Ortisei / Urtijëi: village, Seceda and Dolomites

Par Gabriel Goldberg 27 October 2026 13 min read

Some places change the scale of a journey almost instantly. In Ortisei, I look at a façade, a sculpture, a church tower. Then I lift my eyes and the mountains take over. My photographs from these two days follow that transition: the intimacy of a village, almost unreal light on snow, rock walls that seem cut into the sky, and an espresso on the return. Urtijëi is more than a starting point for the Dolomites. It is somewhere I want to stay. What should you do in Ortisei and Val Gardena? Explore the pedestrian centre, churches, woodcarving and Museum Gherdëina. Allow separate days for Seceda, Alpe di Siusi and Rasciesa, according to conditions and lift operation. Santa Cristina and Selva extend the journey, with summer hiking, winter skiing, Alpine cooking and valley walks. A village beyond the postcard Ortisei’s centre, colourful façades and a church tower at the end of the street. What I like first is the scale. Streets stay within reach of the eye. Colourful buildings, squares and passages allow wandering without turning every minute into an appointment. In my photograph of the centre, the little church draws the gaze down the street; the surrounding façades feel both Alpine and alive. You could cross Ortisei simply to reach a lift. You would miss part of the journey. Give the village an unhurried morning: walk through the pedestrian centre, look into shop windows, enter an open church and stop at a carved detail. Mountains are not a reason to overlook what happens beneath…