Hiking Seiser Alm to the Rosengarten: Self-Guided Tour in the Dolomites

You arrive on your own in Val Gardena and check in at one of our basecamp hotels in Ortisei, Selva or Santa Cristina. Your trip package is waiting at reception: maps, route notes and the full itinerary. Read it over coffee, or don’t. Nobody is marking you.

The afternoon is yours. Val Gardena is one of the most characteristic valleys in the Dolomites and one of the last strongholds of the Ladins, a small ethnic group who held onto their language and traditions up here while far bigger cultures came and went around them.

The valley has also been carving wood since the 1600s. Walk through Ortisei or Selva and you’ll spot sculptures and carved decoration on half the buildings you pass. It’s a good way to spend a day before your legs get properly involved.

Your hike starts with a crossing of Seiser Alm (Alpe di Siusi in Italian) – at 1700 to 2200 metres (5,577 to 7,218 ft), the largest high-alpine meadow in the Alps. It was cleared of forest centuries ago and grazed ever since, so your views run uninterrupted to the Schlern and the Rosengarten.

Scattered pines and larches break up the meadow, along with tiny wooden chalets. Several of the larger ones run as summer restaurants, and they are exactly the right place to stop for dumplings before you start climbing. Consider it carb loading with a view.

It takes you about 3 hours to cross the plateau to the foot of the Sciliar, which rises 700 metres (2,296.6 ft) above the meadow. Your ascent to the Schlern takes roughly 2 more hours.

Your hut sits 100 metres (328.1 ft) below Monte Pez, the summit of the Sciliar, in about as photogenic a spot as huts get. Monte Pez is called the Castle in the Clouds: low cloud regularly swallows the lower mountain but stops short of the summit, leaving it floating.

It’s a 20-minute walk up from your hut on an easy trail, and the 360-degree panorama takes in a dozen mountain groups – Adamello, Ortler, Otztal, Stubai, Latemar, Catinaccio, Odle, Sella and Marmolada. Face towards Antermoia and the Rosengarten at sunset. Whatever you had planned for that half hour, cancel it.

• Hiking Details: Ascent 820 m(2690.3 ft), Descent 370 m(1213.9 ft), Distance 13 km(8 miles). Hiking time 5 hours.

Your descent from the Schlern towards Alpe di Tires opens up the Antermoia group, which from this distance looks like a cluster of towers.

The other headline is the Denti di Terrarossa, the Teeth of Red Earth: a 300-metre (984.3 ft) wall of sharp towers rising straight out of the meadows of Seiser Alm. German speakers here call them the Rosszähne, the Horse’s Teeth, which is the more accurate description once you have actually seen them.

From Alpe di Tires you cross the Mahlknecht Joch (Pas de Duron) and drop towards Val Duron, then make the last climb of the day through coniferous forest into Antermoia, a rocky high-altitude corner of the Rosengarten group.

Lake Antermoia sits at 2,495 metres (8,185.7 ft) in what looks like a lunar amphitheatre. It is what remains of the glacier that filled this bowl a few hundred years ago, and unlike most glacial lakes it never dries up in summer – springs keep it topped up.

The name comes from a Ladin legend: Antermia, a nymph who lived in the lake inside King Laurin’s rose garden, admired from the surrounding peaks by the dwarves who lived in these mountains. Believe as much of that as you like. It is still a very good place to sit, rest and take photos until the peaks take the sun in the late afternoon.

• Hiking Details: Ascent 890 m(2920 ft), Descent 850 m(2788.7 ft), Distance 13 km(8 miles). Hiking time ~5 hours.

The Rosengarten – Catinaccio in Italian – takes its name from the legend of King Laurin’s rose garden, and it earns it. At sunset the pale limestone flares pink and red in the alpenglow the locals call enrosadira. If you get a clear evening, this is the one to stay outside for.

Your final day of hiking starts with a steep, demanding two-hour climb over rocky ground to the Passo d’Antermoia. At 2,770 metres (9,087.9 ft) it is the highest point of your trip, and your legs will have opinions about it.

It is also a door into the Triassic. The Rosengarten is a petrified coral reef, 230 million years old and 10 km (6.2 miles) long north to south, preserved almost intact. You can pick out the reef’s inner lagoon and the cliffs that edged it, and the outer walls rise more than a kilometre above what used to be open sea. That outer face is the view the Dolomites are famous for, and you get it without the tour bus crowd.

Hidden in the interior are the Torri del Vajolet, three towers you can reach on an optional side hike. Budget at least two hours, on a steep path secured for safety. Decide on the day, when you know what your legs are offering.

Your hike finishes in the late afternoon at the Karerpass, from where you walk or take a bus to your basecamp hotel, either near the pass or down in Val di Fassa.

• Hiking Details: Ascent 750 m(2460.6 ft), Descent 1140 m(3740.2 ft), Distance 13 km(8 miles). Hiking time 6 hours.

You did it. Three days on the trail, 39 km, 2,460 metres of ascent, two nights in mountain huts, and the Rosengarten at sunset. Not bad for a five-day trip.

After breakfast at the basecamp hotel you can head for the airport or carry on to your next stop in Italy – where you will almost certainly find yourself telling someone about the light on those cliffs.

The first and last nights of your trip are in one of our basecamp hotels. While hiking, you will stay overnight in the mountain huts.

You can count on the following services in the mountain huts: a bed in a shared room or in a private room (must be booked in advance), a shower with hot water, toilets, meals, and a possibility to buy take away water and snacks such as sandwiches and chocolate.

Shared rooms are equipped with bunk beds with mattresses, pillows and blankets. Bed linen is not provided in shared bedrooms: you must have a sleeping bag liner with you. Typically, it is a light cotton bag. A warm sleeping bag is unnecessary since there are blankets in the bedrooms.

In private rooms you are often offered bed linen, thus a sleeping bag liner is not required. If you book private rooms, we inform you whether you need to bring a sleeping bag liner.

Most huts have a heating system, but it is normally not required in the summer months. You will need clean footwear for the huts: light slides are an ideal solution.

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Proper hiking boots are a must for the mountains. We recommend high boots because they support the ankle better than  low boots or hiking shoes and provide better stability on rocky terrain.

Even in the middle of the summer in the Dolomites, you must bring some warm clothes with you: a waterproof and windproof jacket, a fleece jacket, long trekking pants and a cap. A raincoat, poncho or another type of rainwear is necessary. You can see our Dolomites Packing List on Amazon. 

Other necessary items are toiletries, light clean footwear to use in the huts, sunglasses and at least two one-litre bottles for water. You’ll receive a detailed packing list specifically for your trip at the booking, but you can also check out our trekking packing list in the meantime. We ask all participants to read it carefully and be well-prepared for the hiking trip.

In hut-to-hut hiking tours, you are served breakfast and dinner in the huts and mountain hotels on the route.

Breakfast is normally served from 7 am to 9 am. It usually includes an unlimited quantity of coffee and tea, bread, butter, jam, honey and chocolate spread.

In addition, some huts offer ham, cheese and muesli for breakfast. After breakfast, we recommend filling your thermos with hot water or tea: ask the staff, and it will be for free in most huts.

Dinner  in the mountain huts is typically served from 7 pm or 7:30 pm for all guests. A typical dinner in a hut is very rich and includes a starter, the first course (such as pasta, risotto, and dumplings), the second course (meat with a side dish) and a dessert.

Drinks at dinner (water, wine, beer, tea, coffee) are not included and ned to be paid for separately.

Lunch. It is possible to stop for lunch in the mountain huts on the route. The lunch menu in the huts is similar to the dinner menu. Typically, there is a choice of pasta for 7 – 10 euros.  Other dishes cost 9 – 16 euros.

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For our Seiser Alm to Rosengarten tour, it’s necessary to be properly dressed, follow the safety rules and make realistic time calculations for day crossings – preferably according to the hiking schedule that we provide.

Our Seiser Alm to Rosengarten itineraries are planned so that they do not require specific skills or gear unless it is clearly specified in the tour description. However, you do need to have a reasonable level of fitness and endurance. 

You can expect well-maintained trails equipped with direction signs. Exposed sections of the trail are secured on the self-guided routes: it makes them safe provided that you follow the basic safety rules for hiking in the mountains.

Mountains are a natural environment with a high level of risk, so we insistently ask all participants to read the safety rules and emergency procedures.

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Insurance: It is important to have appropriate insurance that covers the hiking activity. You don’t need to include the climbing activity in your insurance unless you are planning to climb during the hike.

Visa: We will provide you with a booking confirmation for all days of your trip. If you need an Italian visa, you can enclose this document with your visa application.

The most stable weather conditions in the Dolomites are statistically from the second week of July till the middle of September.

This period in the Dolomites is characterized by warm sunny weather and modest rainfall. Earlier in June, the weather is normally favorable, but it is less reliable, and the mountain passes may be blocked by snow remaining from the winter.

In June we may have to change the route depending on the snow situation on the passes.

The second half of September in the Dolomites is a beautiful period, but the weather is again less predictable: the probability of incessant rain increases, and it may snow at an altitude above 2,000 meters(6561.7 ft).

It is not usually hot in the Dolomites at an elevation of 2,000 m (6,560 ft) and above where most of the hiking routes pass. On a sunny day in August, the temperature at 2,000 m can reach 20° C (68° F) during the warmest hours of the day. It’s comfortable for hiking.

On a cold cloudy day, the temperature can stay at around 10° C (34° F) during the entire day. It is always chilly at night and early in the morning.

Thunderstorms, often with hail, are typical for the warmest months (July and August).

In the Dolomites valleys at the altitudes of 1,000 – 1,500 m (3,280 – 4,920 ft) the day temperature can reach 27° C (80° F). It’s fresh in the valleys in the morning and evening, and it is not stuffy at night even in the hottest weeks of the summer.

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