A rucksack and walking boots are the two most important things.
Your rucksack needs to be comfortable. It needs to provide ventilation to your back and spread the weight across your shoulders.
As for your boots, it’s important they are lightweight but also waterproof (Gore-Tex) when it comes to negotiating streams and snow. But most of all, the sole needs a good grip and the capacity to absorb impact.
When you’re on a trek the rule of 3 works well: one t-shirt and trousers set currently in use, one clean set in your rucksack and, after your first day, a washed set that’s drying. The most important rule is that you leave at home everything you don’t need – mainly to spare your back and knees!
This all depends on the sort of Alta Via trek you’re planning. If you want to do it almost independently, then you’ll need to pack cooking gear and foodstuffs.
Wild camping or putting up tents is not permitted anywhere inside the National Park.
You will have to request permission. Only a few mountain huts are set up with Ferrino tents to accommodate guests when the hut is already full.
Wild camping and bivouacking are forbidden within the National Park, but it is possible to use the tents provided by the mountain huts when they have run out of beds.
These tents, along with sleeping bag kits, have been donated to some of the mountain huts along the route by FERRINO Outdoor. They will be used for accommodation when the mountain hut is full.
Never go out into the mountains without a map. The entire Alta Via Dolomiti Bellunesi route is shown on one Tabacco map, which is printed on the front and back of the paper. This map details the whole of the National Park.
It can be bought at mountain huts and in stationery shops at the start of the trek, or it can be purchased online.
New technologies can be a great help in following the trail where it’s less obvious. Most apps will work when your device is in airplane mode, so extending battery life while still indicating your location on the map.
TabaccoMapp, is a paid app and provides maps for €2.99 each. To cover the entire Alta Via route, you’ll need 6 of them.
GeoResQ is a geo-positioning and distress-call forwarding service. It is aimed for all mountain visitors and outdoor sports enthusiasts.
There are many free and paid apps to choose from that are designed for both Android and iOS devices. You can download the maps to use offline or even upload the GPS tracks, which are available from our website.
The Alps have been experiencing a veritable tick explosion over the last few years. And the Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park has not escaped them.
To protect yourself, we suggest you use anti-tick spray and carry a pair of tweezers to promptly remove any that manage to attach themselves.
There are no assisted trails or via ferratas (“iron trails” or fixed-rope routes) along the Alta Via route.
There are a few metres of fixed rope that make climbing the rocks easier in only two sections – stages 2 and 5. However, for section 5, we do not recommend that trekkers with vertigo cross it relying on the protection of a harness, because most of the trail is exposed and difficult, not just the assisted section.
It’s a different matter if you plan to include the Schiara range of mountains in your hike. A number of trails in this area feature via ferratas that will soon be featured on this website.
