14.5 miles . 3970 ft gain . 8550 ft high

Schlern-Rosengarten Nature Park & Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site

While I had been to Cortina 3x at this point, I had never experienced the Dolomites outside of the Cortina d’Ampezzo hub. It was high time I tried! Renting a car greatly improved my experience, not having to rely on public transportation and being able to push timing of schedules. Seiser Alm in German, Alpe di Siusi in Italian or Mont Sëuc in the local language of Ladin is yet another famed location to explore. It’s west of Cortina and closer to the big city Bolzano. It’s unique in that it’s a giant plateau with steep cliffs on nearly all sides, making it an easy place to explore with stunning views all around. Let’s dive deeper into a 3 day, 2 overnight hut trip in Seiser Alm.

Hiking Seiser Alm

About Seiser Alm

In the heart of Seiser Alm is Compatsch, an easy gondola ride from the lower town of Suisi/Seis. It’s surrounded by a few hills to the north where the other side is Val Gardena. On the east, it is bordered by Sassolungo, an impressively steep mountain feature. To the south is the Schlern-Rosengarten Nature Park. This is the steep cliffs you see and the iconic ridge of Seiser Alm. To the south is also more steep alpine peaks and ridges, but this is not considered part of Seiser Alm.

Compatsch

Everything seems to begin from Compatsch. It’s where the gondola drops you off and where the busses can also stop. It’s the main hub for everything on the plateau with plenty of stores, restaurants, and hotels. But actually, many lodging options are spread all across the plateau. In the winter it’s a big ski destination for both downhill and cross country. Most of the lodging options here are more expensive and luxurious. If you are willing to hike further, that’s when you can reach your traditional hiking huts, which are cheaper.

Saltria

The secondary hub or town is Saltria. It is east of Compatsch and closer to Sassolungo. The busses can also reach this area. And you can reach it by car. There’s quite a few luxury hotels here, many focused on wellness (think spas) but it is lower in elevation compared to Compatsch with more limited views with the growing number of trees as you approach Sassolungo. I believe it is quieter here with fewer tourists though, so it’s worth considering.

Getting to Compatsch

By Gondola

The Seiser Alm Gondola is by far the best option, in my opinion. Parking is free at the bottom of the gondola in the town of Seis. It costs 28.5€ round trip for an adult. There’s other options for gondolas or lifts in the summer like straight from Ortesei but it is more expensive and leads to elsewhere in the area. It’s worth consider though if you have a different itinerary than me! Overall the most popular option is Seis –> Compatsch. It’s like a well oiled machine here!

By Car

Seiser Alm highly disincentivizes driving your car to maintain the peaceful, quiet nature of the area. If you truly wish to drive up, it costs 30€/day. You can only drive up between 6-9am and 5-11pm. Yep, early in the morning or later in the evening. And no overnight parking is allowed. This can be difficult also if you have to park then hike to your lodging in time for dinner. Some overnight stays permit cars to park there and drive up, but that’s a case by case basis. You can find more information here.

By Bus

There are busses that take you from the bottom of the cliffs by Kastelruth and Seis to the top of Seiser Alm, namely Bus 10 for just 6€. There’s busses as well within Seiser Alm that can bring you closer to your destination as well as night and winter busses too. I didn’t end up taking any since walking was fine. But for more information, check out the Seiser Alm website.

By Foot

In theory you can also just hike up, but my personal opinion is that if you’re traveling here, you might as well spend your precious time doing something more interesting than hiking through the forest uphill for 2500-3000 ft, unless that is what you enjoy doing. If you have a lot of time and are going hut to hut, though, perhaps you do want to go by foot because it is closer for you. Passo Sella just east of Sassolungo is another option, but twice as far to get to but less elevation gain. Since there really are so many trailheads, you can definitely find a path that best suits you.

Where to Stay

There’s so many options, especially if you want a more luxurious stay, but I won’t go through those options. Rather, let’s talk about the huts since this is an outdoor, hiking blog after all.

Rifugio Molignon

The first hut I stayed in was Rifugio Molignon, which was more of a hotel than a rifugio but definitely had both vibes. It didn’t come with half board, just breakfast, so we paid extra for dinner. It came out to be 200€ for a room for 2 people here. You can technically drive here and park for an extra fee, but we decided to hike from Compatsch. It felt further than expected, especially as the sun dropped behind the peaks and with our late start to the hike. The food there was super good too! We visited the last week before they closed for the fall season, so it was quite empty. I did love how quiet it was! There’s also private showers, which is quite the luxury compared to many other rifugios.

Compatsch to Molignon: 4 miles, 1000 ft gain

Tierser Alpl Hütte

The second day we took it easy and walked just an hour up between Rifugio Molignon and Tierser Alpl Hütte. This was by far my favorite hut. With ample time, we took a hike before lunch. We got to eat lunch outside on the patio with Hugo Spritzes, which seemed like all the rave in Europe. We then took a break before a short afternoon walk and by the time we came back, it was time for dinner. This hut was a bit overrun by a group of students on a trip, but otherwise was so nice. Food was also exceptional here and it seemed like the whole staff really put their heart into running this. This hut is special too, as I read a book about it there, because the current owner is the daughter of the man who built the original hut by hand. It’s since expanded with plenty of modern upgrades but still so iconic. It cost 95€/person in a dorm-style room for half board but I think we had upgraded to a private room for just 20€ more since it was ready earlier.

The last day we ended up just hiking down from the hut directly to Compatsch. It was patchy icy on the way down but otherwise a great alternative! I do think a more rounded trip would be to stay at Schlernhaus but there was no availability when we went.

Molignon to Tierser Alpl: 2 miles, 1300 ft gain

Tierser Alpl to Compatsch: 4.5 miles, 2150 ft loss

Other huts to stay at

There are so many other huts to consider! Some were too full and some were closed by the time I visited in the fall but here’s a few to look at:

In the Schlern-Rosengarten ridge (like Tierser Alpl)

• Schlernhaus/Rifugio Bolzano
• Rifugio Antermoia
• Rifugio Passo Principe
• Rifugio Vajolet
• Rifugio Fronza alle Coronelle

Near Sassolungo

• Rifugio Sasso Piatto
• Rifugio Micheluzzi
• Rifugio Friedrich August
• Rifugio Des Alpes
• Rifugio Toni Demetz Hütte
• Langkofelhütte

What to Do in Seiser Alm

Exploring Schlern-Rosengarten Nature Park

From Tierser Alpl, there’s so many places to explore if you’re based here and don’t want to travel further along the ridge for another night. Here’s some half day options:

• Hike to Schlerhaus: Hike west on the C17N trail which travels along the ridge for a 7 mile and 1900 ft gain round trip (half each way)
• Maximilian Klettersteig/Via Ferrata: Straight from the Tierser Alpl hut is a via ferrata that the original owner built to attract tourists and it still is such a great activity. Bring your via ferrata gear and have a short afternoon of fun!
• Laurenzi at Molignon Via Ferrata: This is a more serious via ferrata only for those who are experienced. This is a full day experience.
• Hike to Passo Principe: Only a 4.5 mile round trip hike with 2300 ft gain or you can just hike to Molignonpass for views of Passo Principe which looks like such a different barren landscape.

Exploring Sassolungo

An alternative to the Molignon-Tierser Alpl Loop is to extend it east towards Sassolungo for either a circumnavigation around the mountain or go up and over in the summer when the huts are open at the top and the route is snow free.

• There’s several huts along the base of Sassolungo from Tierser Alpl all the way to the easily accessible Passo Sella (by car).
• To go up and over Sassolungo, you can either hike to Rifugio Toni Demetz or take the cablecar from Passo Sella.

Winter in Seiser Alm

You can still visit Seiser Alm in the winter for a drastically different experience. Lifts are plentiful to get you to your lodging and to ski a wide terrain, though much of it is fairly low angle. To reach the core of Seiser Alm, either take the cable car from Seis or Ortisei.

Notes

• For other resources, check out the Ultimate Guide to Cortina d’Ampezzo
• Check out Seceda or Geisleralm

Photos taken on Canon EOS R5 and iPhone 13mini