Dolomite Mountains Italy

The Dolomite Mountains separate Italy from Switzerland and Austria. They have a totally different geological structure to the French and Swiss Alps that we had already visited. Very beautiful but much more stark - hard blocks of granite compared to those more fertile Alpine Regions to the west and north. The mountains change constantly with the ever changing light. It is not unusual to see people sitting in a village just staring at the mountains and when you return an hour later they are still there as if transfixed. Sometimes the mountains appear surreal as if they are a painted canvas against the sky. They are mesmerizing.

They are also a mecca for European bikers and cyclists for reasons other than their beauty. There are passes everywhere, many over 2000 meters but the road surfaces are not up to the high standard set by the Swiss - probably says something about the respective economies of the two countries. They could roughly be divided into three standards: those passes used by cyclists and especially the major tours: those servicing the ski villages: those servicing the rural communities. It is not uncommon to have one approach to a pass from a rural community to a ski resort in poor condition while the other side of the pass that services the ski village from major centers in very good condition. The advantage of the rural passes is very light traffic so they can be enjoyed provided you keep alert to the rough surface.


Our goal was to explore the region for its natural beauty and bag as many of the high mountain passes as time permitted. We concentrated on the south Tyrol region around where we were staying thus leaving the eastern side of the range for when we moved to Austria. Our home village of Corvara sits in a beautiful valley with three access roads all of which go over a mountain pass. You can choose the Gardena, Campolongo or Verda Passes.We started our first full day in the Dolomites at an easy pace catching up with some computer chores then venturing out over the Campolongo Pass down to Arabba. This little village has received a lot of recommendation in various Motorcycle forums and it has a few popular biker oriented lodgings. We had lunch and watched lots of bikers transiting through the village. It is a very compact village with limited facilities so we were happy to be staying in Corvara. In the afternoon we completed a circuit back to Corvara over the Falzarego, Valparolo and Verda Passes.

The Grey Ghost was going to need a bit of scheduled maintenance work when she ticked over 60,000km in Austria so we headed to the closest BMW dealership in the larger town of Bressanone/Brixen to get the required parts. This dual naming of towns/places in Italian/German is very common in these northern regions reflecting the recent past when they were part of Austria. Our route out over the Gardena Pass was under heavy cloud so we appreciated our well practiced Swiss experience of riding in the clouds. Google translation was again used to write out what we required at the dealership and we were taken into the parts store to get what was needed. Similar to our experience in Switzerland there is no dedicated spare parts section of the dealership as we enjoy in Australia. The young man who looked after us was very helpful and happily told us that he and a few mates were planning a trip to the Great Barrier Reef in 2013.

Out of Bressanone we followed the river valley along the E66 road to the cusp of the Austrian border before turning south at Dobbiaco/Toblach over the mountains of the Dolomiti De Sisto National Park . Although the E66 carries a lot of lorry traffic it was a nice ride through very fertile country. We noted that the Church spires which define the towns so distinctly had started to change first in colour to an ochre/red then in shape from the very pointed mountain style to a rounded turret style. We crossed the Gemark Pass before stopping for a coffee in the larger town of Cortina and were impressed with its very ornate Basilica bordering the town square. It is testament to the faith of the people who built these massive and expensively detailed churches in what were quite small rural communities. Credit also to the current generations who maintain and upkeep the buildings for all to enjoy. Our run home was over the Falzarego and Valparolo Passes.

Our last full day in Italy dawned wet and stormy so we attended to our chores and did not venture out until early afternoon under clearing skies. Our plan had been to bag seven passes to the south of Corvara so we gave it a go despite the late start. Our luck held out through the entire afternoon and early evening in that we missed every downpour despite encountering very wet roads in parts. By the time we arrived home just after 7.30pm the  Campolongo, Cereda, Rolle, Valles, San Pellegrino, Di Sella and Gardena Passes were in our bag. We were tired but satisfied and enjoyed a well deserved dinner in the village.

The Dolomites were everything we expected and deserve their reputation as a summer holiday destination for trekkers, cyclists and bikers.