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Enjoy our guide to traveling to the Dolomites at Christmas. With this post we want to explain our experience, learnings at the destination and thus help you prepare your next trip through the Dolomites at Christmas on your own.

About us

We are the Kucavana, a family with two little ones and a dog who are passionate about traveling.

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Our experience of traveling to the Dolomites at Christmas

Our trip through the Dolomites is a trip 10 days during Christmas, from December 26 to January 5.

A trip, which as always, we do as a family. With our two children, ages 11 and 8, and this time with our motorhome by road.

14 hours of driving and about 1300 km is what separates Barcelona from the Dolomites on our route.

We loved this route, so much so that it is the second time we repeat it, with that we tell you everything. Although this time we see the Dolomites in winter and at Christmas, the previous one was a visit in summer.

Dolomites at Christmas is like entering a Christmas story. With its decorated towns, all full of lights, its charming snowy Christmas market stalls, its spiced mulled wine with a thousand flavors in the most German style (due to its proximity to Austria it has many similarities) and beautiful towns and cities with a lot of magic.

Costs of our trip: the Dolomites at Christmas

On our 10-day trip through the Dolomites at Christmas we spent a total of 3.210 € uros for the 4 of us traveling:

1.115 euros was the cost of gasoline and tolls to go and return and the rest were costs of overnight campsites, travel insurance and activities such as ski passes.

What we liked most and least about traveling to the Dolomites at Christmas

The best thing about traveling to the Dolomites at Christmas on our trip has been…

• Traveling to the Dolomites at Christmas is seeing fairytale towns like Moena, Ortisei, Selva di Val Gardena, Bressanone, Vipiteno...
• Bolzano and Bressanone are beautiful cities with the most beautiful Christmas markets, with a lot of life and corners, each one more beautiful.
• Visit the church of Sant Giovanni di Ranui and walk for a while through a quiet and solitary forest with stunning views of the beautiful Odle Mountains.
• Eat pasta, pizza and Italian food + eat crocantis ice cream in Pecol, in the Val di Zoldo, world capital of ice cream, a must when traveling to the Dolomites at Christmas or whenever 😛
• Eat candy, waffles and crepes at the Christmas stalls
• The mulled wine that warms the soul and hands on cold nights
• The snow that fell on us at New Year's Eve for 2 days that turned the Dolomites white for the rest of our route. He made it a 100% Christmas trip.

More of the best

• Discovering that the Dolomites have a lot of Austria to the north (they speak German) and that the Italians have many traditions that are very different from the Spanish at Christmas. For example, they do not celebrate Three Kings, they celebrate Befana on Twelfth Night, a good witch who brings gifts to children.
• Leave the most famous towns and go to other towns without crowds, breathing the pure air of the Dolomites, as happened to us throughout the Valle di Zoldo or in the area of ​​Rocca Pietore and Sottoguda.
• Visit the Great War museum and the panoramic terrace of the highest mountain in the Dolomites in Marmolada, taking the cable car in Malga Ciapela.
• Skiing in the Civetta domain, simply spectacular.
• Ice skating, cross-country skiing, biathlon in the Val di Zoldo.
• Entering hot waters in Canazzei and in the swimming pools of the Vidor campsite in Pozza di Fassa.

The worst thing about traveling to the Dolomites at Christmas on our trip has been…

• The large number of people in most towns and cities in the most famous valleys such as Val di Gardena or Val di Fassa. A mass of tourists, without the life of local people. Very different from other valleys where nature and local life became the perfect harmony of the trip.
• The secondary roads and within the towns do not have salt, they only add the "yaya" a gravel that is of little use when patches of ice form that with slopes on one occasion gave us a bad time. Although luckily the 4-season approved snow wheels that we carried were great for us.
• Overcrowding meant that in some towns we couldn't even find a place to park or we had to spend a long time looking for a free spot. Ortisei and Selva di Val Gardena were the worst.
• That it hadn't snowed before to see the first snowy markets.
• It was very difficult to square the entire route to be able to see more Christmas markets on the days and times they were open. It required a lot of prior planning and preparation, and even in some places we couldn't get it right.
• That in some valleys there is no free bus service like in Val di Zoldo.
• Not having had more days to enjoy traveling to the Dolomites at Christmas more!

3 Things you should know and tips for traveling to the Dolomites at Christmas

Before advancing on the route and the essential things to see and do in the Dolomites at Christmas, we give you Some tips to keep in mind before going.

1 In the Dolomites it is cold and it usually snows: Winter wheels or chains are mandatory from November 1 to March 31

That said, if you are going to travel to the Dolomites at Christmas with your vehicle, from November 1 to March 31 in this area of ​​Italy it is mandatory to wear winter tires or chains. We have 4-season wheels approved for snow that are like winter tires, but we use them all year round without changing them and it is a plus.

2 Documents needed to travel to the Dolomites at Christmas

For this trip do not forget to bring both for adults and for children your Valid ID or passport and also for any health problem the European sanitary card that you can do on the social security website and receive it at home.

3 You should know that the Dolomites have different celebrations at Christmas than the Spanish ones.

In the Dolomites Christmas starts earlier than here. That's probably why you'll see that the Christmas markets here start the third week of November now.

They start with Saint Nicholas, December 6, and around the weekend before you can start to see their parades.

Saint Nicholas was a bishop with a long white beard of wealthy Turkish origin, who is said to have done charity work for families with needy children by throwing coins down his chimney.

Hence comes the tradition that on the night of December 5 to 6, children in the Dolomites, and in many other places in Europe such as Austria, Germany, Belgium or Switzerland, leave some boots near the fireplace or an entrance door and Saint Nicholas He leaves them money, sweets or gifts.

Now you are surely thinking… but Pilar, isn't this Santa Claus? Well… Bingo! That's where Santa Claus comes from...

About when the Christmas markets and Christmas in the Dolomites end, tell you that They end like in Spain on January 6, but in this case there they do not celebrate Los Reyes, but rather they celebrate the epiphany with the Bifana, a nice good witch who also brings gifts to Italian children during the night of January 5.

Christmas markets in the Dolomites: 7 essentials

Next, we show you in a video the 7 Christmas markets in the Dolomites that we liked the most on our trip.

Proposal for a 10-day route through the Dolomites at Christmas

Based on our experience of two trips through the Dolomites, we propose a route to fully enjoy the Dolomites at Christmas but also its essential places.

Day 1: Arrival at the Christmas Capital in the Dolomites and gateway to the mountains

On this route we suggest the following stops:

1. Bolzano

Day 2: Between Christmas and breathtaking landscapes

1. Val di Funes: route until reaching the church of Sant Giovanni di Ranui
2. Vipiteno: visit to its great tower and small Christmas market in one of the most beautiful towns in Italy
3. Bossanone: one of the Christmas markets that we liked the most at the foot of its cathedral and with the beautiful Colors show of light and immersive music

Day 3: Towards the most elegant Christmas valley and the highest mountain in Dolomites

1. Ortisei: visit to its Christmas market in one of the most beautiful villages in the Dolomites
2. Selva di Val Gardena: visit to its Christmas market and ice sculpture park
3. Arrival in Malga Ciapela at the foot of the Marmolada cable car

Day 4: We continue through towns classified as the most beautiful in the Dolomites and arrive at Respirar de Dolomitas

1. We boarded the Marmolada cable car in Malga Ciapela. First we stop to see the Museum of the Great War and then we go back up to the top to see its impressive panoramic terrace and its chapel of the Virgin of the Snows to finish descending along the Bellunesse ski slope, mythical and difficult to 1800 meters of elevation gain for 12 km
2. Sottoguda: we visit one of the most beautiful villages in the Dolomites full of wrought iron and wood craft shops
3. Pecol: We arrive at the Val di Zoldo, here we can breathe the pure air of the Dolomites, we are going ice skating in Baita Ru, next to the campsite where we are staying, the Civetta campsite.

Day 5: Breathing Dolomites

1. Pecol: we woke up to ski through the impressive Civetta domain, right next to the Civetta campsite is the gondola that takes us up.
2. Then in Pecol after the day of skiing we rest and prepare for a snowshoe excursion to a refuge where we will have dinner and see the entrellas, an activity organized by Tourism of Val di Zoldo.

The 19 essential plans to travel to the Dolomites at Christmas: what to do and what to see in the Dolomites at Christmas

Below we show you after our two trips to the Dolomites, our 19 favorite plans to do in the Dolomites with or without children for your next Christmas route. Plans to do and see in the Dolomites at Christmas, in winter and even many in summer as well. They work the same for most plans.

 They are all plans to travel to the Dolomites at Christmas that you will be delighted with!

Access them by clicking the button below.

Our map of the Dolomites at Christmas with everything you can see and visit

Here is the map we made with all the interesting places to visit in the Dolomites at Christmas. An interactive map of the Dolomites at Christmas with everything you need to know to plan your route through the Dolomites at Christmas.

Video guide to the Dolomites by motorhome at Christmas

If you want to see how to travel in a motorhome or camper on this trip through the Dolomites at Christmas, here we leave you an essential video that you should see to know the Basic rules about camping, overnight stays and parking in the Dolomites in a motorhome and with tips for driving and operating the motorhome in winter in the cold and snow.