Alta Via 2

The Alta Via 2 of the Dolomites is the wildest of the region's high routes, running roughly 160 km from Bressanone (Brixen) south to Feltre across some of the most spectacular limestone terrain in the Alps. Often called the route of legends, it takes about twelve to fourteen days and crosses the Puez-Odle, Sella, Marmolada and Pale di San Martino groups.

The scenery is extraordinary: pale rock towers, glacial cirques, high karst plateaus and the shadow of the Marmolada, the range's highest peak. It passes below the Sella and skirts the Pale di San Martino's lunar upland, offering a cross-section of the Dolomites' geology and their soft alpenglow at dawn and dusk.

This is a serious mountain trek, harder than the popular Alta Via 1, with several via ferrata sections where a helmet, harness and via ferrata set are needed, plus exposed scrambling and long days. A chain of rifugi supplies beds and hot meals, so tents are optional, but bookings are vital and some huts close early. No permit is required.

The Dolomites' hut culture dates to the late 19th century, and the Alte Vie were laid out in the 1960s to link these refuges into multi-day traverses. Snow blocks the higher passes and ferrate into early summer, so the reliable window is late June to mid-September, with July and August the most settled — and the busiest in the rifugi.