Easy Walks in Cortina for Beginners
A field-tested guide to easy walks in cortina for beginners, with honest logistics, current planning advice, and the small details that make a Dolomites trip run smoothly.
Reviewed by the Cortina Compass desk
Last verified on foot: June 2026 How we research
Not every day here has to involve nine hundred metres of ascent. Some of my favourite hours in the Ampezzo Valley have been spent on flat gravel by a river, and the walks below all work in ordinary shoes, with children, after a big meal, or on a day when the tops are in cloud.
Easy doesn't mean dull
The valley floor around Cortina is criss-crossed with old roads, water channels and a disused railway line, all of it walkable, most of it flat, and much of it with the same mountain skyline you'd pay a lift ticket to see. Beginners tend to skip these in favour of the famous trails and then find themselves halfway up something they're not enjoying.
Four short walks that still feel like the Dolomites
Cortina to Fiames leg
5km, entirely downhill on the old railway bed, finishes near a lakeside restaurant.
Lago Ghedina loop
A flat woodland circuit around a small emerald lake, ideal for a slow hour.
Passeggiata to Ponte Bigontina
1.5km flat evening stroll with the Tofane lighting up around 20:30 in summer.
Rifugio Ospitale flat approach
1.2km, 25 minutes, a real sit-down meal at the end of almost no effort.
What easy means here
Everything here is under two hours, under 150 metres of climbing, and on a surface you could push a robust pushchair along. If a route has a step or a rough section, I've said so.
The walks worth doing
The old railway path — the Lunga Via delle Dolomiti — runs north towards Cimabanche and south towards Acquabona on a gentle gradient with tunnels and viaducts. The Ru de Ra Vales water trail follows an irrigation channel through woodland on the sunny side of the valley. The loop around Lago Ghedina takes twenty minutes and gives you Tofana reflected in water with almost no effort at all.
For a slightly bigger outing, the path up to Malga Ra Stua from the Fiames road is a broad track through forest into open pasture, with cows, a hut and a picnic-worthy meadow at the top.
Good views without the climb
Ghedina at eight in the morning, before the breeze, is as good a reflection as you'll find anywhere in the valley and involves no climbing whatsoever. The viaducts on the railway path frame the Cristallo group nicely. And the bench above Mortisa, ten minutes from the road, looks straight across at the Tofane.
When these work
These stay walkable from about April to November, and several are cleared or become snowshoe routes in winter. Woodland sections get muddy after rain but nothing worse than damp feet.
The main hazard on the valley routes is traffic where they cross roads, and cyclists on the railway path — it's shared, and some of them move quickly.
Safety note
Skip exposed ground if storms are forecast. Deciding not to continue is a normal part of walking here, not a failure.
The walk I do most often
The Ru de Ra Vales is the one I walk most, usually late afternoon, usually without a plan. It's shaded, the water noise is constant, and you meet more locals with dogs than tourists with cameras. It isn't spectacular. That's rather the point.
My tip
Walk the Cortina → Fiames section (5 km one-way, entirely downhill on the old track), then take the 30 SAD bus back to town for €2. Lunch at Ristorante Lago Ghedina en route.
Low-effort, high-return frames
Forest light in the middle of the day is easier than mountain light — dappled shade, green tones, no blown-out limestone. If you've been frustrated by flat midday photos up high, come down here instead.
One step up
When you're ready for a bit more, the walk up to Rifugio Mietres or the lower part of the Federa path adds real climbing while keeping you on good ground with an easy retreat.
Ghedina, the railway path and Ra Stua all work with young children, and all three have somewhere to buy an ice cream at one end.
Do not treat a cable car as a guaranteed ride home. Note the final descent before setting off.
Free, all of them. No lifts, no tolls, and street parking at most trailheads.
The Lunga Via delle Dolomiti (Long Dolomites Way) is a paved former railway that runs 32 km from Dobbiaco to Calalzo through Cortina. Any 3-6 km section makes an excellent easy day, stroller-friendly and dog-friendly.
A railway that never carried a train
The Lunga Via delle Dolomiti follows the trackbed of the Dolomites Railway, which ran from Dobbiaco to Calalzo between 1921 and 1964; after closure the line was progressively paved into the valley's principal cycling and walking corridor, which is why the gradient never exceeds a gentle railway grade even as it threads through forest and past three lakes.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do these walks with a pushchair?
The Lunga Via delle Dolomiti, the Lago Ghedina loop and the Cortina → Fiames path are all fully stroller-friendly on paved or hard-packed gravel.
Any easy walks that end at a rifugio?
Rifugio Ospitale from Ospitale (1.2 km flat, 25 min) and Malga Federa from Passo Giau (2 km, 30 min) both serve real meals with minimal walking.
Can I bring the dog on these easy walks?
Yes, on lead across all the valley routes — the Ex-Ferrovia especially. Water bowls sit outside most bakeries and rifugi along the old railway.
Are these walks OK in shoulder season?
The Lunga Via delle Dolomiti stays open and mostly snow-free from mid-April to early November. Higher walks (Cinque Torri, Federa) need a check on the day.
Best easy walk for a first evening?
The passeggiata from Corso Italia to Ponte Bigontina — 1.5 km flat, aperitivo on the way, and the Tofane light up around 20:30 in summer.
You don't need to earn a view here — some of the best ones are twenty minutes from a car park. Take the easy walk and enjoy it without apology.
Sources & further reading
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