JANUARY 2021
No doubt that you have seen pictures of Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee) on Instagram. The most quintessential picture of Lago di Braies is the picture of the little dock surrounded by rowing boats on a snow reflecting lake. With this blog I want to set your expectations low, so you will not have the disappointing experience that we had. Lago di Braies is a gorgeous lake, but it definitely isn’t the quaint experience I had in mind and Instagram seems to be a great cause of that.
Practical information
Planning your visit to Lago di Braies already starts with an amount of stress. I read some blogs about visiting Lago di Braies and they all start by telling you that you won’t find a parking spot after 9AM, giving you an indication of how busy it will be. Lago di Braies is not located near a cute town, so if you want to make it before sunrise you can expect to get up in the middle of the night. We decided to visit Lago di Braies from Padua, near Venice, which took over 3 hours and therefore we did not arrive before 9AM. Luckily (because of COVID?) we were still able to find a parking spot at 10.30AM. We paid € 6 for a parking spot, really close to the waterfront, so far so good. There are 3 parking lots close to the lake and the number of cars already gave away how busy it would be. We visited on a Sunday, which is the day that a lot of Italians that live in the area will visit Lago di Braies for a picknick or little hike. We decided to do the little “hike” around the lake which takes just over one hour.
Our experience
We visited on quite a cloudy day, so the amount of reflection on the lake was minimal. As we arrived way too late for sunrise, we also didn’t have the best lighting to take pictures. The lake and its surroundings are absolutely stunning, but I found it hard to look through the enormous amounts of people on the hiking path. I already read that you have to pay € 150 to have the little boating dock to yourself to take pictures, which seems excessive to take an Instagram picture which people have seen a thousand times before. But the point is, that the boating dock does have the best vantage point to take pictures of the reflecting lake with mountains in the back. I found it very difficult to find an angle to recreate these magical pictures without having to pay the entry fee. After my visit I learned that you could rent a boat and take a quick snap at the dock, but it was so incredibly busy and I like to take my time taking pictures that I probably would have ended up disappointed anyway. Hielke tried to climb on some rocks to take nice shots with the mountains in the background, but got completely soaked in super cold water, refer for picture evidence below 😉
So in the end, I did not end up with the pictures I had in mind and I also didn’t enjoy a nice little nature experience because of the enormous crowds. It was very difficult to do the hike on our own pace, as we often encountered little “traffic jams” caused by couples with buggies on the footpath. At times I found the other visitors very loud and I found it very difficult to relax and just enjoy the beautiful views. I therefore have to conclude that this visit was a bit of a disappointment. There are other lakes in the Dolomites which are just as pretty, but take more effort to visit (such as as strenuous hike) and therefore they will have fewer crowds. Lago di Braies is beautiful and if you still want to visit after reading this blog I would recommend to visit in the morning, around golden hour. You will still encounter lots of other photographers, but you will be able to do the hike in relative privacy. And if you have a good sunrise I would recommend to rent a boat as soon as possible and to take some snaps from the dock.
