As you may know, I ventured to the Dolomites twice last year so I wanted to share the beautiful places that we went. I’m splitting it into lakes and mountains. Obviously, we didn’t get to visit all of the lakes and all of the mountains but I think these are the ones that are worth making the effort for if you’re a bit limited for time. My top 3 best lakes in the Dolomites:
Lago di Braies
If you’ve ever searched for lakes in the Dolomites then you’ve probably come across Lago di Braies or Pragser Wildsee. It’s the one with the boats that you see all over Instagram. We went there for sunrise which was lovely and it wasn’t too busy but it meant that the cafe wasn’t open so I couldn’t get a cup of tea to warm me up.
We also unfortunately went the morning that the boat house was completely closed to the public until midday because someone was doing a photo shoot there. That was quite annoying as it was photos around there that I had wanted to take the most. Oh well. I would recommend trying to find out in advance whether anything like that is happening if you can. I was pleasantly surprised by the cost of the parking though. It was only a few euro for a couple of hours. I was expecting it to be extortionate because it’s so popular so it’s nice that they don’t exploit the tourists!
Lago di Carezza
Carezza lake was one that I’d only seen one photo of and I wasn’t sure it was going to be any good or even how to get there but we decided to chance it on our way to Ortesei in the hope there would also be food and toilets there (there is). It was definitely worth the visit. It’s very easy to find along the road and parking is close by (also very cheap). There are a few shops and cafes around as well as public toilets so it’s a great pit stop for lunch. I think you can walk around the whole lake but we just went a little way along the path and to the main view point as we didn’t want to stop for too long.
Lago di Sorapis
Lago di Sorapis is the final lake that I want to mention. This is definitely one of the best lakes in the dolomites. It’s by far the hardest to get to as its around a 2.5 hour walk up to it (and the same back). It’s not a particularly difficult walk but it does get a bit steep and rocky in places and there’s one part where there’s a sheer drop next to the path. I’d strongly advise wearing shoes that have good grip. It was quite busy when we went but not too busy considering it was July. There’s a cafe at the top too, and toilets, so that’s pretty handy. They weren’t able to refill my water bottle though as they didn’t have running drinking water apparently so make sure you have money on you if you might want to buy a drink for the way down.
Where are some of your favourite lakes? I’d love to visit more! Below is my vlog from my first trip to Italy, the second one will be up soon. You can also see what we got up to in a few hours in Venice.