How do you get to the Cinque Torri?
Chairlift from Bai de Dones on the Cortina-Passo Falzarego road, landing beside Rifugio Scoiattoli, or a roughly one-hour unexposed hike up. The tower circuit itself is flat and easy.
Cinque Torri
Five towers, a WWI open-air museum and three huts within an hour: the easiest place in the Dolomites to combine big views with a first hut night.
Updated: 2026-07-22
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Effort
Easy
Time needed
1-2 h tower circuit
Getting there
Chairlift from Bai de Dones (Falzarego road) or trails
Best light
Sunset toward Tofane and Croda da Lago
The Cinque Torri are a handful of freestanding towers dropped onto a meadow shoulder between Cortina and Passo Falzarego, ringed by restored First World War trenches you can walk through. It is the Dolomites at their most accessible: a chairlift, a flat circuit, three huts, and climbers on every face.
Because the effort is small and the huts are close together, this is the perfect first hut night: views far larger than the walk suggests, and Nuvolau's summit hut an hour above for one of the great sunsets in the range.
Getting there and walking the towers
The Cinque Torri chairlift leaves from Bai de Dones on the Falzarego road a few kilometres above Cortina and lands next to Rifugio Scoiattoli. The circuit of the towers and the open-air war museum trenches is an easy 1-2 hours; interpretation boards explain the 1915-17 front line that ran exactly here.
On foot, trails climb from Bai de Dones or from the Fedare side in about an hour: pleasant, unexposed walking.
- Chairlift from Bai de Dones to Rifugio Scoiattoli
- Tower circuit + WWI trenches: 1-2 easy hours
- Rock climbers on the towers are the free entertainment
The Nuvolau extension
From Scoiattoli, a steady hour climbs past Rifugio Averau to Rifugio Nuvolau, a tiny 1883 hut balanced on a summit at 2,575 m with a 360-degree horizon: Tofane, Civetta, Marmolada, and the Cinque Torri now toy-sized below. Sleeping at Nuvolau or Averau and watching sunset from the terrace is one of the simplest world-class evenings the Dolomites offer, and Alta Via 1 runs straight through, so the planner can fold it into a longer route. Photographers: shallow Lago di Limides, a 30-40 minute stroll toward the Falzarego side, mirrors the Tofane at sunrise (it often dries out by late summer).
Where it is
Tap a marker to see how to get there, then open it in the planner with your start already set.
Sleep next to the view
Staffed huts closest to this spot. Sleeping up here is how you get the sunrise and the empty trail.
FAQ
What is the open-air museum at Cinque Torri?
Restored First World War positions: trenches, dugouts and gun posts from the 1915-17 Italian front line that ran across these meadows, with explanation boards. Walking the loop takes about an hour and is free.
Which hut should I sleep in at Cinque Torri?
Scoiattoli is right at the towers, Averau 40 minutes higher with a famous kitchen, and Nuvolau crowns a 2,575 m summit with the sunset. All three are close enough to pick by mood, and all sit on the Alta Via 1 corridor.
More famous views
Heading for Cinque Torri? These guides cover the practical side of walking and sleeping in the Dolomites.