Hiking Tre Cime di Lavaredo

December 27, 2025December 10, 2025 / Maria / 3 Comments

Now that I’ve finally gotten caught up on writing about all of my summer adventures in BC, it’s time to loop you in on an exciting holiday I took in late September! If you follow me on instagram, you probably already know that I spent two weeks exploring around the Dolomites. If you’re not following me on instagram, do it! I post so many photos and reels there @mariaadey.

The Dolomites is a mountainous region in Northern Italy. If you follow many outdoor influencers, you’ve probably already seen photos of them because the area has become increasingly popular among hiking enthusiasts. To be honest, it wasn’t really on my radar or bucket list. I was more intrigued by the Tour du Mont Blanc in France, but when an opportunity came up to join my friend Kristine on a trip to the Dolomites to hike the Alta Via 1, I couldn’t pass up the chance! The Alta Via 1 is a popular hut-to-hut thru-hike that extends for 120km through many popular hiking areas in the region. But more on that later, first I want to focus on a very well known hike called Tre Cime di Lavaredo.

I flew into Venice in mid-September and immediately jumped on a bus to meet Kristine in Cortina D’Ampezzo. You may have heard a lot about it recently because it’s one of the main host cities for the 2026 Winter Olympics. We had two days in Cortina to prepare for the Alta Via 1, but while there, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to hike Tre Cime di Lavaredo, which is located just east of Cortina. I landed in Venice at 4pm, was on a bus to Cortina by 6pm, and by 8am the following morning, we were waiting to catch a bus to the trailhead. So I certainly didn’t waste any time hitting the mountains!

If you’ve been to the Dolomites, or follow anyone who hikes there, chances are, you’ve seen photos of this hike. Tre Cime is to the Dolomites, what Joffres Lakes is to Vancouver. It’s an incredibly scenic hike that is fairly easy to hike and reasonably accessible. Every tourist in the Dolomites seems to have heard of this hike and plans to do it. That might make it a little bit unattractive to some – I definitely prefer to avoid these kinds of hikes at home – but when in Italy, I don’t mind sampling the main attractions!

It is possible to transit to most places in Italy, but it is definitely a confusing system to navigate. Most visitors drive through the Dolomites, but even that has its challenges because crowded parking lots have led to new tolls and restrictions (not unlike at Joffre Lakes). If you want to visit by bus, you need to reserve a ticket in advance, as they will sell out. It took me a crazy amount of time to figure out the bus system and I’m hesitant to even share because the routes are constantly changing.

In the summer, I believe you can take a bus direct from Cortina to Misurina, then pick up the shuttle to the trailhead from there. If you’re travelling in the Fall (like us), then you have to take the 445 bus to Dobbiaco, and then double back on the 444 shuttle (which goes through Misurina) to the trailhead. The 445 bus is a city bus and can be booked through the Sued Tirol Mobil app and the 444 is also a city bus, but it’s been contracted to a third party. This is the most important one to book and the bus that most often sells out. It’s called the 3 peaks hike and can be booked through Drei Zinnen https://www.drei-zinnen.bz/en/ticket.

Both buses travel the same route along highway SS51, so we decided to get off at Lago di Landry instead of going all the way to Dobbiaco. We had a bit of time waiting for connections, but it was a really beautiful stop next to the lake and there’s a little cafe there, so we were able to grab coffee while we waited. The 444 bus picked us up on time and we were able to bypass a lot of confused looking tourists who had parked at the lower lot and we’re looking for a shuttle up to the top of the road where the trail starts.

The trailhead is located next to Rifugio Aurenzo, so it’s a good landmark for planning your day. It’s actually the trailhead to two different hikes: Tre Cime di Lavaredo and Cadini di Misurina. I would say that Cadini di Misurina is just as popular as Tre Cime and I would have loved to do both, but I read that Misurina is a shorter hike with a popular viewpoint that gets extremely crowded with a line to the summit. Tre Cime is also crowded, but due to the longer trail, people get somewhat dispersed. So we just did Tre Cime, but maybe one day I’ll go back for Misurina.

Like I said, we visited in mid-September, but we did this hike on a Sunday, so it was still extremely busy. We got some excellent views as we were driving up the road to the trailhead, but it was quite cloudy when we arrived at the top. The nice thing about this hike is that it’s a loop, so you don’t have to re-do any of the terrain. You can hike in either direction, but more people like to do the route counter-clockwise – it’s supposed to make the elevation gain easier.

The hike is certainly forgiving when you start, as you walk along a wide road that looks down over the valley. We didn’t get many views on the way out due to the clouds, but Kristine is a huge livestock enthusiast and there were lots of cows, so she was running around trying to photograph them all. It’s ~1km of easy walking to a small church that looks out over the valley, and then another ~600m to the first hut of the trail: Rifugio Lavaredo. In total there are 4 huts along the route (including Aurenzo at the trailhead), but Lavaredo was my favourite one. Kristine was immediately distracted by the hut’s pet goats, while I purchased our first sweet treat of the trip!

One thing I quickly discovered about Italy is to enjoy the opportunities for sweet treats and coffee. Unfortunately I am not a coffee drinker, which was too bad because there’s a huge coffee culture there, but Kristine would always grab a cappuccino and we quickly started making our way through as many of Italy’s sweet treats as possible. The first one was a cannolo, which was a chimney cake filled with cream. It was delicious, but rarer than we thought, as I didn’t encounter any more hut cannolo’s until the end of the trip! We hung out for a while at the hut in order to give the clouds some time to clear off. It didn’t really work, but we still enjoyed the break.

After Lavaredo, you head up towards Tre Cime, which translates to “three peaks”. It’s ~1km to hike up to the top of the pass. You can follow the road, or take the shortcut along the mountainside. We just followed the road because it’s less steep. It was very busy at the top of the pass and from there, a lot of people branch off to explore via ferratas and other routes. I would say that the top of the pass is one of the best views on the trail, so take the time to enjoy it. We had a great view looking down the other side of the pass to the next rifugio, but the peaks were still shrouded in cloud. Personally, I think this just added to the experience and we got cool misty photos of the huge rock monoliths.

At this point, we’d hiked less than 3km at a very slow pace, so we decided we had to try and pick things up a bit. This was easier said than done as the views are so incredible along the entire route and we were constantly taking photos. I took 500 photos over the course of the day, which I thought was a bit extreme for one hike, but Kristine took over 800, so I finally found someone even more enthusiastic!

It’s a pretty easy walk down from the pass, but there is a short climb to get up to the next rifugio, which is known as the Dreiszinnenhutte. It was the biggest hut on the trail and a popular place to stop for lunch. The hut looks down on a small lake and there’s another little chapel next to the hut. One of the first things I was surprised to learn was how heavy the German influence is in the Dolomites. The hut architecture throughout the region is very Bavarian, as is the cuisine. I was expecting to see lots of pizza and pasta, and while there was pasta, I didn’t see a lot of pizza. Instead, there was lots of bratwurst and schnitzel on the menus.

Kristine ordered a bratwurst for lunch and I ordered a “split pea soup with dough balls”. If you’re from Newfoundland, you can definitely guess what I was envisioning for this meal. A thick, pureed split pea soup with balls of cooked bread. What I actually got was a thin and greasy vegetable broth with green peas that had been battered and deep fried. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad meal, but it definitely didn’t sit well in my stomach after so much traveling. But at the time, we enjoyed a nice lunch break with some German beer.

Dreizinnenhutte marks the halfway point of the hike, so we continued on after lunch with some downhill switchbacks through the alpine. I think this section of trail is why it’s recommended to hike counter clockwise – the switchbacks make for a tiring hike if you walk the other direction. We still stopped a lot for photos along the way. It was our first introduction to the Italian alpine environment, which is very barren. I’m sure it’s not helped by the fact that we were heading into Fall and everything was dying, but it did surprise me how accessible the alpine is in Italy. I’m used to hiking all day through the trees to get to the alpine in Canada, but in Italy, you can easily start and finish in the alpine. It makes for a scenic hike, but it can also be very tiring with the lack of shade. Fall seemed to be the perfect time for us. It was still warm enough to wear shorts most of the time, without having to deal with summer levels of heat. Although it was still hotter than we’d anticipated.

What was disappointing to see was all the people not following leave no trace principles. In the same way that people like to stack rocks in North America, people have gotten into the habit of re-arranging rocks in the alpine to spell out names and messages. There’s a large flat valley at the bottom of the switchbacks and the entire meadow was filled with rock signs, which really mar the landscape – it was sad to see.

After crossing the valley, we were rewarded with a big climb up the other side. It was a struggle as it was getting warmer, but we crawled our way up to the top and continued on to the last hut of the day. The clouds had lifted a lot since we’d started the hike and we got a great view of the three peaks along the last section of trail. We stopped at the final hut and got some photos hear a little pond that made for a nice viewpoint. After the hut, you crest the top of the pass and you get a view out towards Cadini di Misurina, so we stopped here for a while to admire the jagged peaks, and then concluded the hike at Rifugio Auronzo.

We celebrated with an apple strudel and boarded our bus back to Cortina. We stopped again at Lago di Landry, but the cafe was closed for the day. I temporarily freaked Kristine out with a malfunctioning bus ticket for the last segment of our trip. This was my first time using an e-sim while traveling (usually I buy a sim card locally or just go without). The e-sim was a really cheap and an easy way to use data while traveling and I’ll definitely be using it again, but sometimes my phone would get confused choosing between networks and we weren’t able to load our bus ticket at the lake because there was limited service. The bus driver let us ride anyways and I eventually figured it out, but overall, the bus system is really not very intuitive.

Either way, I felt that Tre Cime was a great introduction to the Dolomites! I’m glad we did it before the Alta Via, because I think it wouldn’t have been quite as impressive after a week on that trail, but I really did enjoy the experience, in spite of the large crowds. If you want to visit, make sure you do take the time to plan out your trip and how you will get there, because you won’t necessarily be able to visit on the fly. Be prepared to do the hike with 5000 other people, but fortunately, the views will outshine the crowds!

A Day in Belem

November 13, 2024October 18, 2024 / Maria / Leave a comment

This marks my last post about my Europe Trip! After a week in Morocco, we flew back to Lisbon for 1 more day before returning to Canada. Our flight was delayed, so we didn’t arrive in Lisbon until really late at night and stayed in a hostel right outside Rossi Square. Overall, I felt like we didn’t really have enough time in Lisbon. I would have liked to do a food tour and spend some time exploring the Alfama neighbourhood, but we didn’t have time for everything.

On my first visit to Lisbon (12 years previous), I had regretted not going to Belem. I don’t really think Belem is any more special than any other part of Lisbon, but the Tower of Belem seems to show up on lots of travel bucket lists and I’ve always been a little disappointed I never did it. So we dedicated our last day in Lisbon to exploring the neighbourhood of Belem.

First we got up and had a nice brunch in Lisbon city centre, and then we caught the iconic 15E tram line that runs all the way from City Centre to Belem. It’s supposed to be one of the best routes for tourists and it gets really busy as a result. I didn’t find it too bad on the way there, but we forgot to top up our Metro cards and had a hard time getting tickets. The tram runs right through Belem and we got off at one of the last stops to walk over to the Tower.

Emily had purchased tickets online in advance, but they are not timed entry. We thought the tickets would save us from the worst of the line-up, but talk about a scam! The line-up to buy tickets is really short, but the line-up to get in the tower is still really long. It made me mad because once you buy the ticket online, you’re committed to going. You’ve already spent the money and can’t opt not to go if the line is long (without losing your money). I don’t know why they don’t do timed entry like in Sintra.

The line-up wait was forecasted at 2 hours, but it was moving pretty quickly and we ended up getting in after ~45 minutes of waiting. The downside was that it started to rain while we were waiting in line with no shelter. A few opportunistic vendors came by selling umbrellas, but we opted to wait it out in our rain jackets.

Fortunately, the tower is really cool, and because they only let so many people in at a time, it’s not crowded. The tower is constructed on a rock formation on the beach and was built by the King as a military fortification in the early 1500’s. The structure has been expanded on over the years and it underwent a full restoration in the 1990’s, after which it was added to the list of the seven wonders of Portugal. Also on this list is Pena Palace, which we visited in Sintra, and Jeronimos Monastery, which is located just down the street.

We could have made it a double feature and visited the monastery as well, which in my opinion, was a much larger and more architecturally interesting building. But we wanted to actually relax on our last day of vacation and didn’t want to spend another hour waiting in line. Instead, we spent the afternoon walking along the waterfront, where we saw the Belem Lighthouse, the Padrao dos Descobrimentos (a monument to Portuguese navigators), and did a little bit of shopping at a local market.

We walked along the main road to see the Jeronimos Monastery from the outside, and then decided to visit Pasteis de Belem, which is a famous pastry shop. It is absolutely massive, so we didn’t have trouble getting seated, but we also waited a long time to be served. We enjoyed tea and pastel de nata (Lisbon’s famous egg custard pastry), along with a mille feuille for me and chocolate cake for Em. It was all delicious!

We caught the bus back to Lisbon at rush hour, which was extremely chaotic, but also hilarious because I was seated in front of a Portuguese woman who was emphatically chastising her friend Maria for the entire journey. She said her name approximately 10 dozen times and I couldn’t help but feel I had let her down somehow.

We finally made a trip to the local liquor store to stock up on wine to bring home. I ended up getting more bottles than the duty free allowance (which also happened to me in Patagonia), but like Patagonia, no one questioned me or made me pay duties on the extra wine, so definitely don’t be limited by the allowances when returning to Canada (yes, I did declare it)! We picked a nice restaurant in the City Centre and had a fantastic meal before preparing to return home.

It was a long journey home. We flew through Montreal, where my absolutely massive flight to Vancouver got cancelled. Luckily, I got the notification on my way to the gate and I immediately took off running to customer service to be the second person in line. So I immediately got re-booked for the following morning and booked into a hotel. The bigger problem was that they did not release my luggage. I had (even more) duty free wine that I bought in the airport. It had to go in my checked luggage once I left the terminal, so I had to wait around for 3 hours while they tracked down everyone’s luggage. I seem to have inordinately bad luck flying, but I did get a $1200 Air Canada voucher out of it, which I immediately used on 2 flights to Newfoundland, so I guess it wasn’t the end of the world.

This was the first time me and Emily travelled internationally together since we went to Costa Rica in 2016, so we were long overdue for a sister trip and we had a great time! The Azores were my favourite part of the trip, but Morocco was also a very unique experience and unlike anywhere else I’ve been. The food was also a big highlight, with the seafood in the Azores and the flavours of Marrakesh being particularly memorable. And of course, seeing Taylor Swift in concert is worth every bit of the hype and an experience I hope to repeat one day soon!

A Week in the Azores: Sao Miguel East

September 11, 2024September 13, 2024 / Maria / 1 Comment

After two relatively nice days in the Azores (Part I), we got to experience the other side of their Atlantic climate. It was calling for rain on Day 3, and boy did it ever rain! It poured all night and we had a slow start to the morning, waiting for the rain to subside. Eventually we couldn’t wait any longer and we started the drive towards Furnas to try and enjoy the geothermal highlights of the island.

Furnas is in the middle of the island, so it’s not too far a drive from our B&B. We tried for a few viewpoints along the way, but everything was socked in by clouds. As we entered town, the rain became absolutely torrential. Emily had to stop into the pharmacy and even though she was outside for a total of maybe 15 seconds, she got drenched.

One of the big attractions in Furnas is cozido, which is a local dish that’s cooked in a big pot in the hot springs. It’s a combination of meats, vegetables, and greens that are all stewed together and then separated out again and served to you on a plate. In my opinion, it’s basically Azorean Jiggs Dinner (a Newfoundland dish where you boil all your vegetables with salt meat). I really wanted to try it, so we decided to just have lunch right away since it was raining so hard. The only problem… finding somewhere to eat.

If you’re visiting the Azores, I’d definitely recommend making your lunch or dinner reservations in advance as much as possible. This wasn’t really an option for us because we never bought a local sim card and couldn’t make any calls. So even though we purposefully went for lunch at 11:45am (15 minutes before the restaurants open), we couldn’t get in anywhere because they were full from reservations. It was too wet out to spend forever walking around, so we ended up eating in a nearby cafe, which was pretty disappointing.

The rain finally slowed down after lunch and we walked to Jardim de Courela, which is located right in town and has a bunch of natural geothermal attractions. It’s cool to see, but it definitely smells like sulfur! We drove over to the Caldeiras das Furnas to see some more geothermal attractions, which is where the locals actually cook the cozido, so you can see the pots bubbling in the ground. There’s a short hike there to a waterfall, but it was either 10 or 15 euros per person (I can’t remember), and we were too cheap to pay for it. Instead we backtracked and visited some of the viewpoints we missed on the way in, particularly, Pico do Fero, which has a nice view of Lagoa das Furnas.

We improvised for the rest of the day and ended up driving towards the east end of the island to visit Parque Natural da Ribeira dos Caldeiroes. I feel like it would be easy to skip this park, but it was absolutely worth the drive! It’s a gorgeous park that follows the river down the valley with cascading terraces and an old water mill. The trail appears to end at the water mill, but there is a track through the forest that continues if you want to go further. My Gaia app told me there was a waterfall down there, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The trail was very muddy from all the rain and the waterfall is mostly just the river. It was an adventurous walk, but we could have skipped it.

To end the day, we stopped at Cha Gorreana, which is a tea factory near our B&B. It’s surprisingly popular, although it seemed most people were just doing a self guided tour and then hitting up the tasting room. They offer educational tours for free, so we did that and I really enjoyed it. I drink a lot of tea, so it was cool to see how the leaves get manufactured.

Finding somewhere to eat dinner that night proved more of a challenge. May 30, 2024 was Corpus Christi Day, which is a feast day to honour the body of Christ and is a holiday in the Azores. We’d had challenges earlier in the day trying to find a pharmacy and a post office that were open, and it proved almost impossible to find a restaurant at dinner time. All the restaurants in Furnas had been open – I guess because Cozido is so popular – but we had to drive around for ages to find somewhere to eat in the evening. It’s a moving holiday, so definitely pay attention to it if you’re visiting around that time.

Day 4 was our last full day on the island. It rained on and off throughout the day, but our timing was really good and we were always either driving or inside whenever it happened to rain. I wanted to do a hike, so we drove to the southeast part of the island to do the Salto do Preggo waterfall hike in Faial da Terra. The hike is mostly uphill on the way there, but it’s only ~4km round trip, so it’s a nice little hike and only took us 2 hours, including a long break at the waterfall for lunch. The trail is mostly in the forest and the waterfall is quite beautiful, though the water is absolutely freezing!

We had to drive through Furnas again on our way back after the hike, so we decided to make another attempt at cozido and managed to find a restaurant to serve us since it was later in the day (2pm). At first, they told us they didn’t have room for walk-ins, but the restaurant was half empty, so I said we’d wait and they ended up seating us within 5 minutes. I honestly don’t know why they tried to turn us away because it never got any busier. The cozido is an absolutely massive serving, we shared 1 serving and still didn’t finish it, but it was delicious! I’m glad we were able to sample it while on the island since it’s really unique.

We finished the day by reviving some of the trip highlights. We went back to Praia dos Moinhos for another few hours and enjoyed briefly swimming in the rain at one point. We’d debated going to another beach, but figured, why mess with a good thing. Then we finished the trip with another visit to Mare Cheia for more seafood. The waiter was downright insulted when a group came in just before closing and asked him for a tuna steak (“tuna is not fresh! If any restaurant is serving you tuna, they’re feeding you frozen food!”). We commiserated with him and he poured us some shots of the local liqueur before returning to the B&B.

We hung out on the balcony as the sun set and into the night, chatting about whatever and reflecting on what a nice visit it had been to a pretty unique island. Even though the Azores was Emily’s pick for the trip, it was my favourite part too. I’d love to return some day and check out the rest of the islands. I definitely recommend it if you want to try something a bit different!