Day 2 – The View At Drei Zinnen Blick

Jan 15, 2024

Today’s Adventure

Day 2 found Cindy and I making another late start as we adapt to the new time zone, higher altitude, etc. After a relaxed breakfast we walked from our apartment to the Bahnhof here in San Candido to catch the 10:50 Südtirolmobil train headed west towards Franzenfeste.

We hopped off the train at the next stop, Dobbiaco, a quick and easy five minutes away. From there we caught a bus headed south towards Cortina d’Ampezzo (future home of the 2026 Winter Olympics). After a very short but quite scenic 12 minute ride we hopped off at the Drei Zinnen Blick bus stop to find today’s trailhead.

‘Drei Zinnen Blick’ literally (and quite accurately) translates from German as the “three peak view”. The Drei Zinnen (also known as the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in Italian) is a very distinctive and quite massive rock formation that is to this part of Italy what the Matterhorn is to Switzerland. A likeness of the iconic peaks appears just about everywhere you look in tourist materials, company logos, civic statues, and even as an obstacle on a nearby miniature golf course (our personal favorite). The smallest peak, Klein Zinne, rises just under 9,400 feet while the Westliche Zinne and Grosse Zinne are 9,750 feet and 9,840 feet respectively.

From the bus stop we walked across the road to the trailhead for a hike up the valley towards the Drei Zinnen. The hike was only 3.1 miles with about 500 feet of vertical but it packed quite a punch in terms of scenery as I think you will see from the photos. It was a perfect outing for today as we didn’t want to overdo with so many other things to see and do on our wishlist for this trip. It’s definitely a ‘must do’ hike if you’re in this area regardless of the time of year.

After our hike we caught a bus back down the valley to Dobbiaco. We got off at a familiar bus stop right in front of the Tourist Bureau. I say that it was familiar because Cindy and I stayed in Dobbiaco for 12 days during our first trip to the Dolomites back in January of 2020 and got to know this small town rather well.

From the Tourist Bureau we walked across the street to Pizzeria Hans. Don’t let the word ‘pizzeria’ fool you – the US perception of that term isn’t the best but this pizzeria is actually a highly-rated restaurant with an interesting rustic/modern vibe and an extensive menu. We enjoyed a pair of Austrian Stiegl draft beers and split one of their Pizza Tirolese with speck, wurst sausage, and mushrooms.

After finishing our late lunch we caught the train back to San Candido, did some grocery shopping (more on that subject in a later post), went back to our apartment, and settled in for the evening. Cindy prepared some wonderful homemade Italian-style soup for dinner and then we watched a couple of episodes of The Sopranos (!) from the DVD collection that we brought along with us for evening entertainment.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast looks to be equally beautiful as our first two days ‘in country’ but it will also be somewhat colder with a single digit start and an afternoon high of only 25. We’ll finalize our plans over breakfast, as usual, based on how we feel and the actual weather conditions. Stay tuned!

For Innichen’s main page click here.

For Seefeld’s main page click here.

For the entire trip’s main page click here.