But first some organizational details. About how we approach a summer vacation by car through the Alps or through the Dolomites, generally in a foreign country

• Every time, absolutely every time I went on such a vacation by car. Because it is more comfortable for us in terms of luggage, not negligible for a family with children but also for the lowest possible costs. Yes, maybe you can fly to those western countries faster. But the total costs of the plane + car rental are above the fuel costs + one night accommodation on the route. That's how they gave me my calculations every time.
• And I like to drive, I don't get tired so fast. And I admit that I was lucky with a child who slept most of the way. Even if it lasted 12-14 hours. And when he grew up he had enough anti-boredom devices - portable dvd, portable gaming console, latest smartphone…
• Each time I left for at least 14 days, even 16 most of the time. Because the distances to get there are not exactly negligible, 2-3 days being "lost" with the road.
• If in the early years we preferred to stay on the border between Hungary and Austria, at the Paprika Csarda motel for example, then we stayed one night in Budapest, in the Bukfurdo area, and in the north of Budapest, in the beautiful town of Szentendre…
• Every time I left home as early as possible, around 4 in the morning, for as little traffic as possible in our wonderful country. Around 11.00-12.00 I was usually at the border.
• Vignettes must be paid for Hungary (I always preferred the vignette for a month, because it is cheaper than two vignettes with a minimum time taken to and fro)

There is also a vignette for Austria, 10 days, around 8-9 Euro. In Italy there are toll houses depending on the number of kilometers traveled on the highway

• The cheapest fuel is in Austria and Hungary. In Italy, fuel costs 20-30% more.
• There may also be additional costs on certain motorway routes, even in Austria (at the passage of longer tunnels for example) or for access to private mountain roads, up to the starting point on the hiking route.
• Accommodation. If in the first years, when the child was younger, we prefer to take vacations through travel agencies, with half board, more recently we prefer the apartments. Because they are cheaper and especially because we do not want to depend on a strict schedule for dinner, maximum 20.00 at most hotels and guesthouses. So, we manage ourselves in the morning and in the evening, and at noon we eat what we have in our bags or at the chalets along the route.

For accommodation we have generally used booking.com in recent years.

• Even if in Western Europe there are not many problems with card payments, we always have some cash with us, for extreme cases. Also, the credit card used us many times when shopping, when we exhausted the resources allocated for that holiday, for various reasons.
• We have never lacked a minimum medical kit, with general purpose medications, plus bandages, plaster, antiseptics in case of scratches and bumps, otherwise inherent in a hike in the mountains.
• We also had and always have a technical backpack, with flashlight, a multifunctional knife, external batteries for phones, wires and adapters for socket, chargers, gps etc.… Not to mention the camera…
• Speaking of gps - if until 2 years ago we used a normal gps, since roaming goes with the data subscription, for navigation we only used Google Maps and Waze.

What are our criteria for choosing a family hiking trail?

• Of course, before going on vacation I read almost everything that interests me about that area in terms of tourist attractions, on the Internet, especially blogs but also on official websites, and even in printed books.
• At the accommodation I collect all the leaflets with the promoted tourist objectives, and even visit the local tourist office for more information.
• We always chose routes of maximum 6-7 hours, in order not to exhaust ourselves physically (we do not have an extraordinary physical condition) but also to have time for other tourist objectives in the afternoon.
• We also chose mountain trails that have along them and a cottage or more, to drink a beer, to taste something tasty, to relax… We go for relaxation on the mountain, not in a contest iron Man…
• It should be mentioned that in most of these areas of the Alps and Dolomites there are maps with mountain trails, those recommended for families with children being reported every time.
• We don't necessarily want to tick the peaks, we rather prefer to walk around the mountain lakes, where the peaks and peaks are mirrored, like the teeth of a saw…

I will review the routes in the Dolomites and Styria (Austria), in fact the most recent, but also those in Tyrol, the Salzburg area or even Bavaria. At the beginning the excursions of a few hours, at least 3 say, and at the end with the more relaxed walks, which can last 1-2 hours, for the lazy families :))

As you can see, we've been walking a lot in those areas for the last 11 years, so maybe we'll give you some interesting ideas for your summer vacation.

Family mountain trails in the Dolomites and South Tyrol

The holidays in the Dolomites and in South Tyrol were extraordinary, we are really going to go there soon, because we still have so many beautiful places to see, so many paths to beat.

What were the most beautiful climbing routes I've been to in the Dolomites?

Although not so well known, we felt great on a hike to Lake Coldai, in the Civetta massif .

Spectacular landscapes also delighted us at Cinque Torri .

Even though it had snowed and the mountain was covered in snow, we felt great on Monte Rite . Up on the top of the mountain, I had spectacular landscapes in front of my eyes.

We also did great hikes in the Puez Odle mountain range, the first from Malga Zannes to Geisleralm …

… And the next from Colraiser to Seceda .

Also, although it was crowded and like on the boulevard, we loved the scenery on the route to Lake Sorapiss . Although this would be a route that I do not recommend to families with very young children.