Alps 2026 / DAY 2

Once around the Sella

Tue 29 Sep

Val Gardena → Passo Gardena → Passo Campolongo → Passo Pordoi → Passo Sella → Bolzano

181 km▲ 2,244 mTOGETHER

DAY 2

Today was our day in the Dolomites. The plan was to circle the Sella, a huge block of rock, over four passes: Gardena, Campolongo, Pordoi and Sella. The loop is called the Sella Ronda, the most famous ride in the Dolomites.

Val Gardena, with the Dolomites ahead10:55 · km 50

Painted houses; the signs are in both Italian and German10:57 · km 55

As we climbed the valley, the walls of the Sassolungo (Langkofel) drew closer. Cloud clung to its flanks, leaving only the summit floating in the blue. The car park was full of other motorcycles on the same kind of journey.

The Sassolungo rising above the cloud11:12 · km 65

km 81Passo Gardena 2,121 m

The jagged Cir peaks from Passo Gardena11:40 · km 81

We had coffee on the terrace of a hut at Passo Gardena, the Dolomites stretching on and on beyond the table. I wondered whether he had been seeing views like this every day for the past five months.

A coffee on the terrace at the pass11:54 · km 82

The Sassongher towering over Corvara12:47 · km 87

km 98Passo Campolongo 1,875 m

Partway up a pass, ridges layered into the distance13:15 · km 110

km 115Passo Pordoi 2,239 m

The high meadows were starting to turn gold13:26 · km 117

Every hairpin brought a new view. Just before two in the afternoon we reached the fourth pass, Passo Sella, at 2,244 m. With that, we had gone all the way around the Sella massif.

km 127Passo Sella 2,244 m

The valley below Passo Sella13:53 · km 127

Heading down toward Bolzano15:04 · km 160

In the evening we reached Bolzano, the main town of South Tyrol, at just 262 m, almost 2,000 m below the passes. Dinner was goulash with dumplings: we were in Italy, but the food tasted of Austria.