Dolomites Tours From Venice

Venice is the easiest big city to reach the Dolomites from. Cortina d’Ampezzo is about 160 kilometres north — a little under two hours by motorway and the Piave valley road — which puts Lake Misurina, the Tre Cime viewpoints and, on the longer routes, Lago di Braies inside a single day. That is why almost every Dolomites day trip sold online leaves from here, and why thirteen of them look nearly identical in the listings.

They are not identical. This page sorts them by the three things that actually differ: the vehicle, the lakes, and how long you get at each one.

The vehicle decides the price

Almost the entire price range on this page comes from what you travel in, not from where you go.

Coach, from $113. The Best of the Dolomites day trip is the cheapest way into the mountains from Venice, and one of the few that carries a tour guide rather than a driver-guide. 940 guests rate it 4.7 out of 5. You get Cortina, two hours at Lake Misurina and a walk at the Auronzo lake. The trade is group size — a coach takes longer to move at each stop — and its 2026 calendar ended on 31 October.

Small-group minivan, $129–$230. Capped at eight, quicker between stops, and the bulk of what is on offer. The Cortina and two lakes day is the most-reviewed Dolomites tour on this site — 1,116 ratings at 4.9 out of 5 — and gives Misurina more than two hours. It is the tour in the booking widget above.

Private, from $1,375 per group. The private Dolomites and Prosecco Hills day is priced for the whole van rather than per person, which works out well for four or more, and adds a Prosecco DOCG tasting at Valdobbiadene on the way home. 242 groups rate it 4.9 out of 5.

Then the lakes

Every Venice route includes Lake Misurina. It sits at about 1,750 m with a level path around the shore, restaurants along it, and the Sorapiss, the Cadini and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in view. It is where the day’s long stop goes.

The real question is Lago di Braies — the emerald lake with the boathouse, an hour further north in South Tyrol, about three hours from Venice in total. Including it costs time somewhere else, so check the stop length rather than the itinerary list:

• 90 minutes at Braies: Cortina and Lake Braies (entry fee included, 602 reviews at 4.9), Braies, Misurina and Tre Cime views, and Braies and Misurina with a hiking guide at $144.
• About 45 minutes at Braies, two hours at Misurina: the Mercedes V-Class day, which also collects from your hotel or the airport.
• About three hours at Braies: the guided hiking day, when the guide picks its Braies option.

If Braies is not the point, a route that stays around Misurina and Cortina gives you a slower day: the Misurina and Cortina small-group day spends about three hours between Misurina and Lake Antorno.

The Tre Cime: view or walk

The three towers are the symbol of the range, and most Venice tours show them to you from Misurina or a roadside viewpoint — the Braies and Cortina trip makes a fifteen-minute photo stop facing them, and the highlights and hidden gems day views them across Lake Landro.

Walking around them is a different day. The Tre Cime huts day from Venice spends about three hours on the trail from Rifugio Auronzo over Forcella Lavaredo, and the hiking day climbs to a hut on the Tre Cime or Cinque Torri routes. Both depend on the Auronzo toll road, which normally closes at the end of October. See Tre Cime in September and October.

Less obvious routes

A few Venice departures are worth knowing about because they are not the standard loop:

• The highlights and hidden gems day from Venice or Treviso is the only small-group minivan route here with a licensed guide as well as a driver, and it adds Cibiana di Cadore, a village whose houses are covered in painted murals.
• The lakes loop with drone video picks up at your hotel, costs $129, and films your group from the air.
• The four-lakes day adds Lake Santa Croce in the Alpago on the way up and has a private option.

What every Venice tour has in common

Lunch is not included on any of them — there are restaurants at Misurina and in Cortina, paid on the day. Departures are early, from Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto rather than central Venice. The mountains are far colder than the city, so a warm layer matters even in August. And every tour here can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before it starts, which is the single most useful thing about booking a mountain day in advance.

Several tours also carry restrictions worth reading before you book: minimum ages of six or twelve on some routes, no wheelchair access on most, and minimum passenger numbers on two small-group tours that can trigger a cancellation and refund.

When to go

June to September is the full season: every lift running, the huts open, and the Misurina chairlift and rowing boats available from mid-June to mid-September.

October is the best month to look at, with the larches turning gold, and the trickiest to plan, because lifts and huts close valley by valley. The coach tour runs to 31 October; the minivans continue. See Dolomites in October and autumn foliage tours.

November onward is a lakes-and-villages day. The minivan tours keep running, one adds San Candido and Lago di Braies from 15 November and the San Candido Christmas market from 23 November, and another offers an optional snowmobile ride to Monte Piana from 6 December. See Dolomites in November and tours from Venice in autumn.

Still deciding?

The decision guide goes through the choices one question at a time, and what to expect on a day trip is honest about the four hours in a vehicle. If you would rather compare every listing side by side, see all Dolomites day tours.

Check availability for the most-reviewed Venice day trip.