MY WIFE AND I ARE PLANNING A TRIP TO NORTHERN ITALY IN OCTOBER. WE'RE BOTH SEASONED TRAVELLERS, IN OUR EARLY 60S AND QUITE FIT. WE'RE INTERESTED IN SPENDING SOME TIME IN THE DOLOMITES AND STAYING IN RIFUGIOS BUT A LOT OF PLACES ARE CLOSED AND WE'RE UNSURE WHERE TO TURN. AS KEEN CYCLISTS, WE'RE INTERESTED IN POSSIBILITIES AS WELL AS A CINQUE TERRE WALK, VENETIAN TOUR ETC. HOW CAN WE SPEND FOUR WEEKS IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD?
J. AND S. SOLVYNS, TAMWORTH
Most of the rifugios in the Dolomites will be closed in October, but one that will not is Rifugio Lagazuoi (rifugiolagazuoi.com), which stays open all year round. This is one of the highest as well as the most famous of all the rifugios in the region, offering amazing views as well as a base for exploring the restored galleries, trenches and emplacements of the First World War Open Museum. You can either hike to the rifugio or take the Lagazuoi cable car from Passo Falzarego, not too far from Cortina d'Ampezzo.
You shouldn't let this scarcity of rifugio accommodation stop you from visiting the region. You'll still find literally dozens of marvellous small, family-operated hotels throughout towns and villages of the Dolomites, and rates are low in October. I've used the Sudtirol website (suedtirol.info) to book accommodation and it works well. One you might consider is the Hotel Cavallino d'Oro (cavallino.it), a nice hotel in a terrific location. You should find plenty of good walks as well, although snow can close some of the higher trails in October. By far the best guide is Shorter Walks in the Dolomites from Cicerone (cicerone.co.uk).
From Bolzano, at the western edge of the Dolomites, you could do a five-day self-guided cycling trip with Utracks (utracks.com) to Verona. This is a lovely city and well worth stopping for three nights. If you have a hire car, leave it at Bolzano and take the train from Verona to collect it, it's a short ride. From Verona it's another short rail trip to Venice, and you could look at Sawdays (sawdays.co.uk) for accommodation.
From Venice you could head for Bologna and Florence with a few days in each before you hit the coast and tackle the Cinque Terre hiking trail. If you take your time this could easily absorb five nights before you head north once again to Milan.
Lake Como is another region you should include, and perhaps at the very end of your trip. The lakes and surrounding cities such as Varese, Bergamo, Lugano and Locarno are some of the loveliest in this part of the world, and touring and sampling the foods of the harvest season should absorb whatever time you have left.
