🐾🏔️🇮🇹 We Went to the Dolomites Without Our Dogs—and Couldn't Believe How Dog-Friendly It Was

When we planned a September trip to the Dolomites in northern Italy, there were two very important members of the family who weren't coming along: our dogs.

Sampson and Riley aren't airplane dogs, so while they stayed happily back home in Tahoe with a wonderful dog sitter, we headed to the mountains without them.

And then something funny happened.

We saw dogs everywhere.

On the trails. Around town. At mountain huts. Riding gondolas. Hanging out on patios thousands of feet above the valley.

And, perhaps most noticeably for two people who live with herding dogs ourselves: so many Australian Shepherds and Border Collies.

By the end of the trip, we'd started joking that perhaps Sampson and Riley should have come after all.

A Different Kind of Dog-Friendly

We weren't visiting the Dolomites with the intention of researching dog-friendly travel. Because our own dogs weren't with us, we didn't call hotels asking about pet fees, test which restaurants allowed dogs inside, or navigate the transportation system with a dog.

What we experienced instead was almost more interesting.

We simply noticed how naturally dogs seemed to fit into everyday life there.

We stayed in Ortisei, a beautiful mountain town in Val Gardena, and dogs were a regular sight around town. Our own hotel was dog-friendly, and we saw dogs staying there during our visit.

But it was when we headed up into the mountains that we really started paying attention.

There were dogs riding the gondolas and trams with their people. Dogs hiking the trails. Dogs resting outside the rifugios and mountain huts while their humans stopped for lunch or a drink.

They weren't an unusual sight or an inconvenience that needed to be accommodated.

They just seemed to be part of the experience.

Apparently, the Dolomites Are Full of Tahoe Dogs

Maybe we're biased, but one thing particularly stood out:

Australian Shepherds and Border Collies were everywhere.

We saw so many of them that it became a running joke throughout the trip.

“Look, there's another Riley.”

“There's a Sampson.”

“There's a Steven.”

“Another Riley!”

Thousands of miles from home, it was unexpectedly fun to keep spotting dogs that reminded us of ours.

And really, it makes sense.

If there were ever a European vacation destination made for an active mountain dog, the Dolomites might be it.

Miles of trails. Cool mountain air. Alpine meadows. Long days outside. Mountain huts where you can stop along the way. Gondolas that make huge areas of the mountains accessible without having to climb thousands of vertical feet first.

It looked like a pretty great dog life.

The other thing we noticed was how calm the dogs were.

We encountered dogs around other dogs, people, livestock, busy gondola stations and crowded mountain destinations, and so many of them seemed remarkably relaxed and well-behaved.

They were simply out experiencing the mountains alongside their people.

That's a lifestyle we understand pretty well.

Yes, Dogs Really Can Ride the Gondolas

This was probably one of the biggest surprises for us.

We regularly saw dogs getting onto the gondolas and mountain transportation right alongside everyone else.

After coming home, we looked into the actual rules to make sure what we'd observed wasn't simply anecdotal.

It wasn't.

Val Gardena's official visitor information specifically states that dogs can travel on its cable cars and chairlifts. Dogs are required to be on a leash and wear a muzzle, and operators may charge a fare for them.

That explained something else we'd noticed during our trip: quite a few dogs were wearing muzzles.

At the time, we weren't sure whether this was an individual owner's choice, a recommendation or an actual requirement. It turns out that muzzles are part of the transportation rules.

For example, the Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm gondola specifically requires dogs to be both leashed and muzzled in the stations and gondola cabins.

So if you're planning your own Dolomites adventure with your dog, a properly fitted muzzle should absolutely be on your packing list—even if your dog doesn't normally wear one at home.

Transportation policies and fares can change, so always check the current rules for the specific gondola, cable car or lift you plan to use before your trip.

What About Hiking With Your Dog?

The Dolomites may be extraordinarily welcoming to dogs, but that doesn't mean it's an off-leash free-for-all.

Official Val Gardena guidance calls for dogs to be kept leashed in public and publicly accessible areas, including in the mountains.

There's a particularly good reason for that here: livestock.

These aren't empty alpine landscapes. The meadows are working pastures, and hikers regularly encounter cows and other grazing animals.

Local guidance asks hikers with dogs to keep a safe distance from herds. If a cow threatens or attacks because of a dog, the guidance is to let go of the dog's leash and get yourself to safety rather than risk becoming trapped between the animals.

In other words, this is a place where good trail manners matter—for dogs and humans.

And from what we saw, people seemed to take that seriously.

The Mountain Hut Life Might Be the Best Part

One of our favorite things about hiking in the Dolomites was something we don't really have in Tahoe: the incredible network of mountain huts, or rifugios.

You can hike through spectacular alpine scenery and then suddenly find yourself sitting on a sunny terrace with an espresso, a plate of pasta, a local beer or an enormous slice of strudel.

And often, there's a dog under the next table.

We saw plenty of dogs at mountain huts and on their outdoor patios during our trip.

That doesn't mean every rifugio or restaurant allows dogs indoors. Policies vary by establishment, and Val Gardena's official restaurant and mountain-hut directory actually includes a “Dog friendly” filter.

If you're traveling with your dog, we'd recommend checking individual establishments ahead of time rather than assuming dogs can go everywhere.

But based on what we saw? Dogs enjoying a mountain-hut stop with their humans was an entirely normal sight.

And frankly, Sampson and Riley would be very good at the mountain-hut portion of hiking.

Even Public Transportation Is Set Up for Dogs

We didn't use the local buses with a dog, of course, but we were curious enough after our trip to look up the rules.

South Tyrol's public transportation system allows dogs aboard when space is available. Dogs traveling outside a carrier must be leashed and muzzled, cannot occupy a passenger seat, and generally need their own ticket.

Small pets traveling in an appropriate carrier are treated as luggage and ride free.

Again, the takeaway isn't that traveling with a dog in the Dolomites is completely rule-free.

It's almost the opposite.

There are clear systems in place that allow dogs to participate.

Bring the leash. Bring the muzzle. Buy the appropriate ticket. Respect livestock and other people.

And then bring your dog along.

What Surprised Us Most

We live in Lake Tahoe.

We're used to seeing dogs on trails, at outdoor restaurants, at the beach and generally tagging along for mountain life.

Tahoe is a very dog-oriented place—which is, of course, a big part of why Tahoe Dog Co. exists.

And yet the Dolomites still surprised us.

Maybe it was seeing a dog casually board a gondola.

Maybe it was watching another Aussie trot along an alpine trail beneath some of the most dramatic peaks we'd ever seen.

Maybe it was sitting at a rifugio and realizing there were several dogs relaxing nearby after hiking there with their people.

Or maybe it was simply the sheer number of dogs we encountered.

Whatever it was, dogs didn't seem like an afterthought in the Dolomites.

They seemed like they belonged there.

A Few Things We'd Know Before Bringing Our Dogs

If we ever find a way to get Sampson and Riley to the Dolomites without putting them on an airplane, we'd feel pretty confident about the destination itself.

But we'd do a little homework first.

We'd confirm the pet policy and any fees with our hotel, check dog policies with restaurants where reservations mattered, and look up the current rules and dog fares for every gondola or cable car on our itinerary.

We'd also bring a comfortable, properly fitted muzzle and practice wearing it at home before the trip rather than introducing it for the first time at a busy gondola station.

And we'd plan hikes with livestock in mind, keep the dogs leashed where required, and make sure the distance and terrain were appropriate for them.

In other words: we'd plan ahead.

But we wouldn't worry about whether dogs belong in the Dolomites.

We already saw the answer to that.

A Tahoe Dog, Italian Style

One of our favorite sayings at Tahoe Dog Co. is:

A Tahoe Dog isn't a breed. It's a lifestyle.

It's the dog who hikes with you, explores with you, sits outside with you after a long day and is generally happiest when they're included in whatever adventure comes next.

Thousands of miles from Lake Tahoe, we found ourselves surrounded by dogs living that exact life.

They just happened to be doing it beneath the jagged peaks of the Dolomites.

And judging by the number of Aussies and Border Collies we met along the way, apparently Tahoe Dogs speak Italian, too.