Ortisei and Val Gardena Valley

Val Gardena Valley is located in the heart of the Dolomites. We chose the Ortisei resort for overnight stays - a good place to base, both in summer and in winter. It has many hotels, restaurants, an excellent bus network and many cable cars. Consider buying passes:

Hiking in summer - Gardena Card
Ski resort in winter - Ski pass Val Gardena & Alpe di Siusi


We stayed here for 2 nights to see the nearby attractions. The town is colorful, with many flowers and beautiful alpine houses, consists mainly of hotels and shops. Since this is former Austrian territory, each town has a double name: Ortisei in Italian and Sankt Ulrich in German.






We had lunch only once, at the pizzeria Ristorante Pizzeria Mar Dolomit (N 46 34.309 E 11 40.518), it was open in the afternoon when everything else was closed, so we can recommend it.

There are two types of hotels in Ortisei, some located in the valley and the others on the hills. We were looking for a hotel on a hill, and if you want to feel the real Alps, we recommend to do the same. Chose Alpenhotel Rainell (booking.com).


The first night we spent in a suite on the lower floor, by the pool.




And the second night on the top floor. The view from both rooms is excellent.


In any case, even if you live in another hotel you can walk up here to see the view.


Getting there: the bus timetable from Bolzano to Ortisei can be found here. Bus stop at Ortisei - St. Ulrich, Antoniusplatz, in Bolzano - Bozen, Busbahnhof. At the bottom of the page there is also a route planner with a map. The schedule of all buses in the region can be found here http://www.sii.bz.it/en/siipdfOldtimetables.