Dolomites day trip from Venice: the tours compared, the Cortina coach and why there is no train

💡 The Short Version: No train reaches the Dolomites. A tour is the day trip: 9 to 10 hours, about 2 to 2½ hours each way by road, to Cortina d’Ampezzo, Lake Misurina and, on some tours, Lake Braies and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Dolomiti, Lake Braies and Tre Cime di Lavaredoad is from €98.45 in a van of up to 8 people; The Best of the Dolomitesad is from €98.90 on a coach; Dolomites with Cortina and 2 Lakesad is €159 with a private option. The ATVO coach to Cortina runs on listed days only, needs a reserved seat and is from €16.40 one way. Belluno by train is 2 hours 4 minutes, from €9.80. Lunch is not included on any of the tours (GetYourGuide).

Getting there

The Dolomites are about two hours by road from Venice, and the options differ in what happens when you arrive.

The ATVO line 29 timetable is valid from 1 September to 30 November 2026. A morning coach leaves Venice at 07:50 and the airport at 08:05, and reaches Cortina at about 10:05 to 10:10; the highlighted days and the afternoon return are in the ATVO timetable. Venezia Unica sells the one-way ticket from €16.40, and GetYourGuide lists the same fare for the Express Bus Service: Venice to Cortinaad (3 hours). The coach stops in Cortina; the lakes and the Tre Cime are not on its route.

Tours

Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult. None includes lunch.

Lake Braies and the Tre Cime in a small group

From €98.45 · 625 reviews · 9 hours · up to 8 people

From Venice: Dolomiti, Lake Braies and Tre Cime di Lavaredoad is a day in a Mercedes people carrier with a driver-guide. The stops are about 45 minutes in Cortina d’Ampezzo, a 15-minute photo stop at the Three Peaks of Lavaredo, 1½ hours at Lake Braies (Pragser Wildsee) for a walk, and Lake Misurina. The Lake Braies entry fees are included. In winter an optional snowmobile ride to Monte Piana is €30, paid on the day. The listing is in English and Italian.

The Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Photo: Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cortina and Lake Misurina by coach

From €98.90 · 1,030 reviews · 10 hours

From Venice: Day Trip to the Best of the Dolomites Mountainsad is a coach tour with an English-speaking guide. It spends 70 minutes in Cortina, on the pedestrian Corso Italia, 2 hours at Lake Misurina, where lunch is at your own cost, and 40 minutes at the Lake Auronzo dam, with the climb over the Passo Tre Croci between. The guide meets the group at Tronchetto, in front of the People Mover stop. The Misurina chairlift and boat rental run from mid-June to mid-September and are not included.

Lake Misurina, with the Tre Cime di Lavaredo above the trees. Photo: kallerna, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cortina and two lakes

€159 · 1,158 reviews · 9 hours · private or small group

From Venice: Dolomites Day Trip with Cortina and 2 Lakesad leaves from Piazzale Roma in a van with an English-speaking driver. It stops at Pieve di Cadore, Lake Auronzo, Lake Misurina for 2¼ hours with a walk round the lake and lunch, and Cortina for an hour. The chairlift and boat rental are not included. It is not suitable for children under 6 or for wheelchair users.

Corso Italia in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Photo: Tiia Monto, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What to see

The Dolomites have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2009: a range in the northern Italian Alps with 18 peaks above 3,000 metres (whc.unesco.org). Tours choose from the same few stops.

• Cortina d’Ampezzo. The mountain resort, with Corso Italia as its pedestrian street. The tours allow 45 to 70 minutes, enough for a walk and a coffee.
• Lake Misurina. The lake with views of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo; the tours give 2 to 2¼ hours with a walk round it and lunch.
• Lake Braies. A turquoise lake that the small-group tour reaches with 1½ hours to walk; from January to March the lakes are frozen.
• The Tre Cime di Lavaredo. The three peaks, seen on the small-group tour from a photo stop.
• Lake Auronzo. A stop at the dam on the way back on two of the tours.

If you only want one, choose the tour by the lake you want: Braies is on the €98.45 tour, and Misurina on all three.

Before you go

• Weather. Check the forecast and the road conditions with the tour operator. The listings ask for warm clothing and comfortable shoes.
• Bags. The listings do not allow luggage or large bags.
• Children. Two of the three tours are not suitable for children under 6.
• The coach. ATVO’s line 29 needs a reserved seat and runs only on the highlighted days.
• Mountain days. A day on public transport is mostly travel; the tour puts the stops in one booking.

The Dolomites are one of the day trips from Venice. The Prosecco hills are the nearer wine-and-views day. Airport to the city covers ATVO’s other coaches from Marco Polo airport, and Venice public transport covers the Tronchetto People Mover stop. What to book before you go to Venice has the city tickets, Venice in one or two days shows where a day away fits, and where to stay in Venice compares the areas.