Want to Hike the Dolomites but Worried About the Crowds? Consider the Alta Valsesia
A hamlet of shepherds’ homes, called baita, in the Alta Valsesia, where we lead our hiking tour of the Italian Alps.
Search ‘Hiking in the Italian Alps’ and the Dolomites will likely top the list. There is no question the Dolomites deserve the attention. They’re beautiful and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site due to the uniqueness of their landscape and geological importance. But all that interest has also led to a degree of overtourism — 34 million visitors in 2022 — forcing local officials to institute access restrictions to help protect some attractions in the region from overcrowding.
If you are wary about contributing to overtourism or prefer to avoid the crowds but are looking for a Dolomite-type hiking experience, consider Piedmont’s Alta Valsesia on the Italian-Swiss border. We’ve put together a point-by-point comparison with our much lesser-known but equally stunning part of the Italian Alps. Alta Valsesia is where the karibu adventures family is from and where we guide a 7-day hiking tour multiple times per year, from June through September.
UNESCO World Heritage sites with gobsmacking Scenery
Alta Valsesia’s crown jewel is the Monte Rosa, with a rich array of treks offering spectacular views of the snow-capped massif.
Both the Dolomites and the Alta Valsesia have UNESCO designations. The Alta Valsesia is located at the foot of the Monte Rosa massif, the second-highest peak in the Alps, offering panoramic views of glacier-fed waterfalls and alpine meadows. Known as “the greenest part of Italy,” the Alta Valsesia is part of the highest elevation UNESCO Geopark in Europe. Alagna Valsesia, the village at the foot of the park and karibu’s hiking base, is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Dolomites, distributed over three regions (Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia), cover more than 140,000 hectares and offer beautiful mountain scenery. The Tre Cime di Lavaredo — three peaks with a pristine mountain lake at the base — are the poster children of the region, while the Marmolada (known as the “Queen of the Dolomites”) is the highest mountain range in the Dolomites and home to its largest glacier.
Italy’s best Alpine hiking trails: the Dolomites or Alta Valsesia
The karibu adventures tour makes pitstops to savor historic mountain refuges along our hikes.
The Alta Valsesia and the Dolomites undoubtedly have some of the best alpine hiking trails in the Alps, with mountain refuges sprinkled throughout the many valleys and passes. The Valsesia is part of the renowned “Tour de Monte Rosa,” an 8–10 day hut-to-hut tour around the Monte Rosa that includes reaching the Capanna Margherita, the highest hut in the Alps — a bucket list achievement for many avid hikers. Valsesia’s locals are very proud of their alpine hiking heritage, and many have climbed the world’s highest peaks.
The Tour de Monte Rosa is not for novice hikers, but there are plenty of other less strenuous hikes, many along ancient stone steps used by shepherds to bring their cows, sheep and goats up to the high alpine meadows in summer. We’ve included some of our personal favourites in our itinerary. Still, the Valsesia is a narrow winding valley, and portions of the hikes can be steep, gaining 400 metres in elevation in half a kilometre, so there are times when you might be catching your breath.
Hiking the Alta Valsesia is an outdoor cultural excursion: many hikes trace ancient paths used by shepherds.
Hikers of any level can enjoy hiking the trails of Italy’s Dolomites, from hardcore mountaineering to easy strolls in alpine meadows. The Tre Cime di Lavaredo hike is a relatively easy alpine walking tour that winds its way through the three spires that have made it one of the region’s go-to Instagram spots. There is also a network of hut-to-hut treks that take a bit more time but are worth the effort.
Getting the best hiking in Italy without crowds and overtourism
The Alpe di Suisi alpine meadow is overlooked by the Sassolungo mountain group, also known as the Langkofel Group.
The most famous destination in the Dolomites is Alpe di Suisi, Europe’s largest high alpine meadow. Rick Steves calls it his “recommended one-stop look at the Dolomites” because of its postcard-like setting with the expansive meadows looking to the 3,000-metre Sassolungo peak in the distance. That alone should set off your over-tourism radar.
The Dolomites have been the destination for Italy’s rich and famous for decades. Now discovered by North Americans, it is a very developed and busy place, with cable cars taking visitors to various peaks and tour buses moving people in and out. The tourism infrastructure is a bit of an eyesore in what should be a serene environment, not to mention that these soaring numbers of visitors are nearing unsustainable levels, with bumper-to-bumper traffic making it almost impossible to find a parking spot at the most popular trailheads.
The Valsesia: Pure and untarnished by crowds
In contrast, the Valsesia remains a hidden gem, untarnished by tourism crowds. A down-to-earth haven where you can still see shepherds practicing their traditional way of life, the Valsesia gives you a glimpse into a simpler past that is fast disappearing in much of the world.
It is also spectacularly beautiful and free of the usual tourist trappings, but still boasts an excellent network of mountain refuges. One of the most exquisite destinations is a pristine hanging valley that is only accessible by foot (unlike the Dolomites’ Alpi di Suisi). Peppered with little hamlets of centuries-old shepherds’ homes, including several owned by the karibu adventures family, the valley is set among a panoramic view of mountain peaks while cowbells gently tinkle around you. Its unique charm was threatened by moves to build a road up to the valley until a citizens’ revolt and the Italian Environmental Foundation stepped in to protect it.
A traditional shepherds’ home turned mountain restaurant, serving up cappuccino , delicious locally sourced cheese and polenta .
Authentic Italian alpine culture and scrumptious mountain food
If you thought the Italian Alps are all work and no play, think again. The Dolomites are rich in northern Italian culture, where the region’s proximity to Austria and Switzerland creates an experience all its own. For the most part, people speak both German and Italian. School is offered in both languages, and most towns and places in the region have Italian and Austrian names. And a small minority of people (about 30,000) speak a third language, Ladin, which dates back to Roman times.
As a sought-after, glam tourist destination, the region is also home to some of the finest dining anywhere in Europe. Cortina, one of the most well-known locations in the region (soon to host the Alpine and Nordic competitions in the 2026 Winter Olympics), has five Michelin restaurants, including SanBrite, which received a green Michelin star for its commitment to gastronomy and sustainability. Some specialties from the region include casunziei, red moon-shaped ravioli with beetroot filling and sprinkled with poppy seeds, and canederli (knödels in German), a large dumpling made of stale bread with flavourings often sprinkled with speck.
karibu’s Valsesia adventure offers its own window into a unique part of Italy that most people rarely see. Valsesia is home to the traditional settlements of the Walser, a Germanic shepherding people who moved from Switzerland into the high alpine valleys near Monte Rosa in the 13th century. The valleys are studded with small clusters of centuries-old wood and rock buildings called “Baita”: traditional three-story dwellings that still house shepherds, livestock and hay and are living reminders of the Walsers’ deep connection to the land.
Traditional baita homes in Alagna, a UNESCO Heritage Site, are architectural gems that have been carefully maintained over the centuries.
While there are no Michelin-star restaurants, the food is deliciously hearty and sourced from local shepherds. Dairy products, including artisanal butter and ricotta, are a particular specialty, along with the mouth-watering Toma cheese, which comes in endless varieties depending on age and what the cows or sheep were fed. Other local favourites include miacce (a kind of crepe), polenta served with venison (the Valsesia is home to two types of wild goat: ibex and chamois) and some of the best gelato in the country.
Many local recipes are centred around dairy, especially cheese, which shepherds still make fresh.
How to reach the peaks + where to stay
The Dolomites are easily accessible from Venice, about a two-to-three-hour drive away. The area has long been the playground of Europe’s rich and famous, with activities ranging from mountaineering and hiking, to cycling and skiing. Resort towns like Cortina offer a wide range of accommodations from high-end hotels to cozy inns.
Average hotels in the Dolomites often look like this one in Belluno.
The Valsesia is located on the northwestern edge of the Italian Alps in the region of Piedmont, right at the border with Switzerland and not far from the famous Matterhorn and Zermatt. The two closest villages at the end of the valley, Alagna and Riva Valdobbia are about a two-hour drive northeast of Milan and two-and-a-half hours north of Turin. They are most easily accessed by car, with public transport requiring a combination of trains and buses.
As a less-travelled destination, the villages are best known for small-scale, chalet-style hotels, bed and breakfasts and apartments, as opposed to the luxury resorts in the Dolomites. While there are a couple of multi-storey hotels, there are no big chains, and almost all accommodations are owned by local community members, who pride themselves in local hospitality and tasteful, locally-anchored decor. On our tours, we stay in comfortable lodges modeled after the traditional Baita common to the region that combine traditional building aesthetics with modern finishings. Rooms are apartment-style, featuring a master bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette and living area, with couches that also pull out into comfortable beds.
Which Italian Alps hiking destination will you choose?
There’s a hiking trail for everyone — from young kids to experts — in the Italian Alps.
It’s hard to go wrong in the Italian Alps. There’s amazing hiking, great food and spectacular scenery no matter which destination you choose. But if you are looking for somewhere less traveled, offering a unique slice of Italy that still retains its authentic charm, the Alta Valsesia will not disappoint.