Dolomites Multi-Sport Adventure Week: Via Ferrata, Hiking & Climbing

Days start early. Breakfast is at the hotel, then you're out — either walking from the door or driving a short way to a trailhead or lift station. Mornings are usually the bigger push: a multi-pitch or single-pitch climbing session on Dolomite limestone, or a via ferrata route if the day is a ferrata day. You'll be on the wall or the cable for three to five hours, depending on the route.

The middle of the day is lunch, either at a mountain hut (a lot of the ferrata routes finish near one) or packed food on the trail. Afternoons vary — sometimes another route, sometimes a longer walk back to the valley, sometimes a shorter session because the morning was hard. The guide keeps the plan open and decides day by day. There's no fixed itinerary you can print in advance, which is deliberate: it means the week fits the group rather than the other way round.

What sets this apart from a general Dolomites hiking week is the number of disciplines. You're not just walking. Climbing sessions are on real rock — the Sella group, the Cinque Torri, the Falzarego towers, depending on conditions — with ropes and gear provided and a guide who knows the routes. Via ferrata days put you on the historic iron routes that cross the valleys, some of which date back to the First World War, with the original tunnels and emplacements still cut into the rock beside the cable.

Alta Badia is a Ladin-speaking valley — road signs are in Ladin, Italian and German, and the place names (Corvara, La Val, Badia) are Ladin. The food follows that: dumplings, barley soup, polenta, speck, and apple strudel, and a lot of the huts serve house-made versions of all of it. You're at about 1,500m in the valley floor, with peaks up to 3,300m within a day's reach, so altitude is noticeable but not extreme — the bigger factor is that you're on your feet five to seven hours a day.

The guide is a local mountain professional with the certifications to work on the Dolomites' protected routes — via ferrata guiding and rock climbing instruction — and this is what they do all summer. That matters on the ferrata: the routes are graded, the exposure is real, and someone who's been up them fifty times reads the weather and the rock differently from someone who hasn't. Groups are small enough that the guide can watch everyone on the harder sections without splitting the group.

What's included

- 7 days guided multi-sport programme (climbing, via ferrata, hiking) - 6 nights accommodation in a 2, 3 or 4 star hotel in Alta Badia - Breakfast and dinner at the hotel daily - Packed lunches or mountain hut lunches on activity days - Climbing equipment and ropes - Via ferrata kit (harness, lanyard, helmet) - Certified mountain guide throughout the week

What's not included

- Travel to and from Alta Badia - Airport transfers - Lunches and dinners on any free days outside the programme - Personal hiking/climbing clothing and boots - Drinks at the hotel - Travel and mountain rescue insurance - Sauna or spa entry fees where charged - Single room supplement (if requested)