Spend a day in the UNESCO-listed Dolomite Mountains and explore Renon Plateau and the charming mountain town of Bolzano. After traveling from Milan by coach, take the Renon cable car and Ritten Railway to a picture-perfect village on the Renon Plateau and spend time at leisure admiring stunning mountain views. Watch out for sights of the ‘earth pyramid' rock formations that populate the area, and discover Bolzano's distinctly Germanic vibe on a walking tour with your local guide.Meet your guide in central Milan and then travel northeast in the direction of the Dolomites - Italy's famously beautiful mountain range that's listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After a journey of roughly 2.5 hours by coach, you'll arrive in Bolzano, the capital of Italy's South Tyrol province.
After a walk through town to stretch your legs, take the Renon cable car from the center of town to Soprabolzano - a small hamlet half-way up Renon Plateau. Traveling to an altitude of 4,006 feet (1,221m), the cable car lends sublime panoramic views, and as Bolzano slips from your view, the rolling hills and mountains take center stage.
In Soprabolzano, walk across to the Ritten Railway (known locally as the Rittner Bahn) to hop aboard a 100-year-old electric train for a scenic ride to Collalbo -- a chocolate-box village perched high on Renon Plateau. On arrival, enjoy time at leisure for lunch (own expense) or to simply stroll around and explore. The countryside that surrounds the village is unspoiled mountain scenery at its very best, and there are countless walking trails just waiting to be explored. The area is noted for its intriguing earth pyramids (jagged rock formations that jut out of the ground) and your guide will happily point you in the right direction should you want to see these up close.
At the pre-arranged time, meet your guide for your bus transfer back to Bolzano. Often described as 'culturally confused,' Bolzano became Italian only recently (during World War I), and its bustling beer gardens and Rationalistic architecture attest to its German roots. Take a walking tour around its town center, soaking up its Tyrolean ambiance, while hearing about its history and culture from your guide. Stop for photos in Piazza Walther and colorful Piazza delle Erbe, and then hop back on board your coach for the journey back to Milan.
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Escape the city and spend a day in the Dolomite Mountains on a full-day trip from Venice! With an expert driver-guide to tell you all about the region, you'll see two of the area's finest lakes, Lake Santa Caterina and Lake Misurina, headed up by the heart-stopping Tre Cime di Lavaredo peaks. Enjoy lunch in a traditional ‘trattoria' (own expense), soak up the scenery on a bracing mountain walk, and then enjoy free time to explore the chic ski resort town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.