With a small child the question is not which path is the most beautiful. It is how much you climb, how long it takes and whether you can turn back halfway without a scene.
Our route pages carry the ascent, so instead of saying vaguely that a walk suits families we have ranked them flattest first. Twenty routes out of thirty-six carry that mark, and 430 metres separate the first from the last: calling them all the same thing helped nobody.
At the end there is the thing we cannot promise, and it matters more than any of it if you are pushing a buggy.
The five almost flat ones, under a hundred metres
They are lake circuits, and that is no accident: water sits in a hollow and the path goes round it staying at the same height. They are also the only ones where you can reasonably expect a child to walk the whole way.
The Lake Misurina loop is the shortest and flattest of all: twenty metres of ascent over two and a half kilometres, under an hour. Lake Braies is thirty metres over three and a half kilometres, but it is also the busiest lake in the Dolomites, so it has to be taken early in the morning.
Lake Dobbiaco and Lake Carezza sit between forty and sixty metres, both around an hour and a quarter. The cross-country loop at Passo Lavazè is longer, eight kilometres, with a hundred metres spread across the whole circuit.
- Lake Misurina loop: 20 m of ascent, 2.6 km, 1 hour
- Lake Braies loop: 30 m, 3.5 km, an hour and a quarter
- Lake Dobbiaco loop: 40 m, 4 km, an hour and a quarter
- Lake Carezza loop: 60 m, 3 km, 1 hour
- Passo Lavazè cross-country loop: 100 m, 8 km
From a hundred to two hundred and fifty metres: you walk, but you come back
This is the band where the child walks some of it and is carried some of it, and where the sum to do is not about the ascent but about the point of no return: how far you push knowing the same ground has to be covered again.
The Lake Molveno loop has a hundred and fifty metres but twelve kilometres, so it is long rather than steep. The Viel del Pan path and the Sappada waterfalls sit at two hundred, and both are there and back: you can turn round halfway and the outing stays whole.
At the Cinque Torri, the Fanes waterfalls and the Vallesinella waterfalls we are at two hundred and fifty metres over five or six kilometres. These are the first where tiredness arrives before the end, if the child really is small.
Above three hundred: these are outings, not strolls
From here up, the word family should be read as families with children who already walk well, not with small children. Three hundred metres of ascent at two thousand metres of altitude are not three hundred metres on the flat.
The Alpe di Siusi loop and Col Raiser towards the Odle sit at three hundred metres, and they have one decisive advantage: you arrive by lift, so the real ascent is whatever you choose to do once you are up there.
The Tre Cime loop and the Adolf Munkel trail close the list at four hundred and four hundred and fifty metres, over ten and eleven kilometres. They are superb and that is why everybody takes children there: but they are three and a half or four hours of real walking.
What we cannot promise, and it is the thing that counts
If you are looking for routes to do with a buggy, this list is a starting point and not an answer. We measure ascent, length and time, because they are on our route pages. The surface of the path is not.
And the surface is what decides: a kilometre of wide packed gravel works with any pushchair, while two hundred metres of roots and stones will not work even with big wheels. Two routes with the same ascent can be one passable and the other impossible, and it would be wrong to write that they are equivalent because the number matches.
What we can honestly say is that the lake circuits in the first list run on pedestrian paths around very busy stretches of water, which is the category where the odds are highest. Before setting off, though, it is worth calling the local tourist office: it is one phone call worth more than any table, this one included.
If we do verify a surface, it goes into our archive with the date and the source, like everything else: the method is on the page about the data we check.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest walk in the Dolomites with children?
The Lake Misurina loop: twenty metres of ascent over two and a half kilometres, under an hour. It is the flattest and shortest of the twenty routes we mark as suitable for families.
Which paths can you do with a buggy?
We do not promise that, and we explain why: we measure ascent, length and time, but not the surface of the path, and the surface is what decides. Lake circuits are the category with the best odds, because they run on well used pedestrian paths. Before setting off, a call to the local tourist office is worth it.
How much ascent can small children manage?
Under a hundred metres you can reasonably expect them to walk the whole way. Between a hundred and two hundred and fifty the sum to do is about the point of no return, because the same ground has to be covered again. Above three hundred metres, at two thousand of altitude, we are talking about outings rather than strolls.
Is Lake Braies suitable for children?
Yes for the walk: thirty metres of ascent over three and a half kilometres, an hour and a quarter. No for the timing, if you go late: it is the busiest lake in the Dolomites and access is regulated, so it has to be taken early in the morning.
Are there easy walks you can reach by lift?
Yes, and they are the best answer when children already walk but not far: at the Alpe di Siusi and Col Raiser you go up by gondola, and the real ascent becomes whatever you decide to do once you are up there.