Hiking tour to Rifugio Vallandro

The high plateau of Prato Piazza offers very pleasant hiking tours for everyone. One of them leads to the Rifugio Vallandro.

Prato Piazza is a high plateau in the Fanes-Sennes-Braies nature park. It lies at 2,000 metres asl and is surrounded by the Croda Rossa, Tofana and Monte Cristallo mountain ranges. It can be reached from Ponticello/Braies by car (for 8 euros, until 10 a.m., no time limitation for the descent) or shuttle service. The traffic lights on the last section apply to cyclists, too.

Our hiking tour starts at the parking space in Prato Piazza. The early bird catches the worm: there are only few hikers on the way and we enjoy the tranquillity of the early morning. On a wide hiking path we hike towards south-east until we soon reach Rifugio Prato Piazza with its nice small chapel. This is the starting point of many hiking tours leading to different mountain peaks. Continuing our tour on trail no. 37, leading across beautiful alpine meadows, we enjoy breathtaking views of the Croda Rossa mountain range (3,146 metres), the Tofana mountains and the Mount Cristallo massif. After a short ascent, we finally reach Rifugio Vallandro (2,040 metres asl). There is an interesting old Austrian castle ruin near the rifugio.

We continue our hiking tour on trail no. 40A, leading slightly upwards along impressive rock walls. Soon afterwards a trail branches off towards Mount Specie. However, we stay on trail no. 40A. On our right we see the southwest flank of the famous Mount Vallandro, on our left the we look down to Rifugio Prato Piazza. At the foot of Mount Vallandro the trail leads downwards again, passing Hotel Hohe Gaisl and Rifugio Prato Piazza, finally reaching our starting point and the parking space.

Please note: This is an easy hiking tour suitable for everybody, offering great views of Mount Croda Rossa and other Dolomites peaks.

Author: BS

Starting point: Parking space Prato Piazza (1,976 metres)
Trail route: Rifugio Prato Piazza - Rifugio Vallandro - Rifugio Prato Piazza
Trail numbers: 37, 40A,
Walking time: 2 hours
Altitude difference: 250 metres
Experienced in: August 2011
Suitable for families? Yes. Trail no. 37 is also accessible for prams. We recommend to hike on the same way back.
More information: tourist board Braies, tel.: +39 0474 748660