EXPLORING VAL DI FUNES, UNDERRATED LOCATION IN THE DOLOMITES

AUGUST 2024

Why isn’t Val di Funes more famous? It’s an absolutely gorgeous valley overlooking the Dolomites mountain tops. For now it seems like young travelers skip this destination for the more intense hikes, missing out on stunning views. We absolutely loved our stay in Val di Funes and I hope you will add it to your must-visit locations in the Dolomites after reading this blog.

Val di Funes

We found Val di Funes to be an incredibly underrated destination in the Dolomites, though it has amazing views everywhere you look. It is not famous for hiking, though it is close to some of the iconic hikes of the Dolomites. From the valley you have beautiful views of the Puez Odle peaks and you can take several hikes. There are two iconic churches at Val di Funes which I wanted to see: The Church of Saint John and Chiesa di Santa Maddalena. We were a bit surprised that we had to pay an access fee of € 4 to be able to enter the fields where Saint John is located. The church itself was closed and you need cash to pay for your ticket. If you do not pay the entrance fee you cannot take the picture of the church with the mountains in the background as droning is illegal. We got unlucky that the clouds rolled in just as we paid the entrance fee 🙁

To get to Chiesa di Santa Maddalena you have to do a little hike, it is about 30 minutes to get to the church from the town and a little further to get to the official viewpoint. At times it was quite steep, but nothing too challenging, I was able to do it with a herniated disk.

Because both churches are located at Santa Maddalena, it is a good base for your stay. Santa Maddalena is also the liveliest town of Val di Funes. We visited in shoulder season so not all restaurants were open, but we loved our dinner at Hotel Ranuimüllerhof.

Campsites at Val di Funes

Campsites in the Dolomites can be scarce, which is also the case at Val di Funes. Even though we were visiting in shoulder season, we were still too late booking a campsite. Apparantly Stellplatz zum Gletscherhans is quite new and good, but it was fully booked once we arrived. We ended up parking at the Waldschenke pizzeria, it seemed like you were allowed to stay there for a fee of € 25 per night. There are no facilities, but this was compensated for by the beautiful view of Saint John’s church from our campervan. Honestly, I expect this parking to be completely full if you visit in the high season, so best to book your campsite timely.