11 Amazing Autumn Locations to Photograph in the Dolomites

Few places on earth feel as though they were created specifically for landscape photographers, but the Dolomites truly are. And in Autumn, this region transforms into something extraordinary. The hillsides burn gold with turning larches, cooler mornings bring mist that rolls through valleys, and the first dustings of snow begin appearing on jagged limestone peaks.

Autumn brings softer light, and an ever-changing palette of yellows, oranges, deep greens, and warm meadow tones. After spending almost two weeks photographing the Dolomites in peak autumn colour, I’ve created this Ultimate Photography Guide to 11 Amazing Autumn Locations.

This list is more than a collection of beautiful viewpoints - it’s a photographer’s perspective on timing, compositions, logistics, and the unique charm of each location in autumn. If you're planning your own Dolomites adventure, these locations will give you a variety of unforgettable images.

So let’s dive in!

1. Alpe di Siusi

Best for: rolling meadows, pastel sunrise tones, afternoon golden sidelight

Alpe di Siusi is wonderfully understated in autumn. Unlike the larch-heavy valleys in other parts of the Dolomites, the wide meadows here shift into warm bronze tones that glow beautifully at sunrise and deepen into rich gold at sunset. If you’re lucky, morning fog sometimes drifts across the hills, softening the landscape.

While sunrise is always the classic choice, don’t overlook sunset, the side-lighting adds incredible texture to Sassolungo and the surrounding peaks, often creating more depth to an image than the morning can offer as it becomes challenging to shoot once the sun is up and directly in the frame at sunrise.

Best Time to Shoot:

• Sunrise for lavender alpenglow, soft blue-hour gradients and fog

• Sunset for dimensional side-light and glowing peaks

Photographer Tip:
Access is tricky. Unless you stay in Compatsch, you’ll need to plan around road closures (9am–5pm) and parking restrictions. The P2 carpark opens at 6am, followed by a 40–50 minute uphill walk which means you’ll need to walk fast to get there for blue hour. For sunset, consider spending the entire day up on the plateau so you don’t get caught out by the road closure.

2. Val di Funes Churches - Santa Maddalena & San Giovanni

Best for: iconic churches framed by the dramatic Odle peaks

The Val di Funes valley is home to two of the most photographed churches in the Dolomites: Santa Maddalena and San Giovanni in Ranui. Both sit beneath the jagged Odle mountains and glow beautifully at sunset.

San Giovanni (also known as St John) is easier to access but offers fewer angles as there is a restricted platform to shoot from. Santa Maddalena is an uphill walk with multiple viewpoints and each one is slightly different as you rise across the hillside. I recommend the most upper viewpoint for the best view across the valley.

Best Time to Shoot:

• Sunset for warm afternoon sidelight and glowing Odle peaks

Photographer Tip:
Plan to arrive an hour before sunset for enough time catch the beautiful light spilling across the valley. Due to the walk required to Santa Maddalena, you would really need to shoot both locations separately to get golden hour and sunset light at each church.

3. Seceda

Best for: epic shark-fin ridgelines and sweeping panoramas

Seceda’s 2,500m ridgeline is one of the Dolomites’ most surreal formations. Rising in spectacular vertical fashion, these jagged edges can be photographed from several viewpoints along the cliff edge.

The cable car logistics make sunrise or sunset difficult unless you can overnight at a rifugio partway up the mountain or you are prepared for a 1,600m elevation climb, but we found the light soft enough to be able to shoot all day long in Autumn. A full loop track around the ridge offers a variety of angles, from foreground wild grasses to distant layered valleys.

Best Time to Shoot:

• Any time of day in autumn, it makes a good day excursion between other locations for sunrise and sunset.

Photographer Tip:
The journey to the top takes 30 nins via a cable car and then a gondola, check the webcam before you go for current conditions at the top.

4. Passo Gardena

Best for: switchbacks, chapel foregrounds, sunset glow

Passo Gardena is an underrated Autumn gem. Golden grasses and scattered larches cover the valley, while Sassolungo makes a great frame when looking west through the valley. The tiny chapel at the top of the pass makes a perfect foreground, by day with a mountain backdrop and after dark for Milky Way photography in Autumn.

Best Time to Shoot:

• Sunset for warm highlights and deep valley glow

• After dark if you want the Milky Way above the chapel (late September/early October)

Photographer Tip:
Explore both sides of the pass, both the ridge behind the chapel and the elevated position above the rifugio each offer completely different compositions.

5. Tre Cime di Lavaredo — The Essential Views

Tre Cime is the crown jewel of the Dolomites, and you won’t believe just how vast this area is for photography. With the new online parking system (40€ per 12 hour session), you’ll need to book ahead, and you won’t be able to easily capture all viewpoints in one trip, so I recommend visiting several times if you can afford it.

5a. Forcella Lavaredo (Side-on Tre Cime)

Best for: symmetry, layered valleys, dusky pastels

A 45-minute walk from Rifugio Auronzo, this viewpoint offers the classic stacked view of the three peaks. During the afternoon on a clear day, you can capture the sun peeking out from behind the peaks, and after sunset the peaks become silhouetted against a sky filled with pastel gradients.

Best Time:

• Sunset when the peaks silhouette perfectly against the sky

5b. Rifugio Locatelli

Best for: golden hour light on surrounding peaks

This 1.5 hour walk each way delivers one of the best ridge-and-refugio compositions in the Dolomites. The peaks behind the hut glow brilliantly in late afternoon light, and if you are willing to walk back to Forcella Lavaredo for the last light, you can do both views in one shoot.

Best Time:

• Golden afternoon light, at least an hour before sunset

5c. Cadini di Misurina Viewpoint

Best for: jagged spires, atmospheric valleys, sunset drama

Though technically not in the Tre Cime loop, the trail begins from the same carpark, taking about 30 minutes each way. The ragged Cadini spires are breathtaking, especially when fog swirls up from the valley and the larches below catch the last warm light. There are also great views back towards the Tre Cime peaks from here.

Photographer Tip:
There are steep drop-offs on some of the side trails that you can take to the viewpoint, so only proceed if you’re comfortable with heights, and stay on the main trail if you want to play it safe.

5d. Rifugio Auronzo (Easy Option)

Best for: sunrise layers, mist-filled valleys

Even without hiking, sunrise from around the rifugio and carpark offers spectacular layered mountains and the ability to shoot above foggy valleys in Autumn, perfect if you want a lighter morning without much effort.

6. Lago Antorno

Best for: Tre Cime reflections, autumn framing

Often overshadowed by the nearby hikes, Lago Antorno is a small but photogenic lake with perfect reflections of Tre Cime most days. In autumn, both sunrise and sunset light the Tre Cime massif evenly. If you have time, walk around the lake for other composition viewpoints, and if there is morning mist, you can experience amazing atmospheric conditions as it is clearing.

Best Time to Shoot:

• Sunrise or sunset for mirror reflections with the Tre Cime peaks lit up

Photographer Tip:
Watch out for the ducks, they have a habit of ruining reflections regularly here!

7. Passo Giau

Best for: bold peaks, sweeping valleys, golden larch accents

Passo Giau is one of the most open, 360° passes in the Dolomites. The towering Ra Gusela peak dominates the skyline, while views toward Selva di Cadore and Colle Santa Lucia glow beautifully in autumn.

If you walk up the ridge on the right side of the top carpark, you’ll find pockets of golden larches which make perfect foreground elements.

Best Time to Shoot:

• Sunrise for warm first light on Ra Gusela

• Sunset for glowing road curves and dramatic skies

Photographer Tip:
The drive up to Passo Giau takes you through the Serpentine, a stretch of road which looks amazing from an aerial perspective with a drone.

8. The Three Churches Circuit — Colle Santa Lucia, Selva di Cadore, Santa Fosca

Best for: traditional Dolomite churches with dramatic mountain backdrops

One of the most rewarding and underrated routes is photographing the trio of churches in the upper Fiorentina valley. You can capture all three in a single session, each with very different backdrops.

• The church at Colle Santa Lucia has Sasso Bianco peak as a backdrop when shot from down in Selva di Cadore, or Monte Pelmo if you shoot from Colle Santa Lucia itself.

• The churches of Selva di Cadore and Santa Fosca both also sit beneath the imposing Monte Pelmo, a sheer vertical peak that rises dramatically above the surrounding area.

These churches are just over the pass from Passo Giau, making them easy to combine with a sunrise or sunset shoot there.

Best Time to Shoot:

• Daytime to show off the views with enough light down in the valley.

9. Lago di Braies

Best for: iconic boat reflections, and peaks reflected in emerald water

Lago di Braies is breathtaking, but it can be very busy! At sunrise we counted close to 100 people, two wedding shoots, and a few rule-breaking drone pilots. Luckily, I still think the beauty outweighs the chaos.

In Autumn, the larches behind the lake turn brilliant gold, adding warmth to the classic reflection shot. Arrive early, shoot the boats and boathouse first, then explore the far right of the shoreline for textured rock foregrounds.

Best Time to Shoot:

• Sunrise for calm water and blue hour to golden hour tones

• Golden hour after some of the crowds disperse

Photographer Tip:
Arrive very early so you can get parking at one of the closest carparks (15€), from there it is only a 2 minute walk to the lake. If travelling from the Cortina area, be sure to stop in at Lago di Dobbiaco and Lago di Landro on the way back for two other lake/hanging valley/mountain compositions that are worth shooting.

10. Cinque Torri

Best for: golden larch forests, tower silhouettes, and WWI history

Cinque Torri is a short but steep hike (20–25 minutes) that rewards you with one of the most varied scenes in the region. There are elevated views to capture the surrounding larch forests which are spectacular in Autumn, and the rock towers are beautifully silhouetted at sunrise, This location also works well at sunset for different lighting results.

Best Time to Shoot:

• Sunrise for backlit towers and golden hour glow

• Sunset for softer, more even tower illumination

Photographer Tip:
Walk the full loop exploring the WWI tunnels which gives so many options for unique compositions and angles of the towers. For access bear in mind that the road is only open to vehicles before June and after September once the Rifugio 5 Torri closes.

11. Lago Federa

Best for: peak golden larch colour, and pristine reflections with Becco di Mezzodì backdrop

Lago Federa is arguably the BEST autumn location in the Dolomites and certainly was my favourite, though it requires the most effort of any location mentioned in this post. Surrounded entirely by larches and framed by the dramatic 2,600m peak behind, it is simply perfection at sunrise.

The hike to the lake is 5km with 500m of elevation and QUITE STEEP in places, but the rewards are worth it. If you can stay overnight at the rifugio (open until approx 20 October), you’ll have the opportunity to capture the autumnal beauty at both ends of the day, plus coffee and warm meals waiting.

Best Time:

• Sunrise as the larches ignite brilliantly as the sun hits the ridge

• Golden hour - take a drone for the most impressive aerial autumn views above the lake

Photographer Tip:
Book a half-board stay for at the rifugio online (73€), then you only need to bring clothes and camera on the hike.

Final Thoughts

Autumn is when the Dolomites at their most amazing with glowing forests, softer light, crisp air, and dramatic mountain textures that come alive under the lower sun angles. It's a season of incredible atmosphere, and with a little bit of effort and luck you can be rewarded with unforgettable images you simply can’t capture at any other time of year.

Want to join me here?

I’m hosting a small-group photography tour to the Dolomites and Slovenia in Autumn 2027, so if you’d like to join and have the opportunity to capture images like these, get in touch to be first to hear when the details are released!