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The best mountain passes in the Dolomites

The best mountain passes in the Dolomites

view of mountain pass in the Italian dolomites
passo sella pass dolomites italy

My last travel post was all about my favourite lakes that I visited in the Dolomites so I also wanted to share the best mountains in the Dolomites. We didn’t have time to do any hikes so this is based on the views from the road or not far from the road.

Passo Sella

We came across Sella Pass (image above) on our first visit to the Dolomites but that day it was misty, very windy and rather cold so we couldn’t really see anything and didn’t get out of the car for long. When we went here the second time it was a completely different story. We ended up there for sunset and spent quite a while wandering up and along the hill next to the road to take photos of the buildings surrounded by the mountains. Lee also took quite a few photos of me here and they’re some of my favourite. It was such a mild evening and the sunset glow was lovely. The moon even aligned itself in the middle of the distant mountains which reminded me of the sunset we spent at Sulfur Mountain in Banff (probably my favourite sunset I’ve seen).

Passo Gardena

Gardena Pass was another spot we went to for sunset. We climbed up the hill a bit to get a nice view of the sunset through the valley. It really didn’t disappoint, you can see a little time lapse of the sunset in my vlog below. The way the hills roll into each other here is just lovely. There’s also a small church that a lot of people photograph.

Passo Manghen

This is a much less known and much smaller mountain pass. We only discovered it because we were staying nearby at the foot of it (north of Telve) on our first trip. It’s not a super spectacular pass but on our first day when all the clouds were rolling in and around the valley is when I took some of my very favourite photos.

It’s probably not worth going too far out of your way to see but if you’re in the area or want to take smaller roads on your way up to the mountains then go take a look.

Seceda

Seceda isn’t a mountain pass but I had to include it. I also think you can drive most of the way up as there are lodges that go quite near the top, but it might be a private road so worth checking first.

We went up on the cable car, stopping for about 20 minutes at the middle stop on the way. We wanted to go for sunset but the cable cars don’t run that late which was such a shame as the sunshine was out in full force the day we went which didn’t make for very nice photos. It did however make a lovely spot for lunch and to watch some paragliders setting off.

I think you’ve probably guessed by now but I’d really recommend going to some mountain passes for sunset. It means you don’t have to hike in the dark afterwards and if it gets chilly you’re not too far from the comfort of your car.

Take a look at my vlog of our second trip to the Dolomites below.

https://youtu.be/KgeRQDwrkU4
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