How to Get to the Dolomites: Airports, Trains, Buses and Roads

The airports, and how far they really are

The only airport inside the area is Bolzano, the smallest. Sky Alps flies direct from there to London, Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen, and buses 10A and 10B reach the city centre in fifteen minutes. From Bolzano, the 3 Zinnen Dolomites tourist board still gives 100 kilometres to the Tre Cime area: even starting inside, a stretch of road remains.

Every other airport is outside. These are the distances published by the tourist boards, read on 7 October 2026. From Cortina d'Ampezzo: Venice Marco Polo 162 kilometres, Treviso Canova 130, Innsbruck 170, Verona Catullo 260. From Val di Fassa: Bolzano 40, Treviso 160, Venice 175, Verona 180, Innsbruck 190, Bergamo 280, Munich 320, Milan Linate and Malpensa 350. From South Tyrol, measured from Bolzano: Innsbruck about 120, Verona about 150, Treviso about 190, Bergamo and Bologna about 240, Linate and Venice about 270, Munich about 300, Malpensa about 320.

After the plane you always need a second leg. From Innsbruck and Verona you take the train: South Tyrol says ÖBB trains run from Innsbruck every thirty to sixty minutes, and Trenitalia from Verona hourly. From Munich there are the direct trains described below. From Venice and Treviso you take the bus. In winter several northern Italian airports are served by dedicated shuttles: the Fly Ski Shuttle, for instance, serves Val di Fassa from Venice, Treviso, Bergamo, Milan and Verona.

• Bolzano: inside the area, Sky Alps flights, buses 10A and 10B into town in 15 minutes
• Venice Marco Polo: the gateway to Cortina and the Cadore, direct buses all year
• Treviso Canova: the closest to Cortina in kilometres, buses in high season
• Verona Catullo: the rail gateway to South Tyrol and Trentino
• Innsbruck: the gateway from the north, ÖBB trains to Bolzano every 30 to 60 minutes
• Munich: direct trains to Bolzano, five a day
• Milan Linate and Malpensa, Bergamo: the furthest, 270 to 350 kilometres

By train: two lines, and one change that matters

On the western side everything goes through the Brenner railway, served by Trenitalia, Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB. Starting from Verona Porta Nuova, the useful stations are Trento at kilometre 92, Ora at 132, Bolzano at 148, Ponte Gardena at 170, Chiusa at 176, Bressanone at 186 and Fortezza at 196. Bolzano to Fortezza takes 43 minutes.

At Fortezza you change. From there the Puster Valley railway runs up the valley to San Candido and on into Austria as far as Lienz: Rio di Pusteria, Vandoies, Casteldarne, San Lorenzo, Brunico, Brunico Nord, Perca, Valdaora, Monguelfo, Villabassa, Dobbiaco, San Candido. That is 65 kilometres from Fortezza. It is the only stretch of the Dolomites served by rail right into the valley, which is why the Puster Valley is the easiest area without a car.

From each station you then go into the valley by bus. Val Gardena gives Ponte Gardena at 18 kilometres, Chiusa at 23, Bressanone at 34 and Bolzano at 40, with line 350 linking Bolzano and Bressanone to the valley via Ponte Gardena. Alta Badia gives Brunico at just over 30 kilometres, Bressanone and Bolzano at 65. Val di Fassa points to Trento, Bolzano and Ora: in Trento the bus station is 50 metres from the railway station, in Bolzano 100. For Cortina the stations are Calalzo di Cadore, 35 kilometres away, and Dobbiaco, 31.

From outside Italy there are direct services: five trains a day from Munich to Bolzano in under four hours, Vienna with one change in Innsbruck in under seven hours, Zurich via Innsbruck in about six, and a direct train from Lienz to San Candido. At night the ÖBB Nightjet runs from Hamburg, Hanover, Essen and Amsterdam via Innsbruck, and the Intercity Notte from Rome to Bolzano on Fridays and Saturdays. If you arrive on a DB or ÖBB EuroCity you can buy the connecting ticket for South Tyrol for 5.00 euros.

The Calalzo line: what is happening right now

Anyone heading for Cortina and the Cadore looks at Calalzo-Pieve di Cadore-Cortina station, the terminus of the line coming up from Venice and Padua. There is something here that needs saying straight away, because travel sites do not report it.

In the station's official timetable, valid from 14 June to 12 December 2026, the trains between Calalzo and Belluno carry the note "does not run from 13 September to 12 December". In their place, replacement buses run every day. So today the train gets as far as Ponte nelle Alpi or Belluno at most, and the last stretch to Calalzo is by bus: on weekdays the first run leaves Calalzo at 6.20, reaches Ponte nelle Alpi at 7.06 and Belluno at 7.24.

There is also a train worth knowing about, but it is seasonal and is not running now: the TrenoBiciBus delle Dolomiti, direct from Venezia Santa Lucia to Calalzo, on Saturdays and Sundays from 14 June to 12 September 2026. It left Venice at 7.48 and reached Calalzo at 10.29, two hours and forty-one minutes, calling at Mestre, Mogliano Veneto, Treviso Centrale, Conegliano, Vittorio Veneto, Ponte nelle Alpi, Longarone and Perarolo; the return left Calalzo at 17.40 and was in Venice at 20.17. If you are travelling in summer, check whether it comes back: it is the simplest link there is between Venice and the Belluno Dolomites.

From Calalzo to Cortina, Dolomitibus line 30 takes 55 minutes, calling at Pieve di Cadore, Tai, Valle di Cadore, Venas, Vodo, Borca, San Vito and Dogana Vecchia. The winter timetable runs from 10 September 2026 to 8 June 2027.

By bus: who goes where, and until when

From Venice and Treviso towards Cortina and the Cadore, the Cortina tourist board lists the Cortina Express, Flixbus and Atvo coach lines, with the terminus at the ice stadium, and says that in high season connections are added with Treviso airport and with Rovigo, Ferrara and Bologna. The same route is also covered by Dolomitibus line 72, booked at cortinaexpress.it.

Cortina Express publishes four lines with precise periods, checked on 7 October 2026. Cortina-Treviso-Venice has a summer timetable from 19 June to 30 September 2026 and a winter one from 1 October 2026 to 8 June 2027. San Candido-Dobbiaco-Treviso-Venice follows the same periods, and so serves the upper Puster Valley without going through South Tyrol. Cima Sappada-Treviso-Venice changes timetable on 10 September. Colfosco-Corvara-Treviso-Venice, the link with Alta Badia, exists only in winter: from 19 December 2026 to 28 March 2027.

Dolomitibus line 72, Venice-Cortina, has been in force since 1 October 2026 and runs twice a day each way. Outbound it leaves Venezia Piazzale Roma at 06.20, calls at Mestre station at 06.40 and at Venice airport at 07.00, and reaches Cortina at 09.30; the second run leaves at 18.20 and arrives at 21.30. Back the other way it leaves Cortina at 07.00 and at 14.30. Booking is compulsory, at cortinaexpress.it. There is no service on 25 December.

In South Tyrol the system is altoadigemobilità, which integrates trains and buses on one ticket: the lines into the valleys leave from the stations of Bolzano, Bressanone, Brunico and Ora. From Dobbiaco station a SAD bus runs down to Cortina. FlixBus, finally, advertises daily services, by day and by night, from the main Italian and European cities to Trento and Bolzano, on top of its runs to Cortina.

By car: the exits and the roads

From the north and the west you use the Brenner motorway, the A22. The exit depends on the valley. For the Puster Valley and the Tre Cime area, leave at Bressanone/Varna and carry on along the Puster Valley trunk road, the SS49-E66, for about 60 kilometres. For Val Gardena, coming from the north, leave at Chiusa and climb the SS242d: the tourist board gives about twenty minutes to Ortisei. Coming from the south, leave at Bolzano Nord and go via Ponte Gardena. For Val di Fassa there are two doors: the Ora/Egna exit, then the SS48 over the Passo San Lugano and through Val di Fiemme, 45 kilometres; or Bolzano Nord and the SS241 over the Passo Carezza, 40 kilometres.

From the south-east you use the A27. For Cortina the exit is Belluno, 72 kilometres away, then the SS51 di Alemagna; the other useful exit is Pian di Vedoia, again on the SS51 towards Dobbiaco via Cortina. Cortina is crossed by the SS51 north to south and by the SR48 bis delle Dolomiti east to west, and gives the A22 Bressanone exit as 87 kilometres away to the north. For Val di Fassa from the A27 you leave at Belluno/Ponte nelle Alpi and climb via Agordo, over the Passo San Pellegrino to Moena or the Passo Fedaia to Canazei.

One rule applies to everyone: on the whole Dolomite road network, from 15 November to 15 April, vehicles must have winter tyres or carry snow chains. It applies even if the sky is clear and the road is dry.

The other thing to plan for is the passes. Some close in winter, others have traffic restrictions in summer: before setting an itinerary that crosses two or three of them, look at the guide to the Dolomite passes.

From Venice: the short answer

If you land in Venice and are going to Cortina, the bus is the simplest option. Cortina Express says two hours and thirty minutes from Mestre to Cortina, with no stops and no changes, every day of the year, from the ATVO bus station. From the airport the time is the same: the Dolomitibus run leaving the airport at 07.00 reaches Cortina at 09.30.

If you prefer the train, the journey today is longer and involves a change. A weekday example from the current timetable: Venezia Santa Lucia 06.31, Mestre 06.44, change at Conegliano, Ponte nelle Alpi 08.31, then the replacement bus to Calalzo at 09.34 and line 30, which leaves at 09.35 for Cortina and arrives at 10.30. About four hours in all, against two and a half on the direct bus.

If your destination is instead the upper Puster Valley, from Venice there is the Cortina Express line to San Candido and Dobbiaco, which follows the same periods as the Cortina line. For western South Tyrol, Val Gardena and Alta Badia, from Venice it is better to take the train via Verona to Bolzano or Chiusa.

From Milan: the short answer

There is no direct connection from Milan to Cortina. The Milan airports are the furthest from the Dolomites: Val di Fassa gives 350 kilometres from both Linate and Malpensa, South Tyrol about 270 from Linate and 320 from Malpensa.

For the South Tyrolean and Trentino side the good route is the Frecciarossa. The Val di Fassa tourist board lists the direct trains from Milan to Trento and Bolzano leaving at 08.15 on Saturdays and Sundays and at 17.45 every day; the other way round, from Bolzano and Trento to Milan at 08.45 every day and at 17.45 on Saturdays and Sundays. From Bolzano you continue by altoadigemobilità bus to Val Gardena, Val di Fassa and Val Badia, or by train to Fortezza and the Puster Valley.

For Cortina the shortest route comes in two parts: a fast train to Venezia Mestre and then the Cortina Express bus, two hours and thirty minutes with no changes. By car you leave the A4 and take the A22 north or the A27 towards Belluno, depending on the valley.

Once you are there

Getting there and getting around are two different problems. Inside the valleys what counts are the local buses, the ski buses, the cable cars and the mobility passes, and the system changes from province to province: we have written about that in the guide to the Dolomites without a car, which is the other half of this page.

One place is a case of its own: the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, where the toll road has to be booked online before you set off. The access rules are in the guide on how to reach the Tre Cime.

One last practical point: every timetable here is seasonal and changes at least twice a year. Dolomitibus switches to the winter timetable on 10 September, Cortina Express on 1 October, the railways in mid-December. Before you leave, check again on the operator's own page, not on a blog.