You’ve seen this picture before. I’m sure of it! The Tre Cime caves are a staple for any traveller to the Italian Dolomites. They’re not hard o get to but here’s everything you need to know to find the famous Tre Cime caves in the Italian Dolomites.
For more in depth hiking guides, click HERE.
Key Details find the Famous Tre Cime Caves in the Italian Dolomites
Distance – 9KM return (4KM there, 4.5 back).
Days required – 1 Day. Around 2-3 hours there and the same back.
Best Time to go – June to October. The mountains are mostly shut outside of those months
Guide – Not Necessary. This is very easy to manage.
Accommodation – Either stay in the mountain huts of Auronzo or Dreizinnenhütte or the towns of Misurina or Cortina.
Uncomfortable Factor – 4/10. This is pretty easy.
Parking – Rifugio Auronzo
Where are the Famous Tre Cime Caves
The famous Tre Cime caves are located halfway around the Tre Cime circuit, right next the Rifugio Locateli / Dreizinnenhütte (Italian / German names). This below points to exactly where it is!
How to get to the Famous Tre Cime Caves in the Italian Dolomites
There are many different ways to get the the Tre Cime Caves including multi day treks, however, the main route is the Tre Cime Circuit Trek. The whole trek is 9KM long however the Tre Cime caves are located halfway at the 4 kilometre mark.
The Tre Cime circuit trek starts from Rifugio Auronzo and you can also park there. Get there early (around 6am) because the road gets very busy and they make you park at the bottom and get a bus up the mountain.
gear required to get to the Famous Tre Cime Caves
Generic hiking gear will do the trick! Good boots, comfortable pants and shirt with some sort of jacket in case of the cold. You are in the mountains after all!
Is it dangerous to see the Famous Tre Cime Caves
No, this is very relaxed! Sure there are lots of other extreme things to do in the area but this is no via ferrata and you will not be pushed to your limit at all. Enjoy it!
History of the Tre Cime War Caves
The Tre Cime war caves we dug out by italian soldiers in World War 1 as part of a guerilla campaign. The Tre Cime war caves allowed Italian soldiers to attack the approaching Austrian soldier by surprise and keep a hold of important but strategic ground in Northern Italy.
My experience seeing the Famous Tre Cime war Caves in the Italian Dolomites
My partner Erin and I visited this unique location as part of a week long Italian Dolomites trip. We stayed in 3 different huts, all of different standards which you can read about HERE. Rifugio Locatelli / Dreizinnenhütte (right next to the caves) was the busiest of the trip, it may even be the busiest in the Italian dolomites.
We arrived a little bit later than we would’ve liked and got stuck in the traffic jam up the mountain to the Rifugio Auronzo carpark. Rather than take the bus we decided to tackle the 9km empty hike up to the carpark, which I’m glad we did!
Tre Cime Circuit
Arriving at the carpark around midday we were greeted with throngs of people, all there for the Tre Cime circuit trek. I was a bit taken aback about the amount of drones buzzing around the place. I’m all for flying drones for unique shots but I do it in very remote locations and this was a bit too much.
We instantly felt the difference between the steep hike up vs the flat walk around Tre Cime. Passing by Rifugio Lavaredo we circled around the Tre Cime monolith, in awe at their size. Gicantic beasts looking over a formidable landscape that feel like they’ve been there since the dinosaurs.
We also found there is a lot of side trails to take to little view points and hidden caves. However, running low on time we stuck to the track.
Locatelli – The Caves
We arrived at Locatelli around 3pm after covering of 15km for the day. Note: this is only because we added on the extra 9km hike to get to the carpark). We tucked into a few beers and hide inside because of some bad weather.
Checking out the caves the next morning I was surprised by how many there were and how deep and level they were. They could easily hold groups of people and could imagine waiting out long winter nights on lookout for soldier.
What a place!
Feel Free to check out my other guides HERE!
