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Home » Italy » Italy Road Trip Day 7: The Beauty of the Dolomites
ItalyTrip Reports

Italy Road Trip Day 7: The Beauty of the Dolomites

Matthew Klint Posted onApril 18, 2018November 14, 2023 7 Comments

Read More of My Italy Road Trip:

Introduction: Road Trip Though Italy
Italy Road Trip Day 1: Roaming Around Rome
Italy Road Trip Day 2: A Lunch to Remember
Italy Road Trip Day 3: Italian Happy Hour
Italy Road Trip Day 4: Weekend Respite in Milano
Italy Road Trip Day 5: Exploring Milan By Foot
Italy Road Trip Day 6: No Room at the Inn
Italy Road Trip Day 7: The Beauty of the Dolomites


I woke up to this view from my window:

a town in a valley with snow covered mountains

This South Tyrol region of Italy surprised me the most. It was more beautiful than I was expecting, a genuine treat and somewhere I’d love to return with my family.

a building with a flag in front of it

a van parked outside of a building

I wasn’t all that hungry and just had a bowl of muesli and cappuccino for breakfast.

a bowl of cereal with milk and a spoon

a cup of coffee on a saucer

The Hotel Rosengarten had a decent spread of cold items for breakfast and a fully-stocked bar:

a buffet table with plates and glasses on it

a table with food on it

a table with food on it

a room with tables and chairs

a bar with shelves and bottles of alcohol

After our morning meeting, we had about 3.5 hours to make the 2-hour drive to Venice for our afternoon flight to Paris.

a building with a tower

a man standing in front of a building

This allowed us to stop at several points on the way south to take picture of the beautiful scenery:

a street with buildings and mountains in the background

a road with trees and mountains in the background

a road with trees and mountains in the background

a snowy mountain with trees

a snowy mountain range with a fence

a road with a snowy mountain in the background

a snowy landscape with trees and mountains

a snowy mountain with trees and snow

a snowy mountain landscape with trees and a road

a snowy mountain with trees and clouds in the sky

a road leading to a town

a landscape with houses and trees

a road leading to a town

a town on a hill with mountains in the background

Every town and village was more beautiful than the previous one!

At one point, we stopped at a café called “Area 51” to take a break. It was no Nevada desert…

a flag from a wooden roof

Speed Traps

I’m expecting a speeding ticket in the mail, though hopefully just one. The speed limit slows from 90km/h to 50km/h as you reach each village. Sometimes that comes upon you suddenly. Too suddenly.

One village had a speed camera strategically placed just beyond the 50km/h sign. I had slowed from 90km/h to 60km/hr, but had not reached 50km/hr yet. There was no flash, but I fear I was “blitzed” (as the Germans say).

an orange pillar with stickers on it

As an aside, the Autostrade system in Italy is full of cameras which regulate sped (130km/hr). I was careful to follow those and hope there will be no unexpected surprises coming from Hertz…

As we headed south, we finally connected to a largely empty Autostrade, heading directly for the airport and stopping only just outside VCE to fill up the car with gasoline.

We dropped the car at Venice and caught our Air FranceEasyJet flight to Paris.

a group of cars parked in a parking lot

a sign on a wall

a moving escalator in a building

people walking in a building

CONCLUSION

Time will tell if the relationships we cultivated on the trip will bear fruit, but it was an excellent week in one of my favorite countries of the world.

I now hold a great and deeper appreciation for Italy and cannot wait to return. It’s a beautiful country with warm and loving people and perhaps the best food in the world.

THE END

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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7 Comments

  1. JoeMart Reply
    April 18, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    Excellent travel essay. By memorable Italian food you meant the one dinner from McD and the Autostrade fare, right? Were the trattorias almost as good as the Olive Garden? 🙂

  2. JoshR Reply
    April 18, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    I got a speeding ticket in Florence for going 6km/h over the limit. It came 2.5 months after I returned my car (Hertz) along with a nice penalty from Hertz themselves. Not fun at all.

    I hope you don’t end up with something in a couple months

  3. MeanMeosh Reply
    April 18, 2018 at 6:04 pm

    Ugh – I sure hope you didn’t get busted by one of those scameras. Like Josh noted, you’ll have quite a nice “administrative fee” from Hertz tacked onto the fine!

  4. keda Reply
    April 19, 2018 at 4:22 am

    “”The speed limit slows from 90km/h to 50km/h as you reach each village. Sometimes that comes upon you suddenly. Too suddenly.””
    ———————————————–
    This is normal in most of EU countries,that when you reach a village you can’t go faster than 50KM/H (even if there’s no sign “”50″” .(usually village name in white background. if it’s in blue than mostly you can continue with max allowed in that specific country).

    “”One village had a speed camera strategically placed just beyond the 50km/h sign. I had slowed from 90km/h to 60km/hr, but had not reached 50km/hr yet.””
    ———————————————–
    Did you slow down after the village sign or before? A lot of foreign drivers in Europe make same mistake. They reach village sign and only after that they slow down – That’s wrong. You have to do it before passing the village name sign. Most people use GPS on unfamiliar roads so that should indicate that there’s a village ahead and you should start slowing down. If you started slowing down afterwards,there should be a ticket.

  5. Ben Reply
    April 19, 2018 at 11:07 am

    I am originally from that area, and I always try to spend some of my vacations in the Dolomites.
    Over the last couple years, they have installed speed cameras in a large number of villages in the area, mostly using it as a deterrent. Only a few are actually turned on. I think it’s a good idea, as especially in summer and winter quite a few people walk on the streets. All to say that I would not expect a fine. Also 10km/h above limit is not what they are after…
    You should consider spending some time in Sesto Pusteria (Sexten in German), couple of awesome hotels there. Both summer and skying are terrific.

  6. Jerry Reply
    April 20, 2018 at 9:44 pm

    That looks like a fun trip, @Matthew. I enjoyed this series of posts. I’m now jonesing to take a week long drive around Italy.

  7. Andrea @G&T Reply
    August 25, 2021 at 10:19 am

    As an Italian, this post brought me so much joy! Except for the speeding ticket obviously, those damn traps are a nightmare. Most Italians I know regularly use Waze instead of Google Maps, as it gathers data from other drivers to point out speed traps. Just a quick tip for next time 🙂

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