The Smarter Way to Travel the Dolomites: by Train, Bus, and Cable Car

Step off a high-speed train and onto a regional bus, and within an hour or so, you can be in the center of a quaint Tyrolean village. After dropping bags off at your hotel, you’re likely just a few hundred yards from the nearest funivia, or cable car. Depending on the season, it will whisk you either to snow-covered pistes or a bucolic Alpine valley, where babbling brooks, mooing cows and birdsong are the spring and summer soundtrack.

What’s absent in this idyllic scene? A rental car. You don’t need one. You can’t drive in most town centers, and you won’t even miss having your own wheels once you realize how pleasant and convenient it is to let someone else do the driving.

In a country that already does public transportation well, the northern region of Trentino-Alto Adige has one of the most efficient systems in Italy. And for mountain sports (or just mountain sightseeing), that means easy access to the Dolomites, northern Italy’s legendary snaggletoothed range. Trains, buses, and various iterations of cable cars can get you to a surprising number of destinations in the region relatively quickly, all with zero time spent sitting in a traffic jam on the autostrada or contemplating car sickness on a twisty mountain road.

Where to start

Most car-free trips to the Dolomites start by catching a train to Bolzano or Trento, both served by high-speed rail, then branching out from there. For many, Venice is the starting point; even though it’s in the Veneto region, it offers connections to popular Dolomites destinations. Note that in Alto Adige/South Tyrol (also called “Südtirol,”) both Italian and German are spoken, and signage and place names reflect that. It can be confusing, especially when the same place has two very different names (Brixen/Bressanone, for example).

Fortunately, in both Trentino and Alto Adige, visitors who stay overnight at participating hotels and other lodgings are entitled to city-wide tourist cards for the duration of their stay. These passes include free or discounted access to museums and other attractions, but the big perk is free transportation: both the Südtirol Guest Pass and the Trentino Guest Card include unlimited use of regional trains, public buses, and some cable cars — one more really good reason to skip the rental car.

Bolzano, gateway to the Dolomites

Both Trenitalia, Italy’s national rail service, and private high-speed carrier Italo offer service to Bolzano’s main station (which may be listed as Bolzano/Bozen), with each offering several direct trains a day. There are also connecting trains, most of which involve a change of trains in Bologna, where you’ll switch from a high-speed train to a regional or intercity one that makes more stops.

While you can reach several smaller towns from Bolzano, you may opt to base yourself there for the rest of your mountain sojourn. The town center is just a few blocks from the train station, and is home to the excellent South Tyrol Archeological Museum (known for Otzi the Iceman), several medieval castles, a well-preserved historic district, and, if you time it right, the largest Christmas market in Italy.

From Bolzano, which sits in a valley along the River Adige, you can walk or catch a city bus to three different funivie that will whisk you and your skis, snowboard, or hiking boots up to mountain recreation areas. The closest to town is the Renon cable car, just a three-minute walk from the train station. (Note that on maps, the station will also appear as Rittner Seilbahn.) The 15-minute ride on the Renon drops passengers in Soprabolzano/Oberbozen, where they can catch the delightful Ritten Railway: a scenic, narrow-gauge train that stops in several picturesque alpine villages. The Ritten runs year-round and makes for a great day out, after which you can return to Bolzano for dinner and a beer-centric pub scene.

Transfers from Bolzano

If you’d rather pass through Bolzano on your way to someplace smaller and perhaps closer still to the mountains, you’ll have many options on public transportation.

Brixen/Bressanone

First documented in 901 CE, this storybook town tucked between two rivers is the oldest in the South Tyrol. The historic center is a mix of bulky medieval stone and pastel-colored Baroque architecture. Visitors can get around on bike or on foot to enjoy the vibrant dining and pub scene. There’s easy access to slopes and recreation (plus, in the summertime, cows — lots of cows) on Plose Mountain, accessible via city buses that depart at least once an hour. Brixen is a 40-minute train ride from Bolzano.

Ortisei/Urtijëi/St. Ulrich

It takes just under an hour to wind upwards from the Bolzano bus depot (a two-minute walk from the train station) to Ortisei on the #350 bus, operated by suedtirolmobil. The bus drops you in the center of this mostly-pedestrian town nestled in Val Gardena and surrounded by the Dolomiti Superski, one of the world’s largest interconnected ski networks. Connect to the circuit via the Seceda cable car, and you’ll have access to more than 29,000 acres of skiable terrain, including the 50-mile-long Great War Tour.

On the other side of town, the Funivia Ortisei – Alpe di Siusi drops gobsmacked riders into the middle of the Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm, Europe’s highest elevation Alpine Valley.

Merano/Meran

With its Mediterranean sub-climate, Merano is a bit of an anomaly this far north. It’s known for lush gardens (palm trees in the Dolomites, seriously), a cobblestoned medieval heart, hiking routes that lead to castles, and the sprawling Terme Merano, a natural thermal water complex with 16 indoor pools, 11 outdoor pools, and numerous saunas. The Merano 2000 ski area is the closest to town, and reachable from Merano train station in 20 minutes via the #1 bus. Regional trains from Bolzano reach Merano in about 45 minutes.

From Trento to Madonna di Campiglio

If your northward train stops at Bolzano, it almost certainly stops at Trento first. Trento is known for its sparkling Trento DOC wine, its city-center fortress, and for the cathedral that spawned the 16th-century Council of Trent, centerpiece of the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

Tiny and chic Madonna di Campiglio sits in the Val Rendena amid the Brenta Dolomites, a distinct range from the more easterly Dolomites. It may be one of Italy’s poshest ski resorts, but that doesn’t mean you have to roll up in a Mercedes. Three ski lifts depart from the center of town, and several runs will swoosh you right back down just in time for your après-ski bombardino and apple strudel. Hiking, snowshoeing, waterfalls, and cozy meals at rustic refugi make this a year-round destination for the great outdoors. The B201 bus will get you there from Trento’s main station in about two hours.

From Venice to Cortina d’Ampezzo

Venice needs no introduction, and you probably don’t need much help getting there: high-speed trains from nearly every major city in mainland Italy, as well as from Zurich, Munich, and Vienna, call on Venice several times a day.

After you’ve been a responsible tourist in Venice, continue in a sustainable way to Cortina d’Ampezzo, the elite mountain resort called the “Pearl of the Dolomites” (and the co-host, along with Milan, of the 2026 Winter Olympics) by arriving via bus. The Cortina Express offers direct service from either Venice Mestre (the landside station) or Venice’s Marco Polo International Airport. At Cortina, you can reach the other side of the Dolomiti Superski circuit, or take a series of cable cars nearly 11,000 feet up to Tofana di Mezzo, the third-highest peak in the Dolomites.