I first saw pictures of Tre Cime as an undergraduate student in the UK in 2005 and had wanted to visit these mountains ever since. Fifteen years later with 3 kids in tow, I finally made it.
The Planning
I am such a planner. I have a ten year travel plan which has been brutally affected by coronavirus. We have had to cancel seven trips from April to July 2020.
We realised we had to go somewhere for the summer holidays and circled back to the idea of doing a road trip to Italy.
As I had been hiking a lot in Switzerland from the end of May, by the time we decided we were doing this road trip in June, I was extremely eager to do the Tre Cime Loop hike with the kids.
Unfortunately, the boys had barely done any proper hikes till then. Yet somehow, I was convinced it was possible. We first got them excited about hiking by telling them about the amazing mountains they would soon see and took them to Decathlon to get them their hiking shoes.
We then went on hikes in the surroundings of Basel as well as to the Swiss Alps in the few weekends before our road trip to Italy would begin.
My confidence grew after our 5 year old survived a 9 km hike. The 4 year old must have done 6km on his own. The 2 year old was carried the entire 9 km.
Leading up to the Tre Cime Hike
As the Tre Cime hike would be 10 km with 440m ascend, we decided to do a couple of hikes with the boys leading up to it at the beginning of our trip.
We started with a 5 km Mutspuren hike in the Galzig mountain above St Anton am Arlberg in Austria.
Then we did a 6km hike in Compatsch to see Mount Sassolungo, our first stop in the Dolomites.
The day before the Tre Cime hike, we went up to Cinque Torri (and Rifugio Lagazuoi) for a small hike where the boys loved spending time scrambling across the rocks.
Tre Cime Hike with Kids
We must have woken up at 6.30am and managed to get the boys ready and leave Hotel Oasi in Cortina d’Ampezzo where we were based for 4 nights just after 7 am to drive to Rifugio Auronzo – the starting point of the Tre Cime loop hike.
It was a rough start to our morning. The boys weren’t happy about hiking.
To ease them into the idea of the big hike that was coming, we had breakfast in Rifugio Auronzo around 8am.
Tre Cime Hike Statistics:
Length: around 10km
Ascend & Descend: around 400m
Duration: with our 3 kids ages 2, 4 and 5, it took us 5.5 hours
Start & End Points: Rifugio Auronzo
You will pass the following mountain huts which were where we made our big stops:
Rifugio Lavaredo
Dreizinnenhütte
Lange Alm
Rifugio Auronzo
The Hike – Part 1:
We started hiking at 8.20am. The first five minutes was pleading with the second child that he needed to walk instead of being carried.
He was also upset because his older brother refused to be a “team” with him – one was wearing a cap and the other refused.
Everyone passed us. Peter was literally dragging Noah whilst carrying Kion on his shoulders.
Luckily, they walked. Albeit, very slowly. It was going to be a long day.
We had to make a stop by the first chapel when we had barely done 1km. We were exasperated by how bad the start of the hike was. Luckily, the views were stunning.
It was really a challenge just to get them to hike to the first stop – Rifugio Lavaredo. We made some small stops so the boys could throw stones down the mountain.
They also had fun doing some scrambling on the rocks beneath the back of Tre Cime.
Finally we made it to Rifugio Lavaredo at 2344m for our first big stop. The boys were happy. 2km done, about 8km to go.
Part 2:
We started our first big climb towards the saddle dealing with an immense amount of complaint from the boys.
We did many stops in between with great views all around us. Rifugio Lavaredo now looks tiny in the picture below as we continued our ascend.
It was a miracle we reached the top of the saddle and we had a stop there, up close to Tre Cime for some great pictures.
Part 3:
This could be my favourite part of the hike. We could see the Dreizinnenhütte which was going to be our next big stop.
We got some great pictures on this part of the trail and the boys were acing the hike. They were running and were truly in their element. It was such joy to witness.
There were also some caves which we did small detours to, to explore, at the boys’ insistence.
The views here were truly amazing.
We then did a big stop at Dreizinnenhütte as we enjoyed some drinks and snacks with stunning views of Tre Cime in front of our eyes.
Part 4:
Most people would head down to Lange Alm the same way they headed up to Dreizinnenhütte.
Boy do I have a great tip for you. Don’t do that!
Instead, walk around behind the back of Dreizinnenhütte as there are no hikers on this trail.
Here is the picture we got because we took this route instead.
You will soon enough be descending and getting back on the main trail heading downhill. We did a quick stop at the bottom where the boys said hello to the cows.
We then began our second big climb towards Lange Alm.
We survived this ascend by asking the boys to talk about all their favourite characters and episodes from their beloved TV shows. We talked about Paw Patrol, Rusty Rivets and more.
Another quick stop at the top of this ascend and it was then a much flatter rocky path all the way to Lange Alm.
By then, you are 3 quarters into the hike.
Part 5:
After our last big break, we continued the hike towards Rifugio Auronzo, our starting point.
Once again the views are incredible and towards the end you will see Lago di Misurina in the distance.
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It was truly an amazing hike and a must-do when in the Dolomites.
On your way out, a stop at Lago di Misurina is a must.
For other places to visit in Italy, click here.
