved so Google Maps follows the intended route.
Editorial
Why drive it
The Strada delle Dolomiti was engineered in 1909 for horse-drawn carriages and has been quietly perfected ever since. What survives is a road of extraordinary rhythm: long, sighted third-gear sweepers on the valley floors, then a switch to tight, stacked hairpins as the limestone closes in.
The Pordoi is the set piece, thirty-three numbered corners on the western ramp, each one cambered generously enough to carry speed, each one opening onto a view of the Sella massif that seems computer-generated. The Falzarego that follows is faster and wider, a road for a GT rather than a stopwatch.
Go early. By ten o'clock the motorhomes arrive and the magic thins. Go in a convertible if you possibly can: the Dolomites reward hearing the rock walls as much as seeing them.
- Difficulty
- Challenging
- Road width
- Generous two-lane, occasional narrow tunnel sections
- Surface
- Excellent, resurfaced on the Pordoi and Falzarego ramps
- Best direction
- West to east, Bolzano → Cortina
- Best time of day
- Depart before 07:30
- Best season
- May to October
- Elevation
- 2,239 m maximum, Passo Pordoi
- Community rating
- 4.9 / 5
Proprietary scoring
The numbers
The journey
Route highlights
Start
Bolzano
Fuel and espresso in the arcaded old town
Coffee
Karersee
Emerald lake, five-minute stop, mirror reflections
Mountain Pass
Passo Costalunga
Warm-up pass, flowing and quiet
Photo Spot
Canazei Overlook
Sella massif framed by pine
Mountain Pass
Passo Pordoi
33 hairpins, 2,239 m summit
Lunch
Rifugio Arabba
Speck, dumplings, terrace over the valley
Viewpoint
Passo Falzarego
Wide, fast, cinematic
Fuel
Pocol Services
Last reliable fuel before Cortina
Finish
Cortina d'Ampezzo
Aperitivo on the Corso Italia
Where to stay
Stay along this drive
Tracing the road between your start and finish
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From the members
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