It is the question that turns up with the heat, and it turns up in three languages: can you swim in this lake? The answer you find around is almost always an impression, a forum comment, a photo of someone who did it anyway.
The thing is, there is no single rule. Each lake answers to a different body: a nature park, a municipality, a province. In some it is forbidden by law, in others it is entirely normal, in others again you can, but only in one specific spot.
We checked seven lakes one by one, asking the people who enforce the rule. Here is what came back, with the source next to every line.
Where it is forbidden
In four of the seven lakes we checked, swimming is not allowed, and the reasons differ.
Lake Braies sits inside the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park, and the ban protects an ecosystem already under enormous visitor pressure. It is also the lake where you most often see people getting in anyway, which does not make it permitted.
Lake Carezza is protected as a natural monument: here it is not only swimming that is banned, it is also forbidden to cross the fences around the shore. The panoramic walkway is the only access there is.
Misurina and Lake Santa Caterina, both in the municipality of Auronzo di Cadore, are closed to swimming. The municipal tourist office confirmed it to us directly, because in the Veneto the rule is not published online in any citable form.
- Lake Braies: forbidden, inside the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park
- Lake Carezza: forbidden, natural monument, crossing the fences is banned too
- Lake Misurina: forbidden, municipality of Auronzo di Cadore
- Lake Santa Caterina: forbidden, municipality of Auronzo di Cadore
Where you can, and on what terms
The Fiè lake, at the foot of the Sciliar, is the swimming lake of the Dolomites: the northern part is open for bathing and equipped, while the rest of the water is a protected biotope of reed beds. It is also the warmest, being small and shallow.
At Lake Dobbiaco swimming is permitted, but it pays to know what you are in for: the water stays cold even in mid-August and there is no lido at all. Most people go no further than their ankles, which is a reasonable call.
At Lake Tovel, inside the Adamello Brenta Nature Park, swimming happens in the permitted areas and under the park's rules. It is not a beach lake: it is an alpine lake in a protected basin, and the setting deserves to be treated accordingly.
- Fiè lake: allowed in the northern part, the rest is a protected biotope
- Lake Dobbiaco: allowed, cold water and no lido facilities
- Lake Tovel: allowed in the permitted areas, under Adamello Brenta park rules
Why the rules differ so much
There is no single rule across the Dolomites because there is no single authority. A lake inside a nature park follows that park's regulation; one inside a municipality follows municipal orders; one classed as a natural monument has its own constraints.
Add that the Dolomites straddle three provinces with three different legal systems, and you get two lakes ten kilometres apart with opposite rules and nothing to signal it to a visitor.
It is the same reason every place handles car access its own way, which we cover in our guide to overtourism in the Dolomites. The fragmentation is not a bureaucratic detail: it is why getting it wrong in good faith is so easy.
One thing that holds everywhere, even where you can
The water in an alpine lake at fifteen hundred metres stays cold all summer, often below fifteen degrees even in August. The risk is not discomfort, it is cold shock: getting in suddenly after hours of walking with the sun on you is the classic way to end up in trouble a few metres from the shore.
It holds where nobody forbids anything too: go in gradually, not alone, and not straight after walking.
And the starting point stands: that you may does not mean it is a good idea on that day and at that spot. A ban is a rule, judgement is another thing.
How we checked
Five lakes we verified against official sources online: the Alpe di Siusi tourist association for Fiè, the lake's own official site for Dobbiaco, Visit Trentino for Tovel, the South Tyrolean provincial body for Carezza, the dedicated portal for Braies.
For Misurina and Santa Caterina no citable online source existed, so we phoned the tourist office of the municipality of Auronzo di Cadore, which confirmed the ban for both.
Every line on this page is recorded in our archive with its source and the date we checked it, and is re-checked each season. You will find them on the individual lake pages too, alongside the other verified data. If a rule changes and we notice after you do, write to us: we correct it and update the date.
Frequently asked questions
Can you swim in Lake Braies?
No. The lake lies within the Fanes-Senes-Braies Nature Park and swimming is not permitted, to protect an environment already under heavy visitor pressure. That some people do it anyway does not make it allowed.
Can you swim in Lake Misurina?
No. The tourist office of the municipality of Auronzo di Cadore confirmed to us that swimming is forbidden, as it is at nearby Lake Santa Caterina. Checked on 7 August 2026.
Which lake in the Dolomites can you swim in?
The Fiè lake below the Sciliar: its northern part is open for bathing and equipped, while the rest is a protected biotope. It is also the warmest, being small and shallow. You can also swim in Lake Dobbiaco, though the water stays cold and there are no facilities.
Why is it allowed in some lakes and not others?
Because there is no single authority. A lake inside a park follows the park's regulation, one inside a municipality follows municipal orders, one classed as a natural monument has its own constraints. The Dolomites straddle three provinces with three legal systems.
How cold is the water?
In alpine lakes around fifteen hundred metres it often stays below fifteen degrees even in August. The serious risk is not discomfort but cold shock: go in gradually, never alone and never straight after walking in the sun.
Is this information up to date?
Every line carries the date we checked it and the source it comes from, and is re-checked each season. The same information appears on the individual lake pages, alongside the other verified data.