Alta Via 1 in the Dolomites: Stages, Huts, Booking and Budget

The Alta Via 1 is the trek most hikers mean when they talk about going hut to hut in the Dolomites. It links Lago di Braies, in South Tyrol, to Belluno, in the Veneto, and you sleep every night in a rifugio, a staffed mountain hut with dinner and breakfast [1]. There is no single booking office: each hut takes its own reservations, on its own website, with its own rules. Here is the route, stage by stage, and what the huts themselves publish about booking, prices and rules for the 2027 season.

The route at a glance

According to the Coldai hut, the Alta Via 1 is about 78 miles (125 km) long and runs from Lago di Braies to Belluno, through the Braies and Fanes Dolomites, Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Val di Zoldo, the Agordino and the Belluno Dolomites [1]. The Biella hut, at the end of the first stage, gives the same length, an average of 12 days, and about 24,000 feet (7,300 m) of total climbing for 28,000 feet (8,400 m) of descent; only the first stage lies in the province of Bolzano, the rest mostly in the province of Belluno [2].

The Carestiato hut, near the end, describes it as the classic high route of the Dolomites, rather easy and suitable for non-experts, with 10 to 15 days needed for the whole route and a typical day of about seven hours, with some 2,600 feet (800 m) of ascent and descent [4]. The trail is marked with a blue triangle bearing the number 1, and experienced hikers can add via ferratas along the way [4]. It recommends setting off in good weather, once the trail is free of snow [4].

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The 12 stages, hut by hut

Booking the huts for 2027

Reservations open hut by hut, and the dates move. The Vazzoler hut, below the Civetta, announced that bookings for 2027, first planned for October 5 at noon, would open on November 1 at noon [7]. The Carestiato hut states that its 2027 bookings open on November 2, online only [5]. At the Biella hut, the first on the route, online booking was already open when we checked [3]. If you are planning a summer trip, check each hut’s website from late October.

The rules differ too. The Biella hut asks for a 50 % deposit per person, which is not refunded if you cancel, and the balance at check-in [3]. At the Coldai hut, the online booking offers half board, the most requested option; changes and cancellations go by email, and you should receive a deposit confirmation and a booking confirmation [9]. The Carestiato hut takes a card only as a guarantee, without charging it, keeps no waiting list, because cancelled beds go straight back online, and only accepts changes by email [6].

What a night costs

The two huts whose prices we could read give an idea. At the Biella hut, half board costs €90, or €45 for children under 10 and mountain guides; breakfast and a dinner with a choice of two first and two second courses are included [3]. At the Lagazuoi hut, a dormitory bed with breakfast cost €85 in summer 2026, and the half-board dinner €35 more; there is no discount for Alpine club members, and a packed lunch costs €13 [8]. Both add a tourist tax of €1.50 per person per night, payable in cash at Biella [3, 8].

That puts a night with dinner and breakfast at roughly €90 to €120 in these two huts. Showers are not always included: at the Lagazuoi hut, water is scarce at the summit and a hot shower costs extra [8]. Carry cash for taxes and extras, and check each hut’s payment methods: the Lagazuoi hut takes credit cards, but not American Express [8].

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Hut rules to know before you go

• Sleeping-bag linerA thin sheet sewn into a bag, in cotton, silk or synthetic fabric, that you slip under the hut’s blankets or inside your sleeping bag for hygiene.: mandatory at the Biella hut, which sells one for €8; in the Fanes hut dormitory, both a liner and towels are required [3, 10].
• No tent near the Biella hut: the regulations of the nature park it stands in forbid it [3]. Elsewhere, the rules depend on the region and the park: see our guide to backcountry camping in Italy.
• Dogs: not allowed inside the Biella hut, not in the rooms at the Carestiato and Lagazuoi huts, and only in private rooms at the Coldai hut [3, 6, 8, 9].
• Hut slippers in the rooms: required at the Biella hut, provided at the Lagazuoi hut [3, 8].
• Timing: at Biella, check-in from 3 to 6 pm and dinner at 6:30 pm; at Lagazuoi, check-in from 2:30 to 6:30 pm and dinner from 6:30 to 7:30 pm [3, 8].

When to go

The route is a summer trek. The Coldai hut is open in summer, from mid-June to the end of September; in 2026, it closed on September 27 and announced its reopening for June 2027 [9]. The Carestiato hut advises hiking in good weather on a trail free of snow [4]. Some huts near ski areas also open in winter, such as the Lagazuoi hut, closed until December, and the Fanes hut, reopening on December 26, but their winter season has nothing to do with the trek [8, 10]. In winter, the bivouac shelter next to the Biella hut stays open for hikers [3].

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Getting to the start, and home

Bus 442 runs from Dobbiaco (Toblach) and Villabassa (Niederdorf) straight to Lago di Braies, at local public transport fares [11]. In summer, a traffic regulation controls access to the valley: in 2026, it applied from July 1 to September 15, from 9 am to 4 pm, and during that period the bus required an online reservation; a regulation is planned again for summer 2027, with details due in spring 2027 [11]. The südtirolmobil pass is always valid on the line, and parking at the lake is limited and paid [11].

Toward Venice, Dolomiti Bus line 72 links Cortina d’Ampezzo, close to stages 3 to 5, with Venice; since October 1, 2026, it leaves from the Cortina Scuole bus station, with the morning departure moved to 7 am [12]. That makes Cortina a natural place to join or leave the route. At the finish, Belluno is a city: check onward trains and buses with the operators before you set off.

The Alta Via 1 rewards planning more than speed: book the huts as soon as they open, plan by hours, and leave room for a rest day. To compare it with other hut-to-hut treks, read our guides to the Tour du Mont Blanc and to the GR20 in Corsica, and our article on mountain huts for how life in a refuge works.

Gallery: the Alta Via 1 in six landscapes

Six real photos of the route and its mountains, from north to south, published under free licenses on Wikimedia Commons by their photographers, who are credited under each image. Tap or click a photo to enlarge it.

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Worth watching

From Lago di Braies to Belluno, the trail filmed day by day, then chapters on planning the route, when to go, getting to the trailhead and home, and what the trek costs.

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Nolwenn Bastide

Trail running, snow, water, nature and destinations

Nolwenn covers trail running, snow, water, nature and destinations for Outfarer. Curious about everything, from meteor showers to night-train schedules, she has a knack for digging up the one detail that changes everything, and nailing it in a single sentence.

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