Dolomites hike • Arabba “Viel dal Plan”

After lots of research, I was so thankful to find this family-friendly panorama hike that traverses the mountain instead of hiking up and down it. The trail has wide open views overlooking Marmolada, the highest peak in the Dolomites, and its impressive glaciers. After riding up a cable car, you wander around the mountain for 6.5 km, without any steep up and down climbs until the end, enjoying fantastic vistas the whole way. It ends at the Pordoi pass (famous for cyclists), where you can take a bus back to your starting point. We loved this trail!

See more of our Dolomites family hikes here.

Trail Overview

The Arabba region is located in the center of the Dolomites, south of Corvara.

This trail is starts at the top of the Arabba-Porto Vescovo cable car. Follow trail 601 west to Col de Cuch, passing two huts with cafes and WC. Then hike down to Passo Pordoi., where there are lots of gift shops, cafes, and WC. You can catch the bus here back to your starting point at Arabba. You could also hike this in reverse.

Click the map below for an interactive version of the trail map.

Note: This trail is promoted on the www.arabba.it website as “Viel dal Plan” (the name of the hut in the middle of the trail). But when I used this name, both at the TI office and the cable car ticketing booth, no one knew what I was talking about. Better just to say trail 601 from Porto Vescovo to Passo Pordoi.

Getting There

Since this is a one way trail, you’ll need to use the bus return to your starting point. We started at the top of the Arabba-Porto Vescovo cable car, hiked to Passo Pordoi, then caught a bus back to Arabba where our car was parked. You could also take the bus at the start of your hike.

Arabba Cable Car

Drive to the town of Arabba and follow signs to the cable car parking, shown on the map below. There are at least three parking lots near the cable car. I think the parking was metered, but I can’t remember for sure. Bring some euro coins just in case.

Note that the Tourist Info office is close-by (see map below). I recommend stopping by and picking up their summer hiking map. It was the best one we got on the trip.

The Arabba-Porto Vescovo cable car runs from the middle of June to mid September, every 30 mins from 8:30 to 17:00. A one way trip costs EUR 10/adult, EUR 5/child 8+, such a bargain. See website for current details.

Passo Pordoi Bus Schedule

At the end of our hike, we took the bus from Passo Pordoi back to Arabba where our car was parked. This bus runs about once an hour, last bus at 17:55, don’t miss it! This bus does not appear on the Google maps schedule, nor on the Dolomiti bus schedule. But it is listed on the cable car website and the TI office gave me a printed schedule. And we took it, so it exists!

Our bus was packed full, standing room only. We sent my husband on the bus and he came back with the car to pick us up. I think he said the bus fare was about EUR 3 one way from Passo Pordoi to Arabba. Download the current bus schedule here.

Riding cable car from Arabba to Porto Vescovo

From Arabba, you ride a cable car way up to Porto Vescovo. Here’s a view back down to Arabba.

The cable car drops you off at a restaurant in the saddle shown below, with a great view on both sides.

The cafe has a big outdoor patio with fantastic views. The food looked really good. I wanted to stay and eat but it was too early for lunch and I didn’t want to linger right at the beginning of our hike.

Lots of sun beds too.

Small detour to viewpoint

Before heading on the trail, we took a small detour to our left, out to that little lump. I wanted to see what was on the other side. We spent about 30 mins on this detour, well worth it in my opinion.

View from the detour point. We walked out to the end of that grassy area, great views down to the lake.

On the main trail

We retraced our steps back to the restaurant and starting following trail 601 to Viel dal Plan.

That’s our trail, a narrow footpath, easy walking.

There were a couple tiny rocky sections like the one below, but most of it was smooth like on the right.

I loved that fluffy grass!!!

Loved the views of the Marmolada glacier.

You can often see on both sides of the ridge. The peaks on the other side were pretty impressive too.

Lunch break at the hut

You reach the Viel dal Plan hut after about 3.3 km (about 1hr15 of walking for us).

There is a self-service food counter inside, with drinks, sandwiches, cakes and some hot food. We asked and they said we could eat our picnic at their tables.

View from the hut.

Hiking to Col du Cuch

Back on the trail after the hut.

So many photo opps.

Looking back at the hut.

Winding around the mountain.

Hiking down to Passo Pordoi

After about 5.2 km, you reach Col de Cuch 2380m, where you’ll find the hut/cafe shown below. Some people continue walking along the ridge. But our trail 601 heads down to Passo Pordoi.

You start by walking under this ski lift.

Such a gorgeous part of the trail.

Looking across to the Sassolungo peaks, where we ended up the very next day.

Looking down the valley to Arabba.

Almost there.

Arriving at the Pordoi pass 2239m. If you have extra time, you can riding another lift from here to Sass Pordoi 2950m.

Now catch bus 472 back to Arabba, leaving at 14:55, 15:55, 16:55 and 17:55. Don’t miss it.

See more of our Dolomites family hikes here.

Pin this for later…