Husky Sled and Snowshoe in the Dolomites
Mush your husky pack and snowshoe through the wintery wilds of the Italian Alps
What's Included?
Small Like-minded Groups
Solo-friendly by design, join our small n’ sociable groups of up to 14 like-minded, active and outdoorsy people…
…
What's it like?
Drive a pack of Siberian huskies through snow-laden forests under the mighty peaks of the Dolomites
Snowshoe deep into the wilderness of UNESCO-listed Fanes-Sennes-Braies Natural Park
Sleep in a cosy Arctic tent with a wood-burning stove and Alpine refuges deep in the mountains
Key Information
Day 1
Become a Musher
Dog Sledding
Your host will meet you on arrival at Venice Airport and transfer you to Val Badia, in the heart of the Dolomites. Here you'll meet your new furry friends for the first time. Then it's time to learn how to handle a dog sled before you pack up and head deep into the Dolomites. After cruising the backcountry with your pack you'll arrive at camp, where you'll help stable the huskies, prepare their food and attend to them before they rest for the night. Sit down for a delicious dinner before settling into your cosy Arctic tent.
Day 2
Ride into the wilderness
Dog Sledding
After a hearty breakfast, it's time to prepare the huskies and drive your pack into the wilderness of the Italian Alps. Enjoy the magnificent winter scenery and keep an eye out for red and roe deer. Stop for lunch along the trail and then ride back to camp. Once back at camp, you’ll tend to your pack, eat some dinner and then relax around the fire and 'howl' at the moon with the huskies.
Day 3
Fanes-Sennes-Braies National Park
Snowshoeing
Rise early and say your heartfelt goodbyes to these hard-working doggies, then jump in the van and transfer to the UNESCO-listed Fanes-Sennes-Braies Natural Park. Don your snowshoes and head deep into the Dolomites towards Refuge Ra Stua. Your journey will be filled with some of the most breathtaking views you’ve ever laid eyes on. Rest your tired muscles in the comfort of your warm mountain refuge before donning your snowshoes again to experience the silent, starlit beauty of the Dolomites at night.
Day 4
Heart of the mountains
Snowshoeing
Clip your snowshoes back on to tackle the Sennes plateau then onwards to the rugged Seekofel mountain (2810m). Your final descent takes you to the door of Refuge Sennes (2126m). Once there, drink in the views of Croda Rossa, Cristallo, Sorapis and Tofana right from your mountain hut.
Day 5
Croda Rossa d'Ampezzo
Snowshoeing
Rise and shine for your final day of snowshoeing, which will begin with a rewarding journey to view Forcella Lerosa and Croda Rossa d'Ampezzo (3146m), the wildest peak in the Dolomites. Then you'll descend through the woods to the Pederù refuge (1548m) and continue your way down. This is where your snowshoeing adventure sadly comes to an end. Your host will transfer you to the airport by 15:00.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Venice Marco Polo Airport
11:00 on Day 1
Ends
Venice Marco Polo Airport
15:00 on Day 5
Transfers
Your host will meet you at Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) and transfer you to Val Badia - your starting point for your winter Dolomites adventure. On the final day, your host will transfer you from Cortina d'Ampezzo back to Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) arriving at around 15:00, in time for any evening flights after 18:00.
Travel options
Venice Marco Polo Airport is accessible via various direct flights from the UK and mainland Europe. Flights from the US generally connect through Madrid, London or Frankfurt.
For those who wish to avoid flying, Venezia Santa Lucia is well connected with high-speed trains from London via Paris. The journey will take an average of 21 hours and usually involve 2 changes.
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 3 – Day 4
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 5
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
Some of the region's highlights include cheese, milk and butter, once the main source of protein for the inhabitants of the Dolomite valleys. You may also enjoy Casunziei (ravioli stuffed with pumpkin or spinach), potato gnocchi with smoked cottage cheese or pumpkin, Canederli (balls of bread with speck), and barley soup. For main courses, you’ll often find game and polenta featuring on the menu.
In the mountain huts, you'll keep fuelled up with pasta, lentils, chickpeas, soups and meat-based dishes. Lunches are not included, you can buy your own each morning before the day's snowshoeing, you should budget around €10-15 per day for your lunches and any snacks.
Vegetarians, vegans and other dietary requirements and allergies can be catered for - please just request on your passenger info form.
What is the accommodation like?
Braies Dolomites
You'll spend 2 nights in a twin-share Arctic tent with a wood-burning stove and bivouac bag to keep you warm. You'll have your meals in a nearby hut and toilet facilities are available as well.
Fanes-Sennes-Braies National Park
You'll spend 1 night at the Sennes mountain refuge (2126 m) and stay in mixed dorm-style bunk rooms. The refuge does not provide bedding or pillows, so you'll need to bring a 4 season sleeping bag and travel pillow. You'll be served an evening meal and breakfast, and you'll also be able to buy your lunch each day before setting off. There are shared toilet facilities and showers available to use.
Dolomiti d'Ampezzo Nature Park
You'll spend 1 night at the family-run mountain refuge, Malga Ra Stua (1695m) and stay in mixed dorm-style bunk rooms. The refuge does not provide bedding or pillows, so you'll need to bring a 4 season sleeping bag and travel pillow. You'll be served an evening meal and breakfast, and you'll also be able to buy your lunch each day before setting off. There are shared toilet facilities and showers available to use.
Upgrades
Due to the limited number of rooms and tents, it is not possible to request a private room upgrade for this trip.
We’re still waiting to collect any reviews from other travellers on this trip. However, all our hosts go through an extensive vetting process to ensure that your adventure is awesome.
Guides
Expert, English speaking, mountain guides
Accommodation
2 nights in an Arctic tent and 2 nights in mountain refuges
Meals
4 breakfasts and 4 dinners
Transfers
Airport transfers and everything in-between
Equipment
All snowshoeing and dog sledding gear
Our trips are hassle-free by design. We include all the activities and equipment, as well as many of the meals, so you can simply rock up with your rucksack and share the adventure with your new pals.
Personal Expenses
You know your own spending habits best, so please budget an appropriate amount for things like optional meals and drinks, shopping, optional activities, and laundry.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What's included?
Snowshoes and poles Dog sledding gear
What do I need to bring?
BAGS
Soft overnight duffel bag or rucksack
Daypack (20 litres)
Waterproof liner for kitbag or rucksack / drybags
CLOTHES
Down jacket
Waterproof jacket
Waterproof trousers
Breathable wicking layers
Fleece jacket or similar
Thermals (merino best)
Warm hat
Gloves
Buff or neckscarf
Lightweight trousers/shorts / skirts
T-shirts
Underwear & socks
Sunglasses
Something to sleep in
Hiking boots (worn-in)
SLEEPING
Sleeping bag (4 season)
OTHER
Universal travel plug adapter
Power bank or solar charger
Passports (and visas)
Travel Insurance documents
Ear plugs
Suncream
Personal first-aid kit (inc. blister treatment)
Quick-dry towel
Alcohol hand-gel
Headtorch or torch
Reusable water bottle (x1 litre)
Energy bars and snacks
No optional extras are available for this trip.
We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 74kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
Absolutely, the dog's welfare is and always will be Greta and Italo’s top priority.
They live on a small farm in Rimini and have a pack of around 25 Siberian Huskies, many of which have been rescued and returned to health. The dogs spend the summer resting and socialising with each other, shaded by the trees. They are walked at dawn and dusk, spending time in the forests and on the beach, re-establishing their pack nature, ready to work together during the winter.
As the Siberian Husky is bred to run, they need lots of activity to stay happy and healthy. Greta and Italo ensure that every dog has ample time to move every day, with younger, older or disabled dogs receiving their own individual programme of care. The dogs have a dedicated team that tends to their needs 365 days of the year, training them in body conditioning and kinesthesia - the awareness of how to move and navigate space - and providing medical care.
A pet husky can run up to 40-50km per day, but a trained Siberian Husky can run up to 200km per day, depending on conditions. These dogs will usually run 5-20km four to five days a week, with two or three rest days, so have plenty of down time to play.
Snowshoeing is a type of hiking that uses a special type of footwear - a snowshoe - that spreads your weight over a larger area to move easily across powder snow-covered terrain.
Snowshoeing is incredibly easy, comfortable and safe. You simply clip your snowshoe to the outside of your hiking boot and off you go. You'll be in the hands of local, experienced, and trained guides who know the area intimately and will guide you safely throughout the hike.
Tips are not included in the trip cost. These are entirely at your discretion and are non-compulsory on this trip. Of course, if you feel that your guides provided an exceptional experience then you are welcome to tip as much as you feel is appropriate. You should factor in tipping 10% on top of the bill in any bars and restaurants during the trip.
You can leave luggage you don't need in Venice, your host will store it safely.
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.
Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers are familiar with the practical information provided on the Government’s FCDO website, where current travel advice can be found by searching for the applicable destination(s).
For customers joining this trip from other international destinations – please also read the official travel advice applicable to your country of residence/origin, as this may differ.
We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're always in good company on one of our adventures.
Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.
Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way.
It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.
Don't just take our word for it:
- 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
- 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
- 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends
See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.
Interested in a more exclusive experience? Opt for a 'Private Group' through the dates and prices tab to book this adventure for just you and your chosen companions.
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