The Dolomites

Pale rock towers ignite pink at dusk in the Dolomites — the enrosadira glow that gives these northern Italian mountains their fame. Eighteen summits top 3,000 metres across a serial property of nine areas, where sheer walls, pinnacles and deep valleys rise from ancient tropical seabeds; the range preserves exceptional fossil-rich Mesozoic reef systems. UNESCO granted the Dolomites natural World Heritage status in 2009, honouring scenery that helped define mountain aesthetics and mountaineering alike.