Dates:
6th to 12th September 2026 (SOLD OUT!)
14th to 20th September 2026 (1 Spot Available!)
Join our epic photography photo tour in the stunning Dolomites of Italy, an adventure designed to elevate your landscape photography skills against a backdrop of dramatic peaks, crystal-clear lakes, and picturesque alpine villages. Suitable for all levels, this immersive tour combines expert-led guidance with hands-on instruction to help you capture the breathtaking beauty of this UNESCO World Heritage site. From golden sunrise light illuminating jagged mountain spires to vibrant sunset panoramas, you'll learn techniques to create striking images and deepen your appreciation for nature’s grandeur. Experience the magic of the Dolomites and leave with stunning photographs and unforgettable memories. Expect all this and more on this incredible 7-Day / 6-Night Photography tour.
The Dolomites are a mountain range in North-Eastern Italy, spread across a huge area and bordering both Austria and Slovenia. They cover more than 300,000 acres, and include 18 famous peaks, some of the best big walls for climbing in Europe, and countless charming mountain villages. The Dolomites were originally known as the Pale Mountains due to the light-colored Dolomite rock.
This photo tour will take you to some of the best locations in the Dolomites, ensuring you are in the right place at the right time to capture amazing images. On this tour, we will not have a fixed base, we will be spending each night in a different location to shoot some incredible scenes at sunrise, at sunset, and if the weather permits, even throughout the day.
We will be spending each night in a different alpine mountain hut, known in Italian as a ‘Rifugio’ (Refuge in English). The rifugios are easily accessed by ski lifts, gondolas, and/or a short walk. The rifugios vary in luxury, but all provide a cosy bunk, plenty of warm blankets, a hot meal and drinks. This means that we will always be close to the locations that we plan to photograph, enabling us to be in the right place at the right time for us to capture some epic images! During the day, we will travel to our next location and have time to discuss the images we have captured throughout the trip and we will also discuss composition/light and different techniques to capture the best of the scene before us.
Highlights of this tour:
Photograph some of the best locations in the Dolomites
Capture the best of the light by being in the right place at the right time
Spend 3 nights in the mountains in Alpine Huts (Rifugios)
Private Mountain Taxi to Seceda Ridge for Sunrise!
Private Mountain Taxi to Lago Federa for Sunrise!
Capture lesser-known spots for unique shots
Multiple hours of shooting every day to help you hone your skills
Learn new skills from a professional photographer
Improve your composition with in-the-field support and feedback
Small group (Just 6 participants) for a more personalised experience
Hike to some of the most incredible vantage points in the Dolomites
Connect with like-minded photographers and make new friends
Itinerary: We will spend each night in a new location, ensuring we cover as many locations as possible. We will travel from one location to the next in a comfortable and modern vehicle. A detailed itinerary will be shared with all participants once the relevant bookings are made, the below itinerary and list of locations is an overview:
Day 1:
We will meet at the Venice Marco Polo Airport arrivals lounge between 09:00 – 10:00am (Exact time to be confirmed on the WhatsApp group chat at a later date). Once we have packed our luggage into the vans, we will head for the Dolomites, our first base will be Val Gardena. After lunch, we will check in to our hotel and have a quick briefing before heading to shoot sunset at Chiesetta San Giovanni in Ranui. After sunset we will have dinner and then return to our hotel for some well-needed sleep.
Day 2:
We will make an early start to meet our private Mountain Taxi that will take us up to Seceda. The ridgeline of Seceda looks almost unreal — a dramatic wall of jagged peaks rising above green pastures. It’s one of those views that stops you in your tracks, the kind you’ve seen in photos of the Dolomites and wondered, Is it really that beautiful in person? It is....
After shooting sunrise we will head back to our hotel for breakfast and checkout. We will then make our way to our second base for the trip, the heart of the Dolomites, Cortina D’Ampezzo. We will spend 2 nights here, giving us access to loads of great locations, such as Passo Giau, Passo Falzarego, Lago di Limides, Lago di Landro, Lago di Misurina and Lago Antorno.
Day 3:
We start day three with a private mountain taxi trip up to Lago di Federa (Croda da Lago), enabling us to avoid the required 2 hour hike and ensuring we get a great spot to capture this stunning alpine lake, which perfectly reflects Becco di Mezzodì on a calm morning. After sunrise we will return for breakfast and will then spend the rest of the day covering other locations near Cortina D’Ampezzo. We will focus on the locations that promise the best weather / atmospheric conditions.
Day 4:
After shooting sunrise at Passo Giau, we will have breakfast and then head to the most famous location in all of the Dolomites, Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Depending on the light and weather, we may stop at Lago di Misurina and Lago Antorno on our way to Tre Cime. We will spend the next 2 days at Tre Cime, and we will be staying at 2 different rifugios. We will spend the first night at Rifugio Auronzo, this is the perfect base to shoot both the Saddle (Forcella Lavaredo) and the Cadini di Misurina. After check-in and some rest, we will head out for sunset which takes 40-60 minutes to reach on foot.
Day 5: We start the day with a 30 - 40 minute hike to our sunrise location, a ridge with a perfect view of the Cadini di Misurina. This is an incredible location, with razor-sharp peaks coming straight out of the valley floor. After sunrise we will head back to the rifugio for breakfast, and then pack our bags for the next night, as we will be hiking to Rifugio Locatelli. The hike takes 60 - 120 minutes, depending on pace; however, we will take our time and take in our surroundings as we hike one of the most famous trails in the world. Rifugio Locatelli is possibly the most perfectly located mountain hut in the world! This Rifugio faces directly at the massive North Faces of these peaks. There is also the impressive Monte Paterno and the awesome little Laghi del Piani (Lakes). This location is the highlight of the whole trip, and perfectly epitomises the Dolomites in all their glory. After scouting the area for compositions that we will shoot at sunset and sunrise on the following morning, we will have lunch and get some rest. We will head out to shoot sunset just near the rifugio, with one of the best views in all of the Dolomites.
Day 6: After shooting sunrise at Tre Cime di Lavaredo for one last time, we will hike back to the parking lot and then drive to our final location for the tour, Passo Rolle, under the impressive Cimon della Pala. We will have lunch and check into the rifugio before heading out for sunset.
Day 7: We wake up early to shoot sunrise at Baita Segantini and then return to the rifugio for breakfast. After 7 days of being immersed in some of the most epic mountains in Europe and with thousands of images on your memory cards, its finally time to begin the drive back to Venice. We aim to get back to the airport in Venice by no later than 14:00. You can plan return travel after that time or extend your trip to explore more of Venice or Italy.
List of main shooting locations:
Tre Cime di Lavaredo (East Side)
Cadini di Misurina
Tre Cime di Lavaredo (South Side)
Seceda
Lago di Federa
Passo Giau
Passo Falzarego
Passo Gardena
Forcella Lavaredo
Rifugio Locatelli
Monte Paterno
Baita Segantini
Alternatively, you can book by sending an email to info@samuelscicluna.com
Maximum Number of Participants: 6 - I prefer smaller groups to ensure that everyone gets a more personalised experience, but also so that we can access more off-the-beaten-track locations that simply wouldn’t work with a larger group. A smaller group also means that we leave less impact on the environment, and it enables us to have more flexibility with our schedule.
Difficulty: Medium (This tour has less hiking than my previous Dolomites tours, making it accessible to a broader audience).
Physical Fitness Required: Moderate – A reasonable level of fitness is required for this trip—you will be walking around on well-maintained trails, at elevations between 1500–2700 meters above sea level. 1 of the rifugios that we will be staying at is reached on foot, and takes between 60-120 minutes (Depending on pace). The hikes are not difficult or technical, there is no climbing involved, and the elevation gain will be low to moderate.
Included in the price:
All transportation during the tour in a modern and comfortable vehicle
Lodging on a Bed and Breakfast basis in mountain huts and hotels
Parking fees, tolls, and fuel
All permits and park fees
Cable Cars and Ski Lift fees
Mountain Taxi to Seceda
Mountain Taxi to Lago di Federa
Instruction and 1 on 1 support from 2 professional photographers
Adventure, fun, and great memories!
Not included in the price:
Flights
Alcohol
Lunch / Dinner
Travel Insurance
Gratuities
Price: 4350 Euro per person
Please Note: (A non-refundable Deposit of €1000 is required to secure your spot on this tour). Terms and Conditions apply. Single supplement is included for the 3 nights that will be spent in hotels, for the 3 nights in the mountain huts, we will be sleeping in dormitories. Where possible, we will have a private dormitory for just our group.
Pickup and Drop Off
Both pickup and dropoff will take place at Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE), Venice, Italy before 10:00 AM on the first day of the tour. Flights out can be made after 5:00 PM on the last day of the tour. Air travel delays are common; for this reason, we suggest arriving at least one day prior to the start of the tour so that you don’t miss any of the tour.
Accommodation
We will spend 3 nights in hotels and 3 nights in mountain huts, enabling us to be close to our shooting locations for both sunset and sunrise. In hotels, each person will have their own private room. The Rifugios are all located in stunning locations, each one having its own unique and breathtaking views, delicious food, and overnight rooms. All rifugios provide pillows, some rifugios provide fresh sheets and quilts, and some require the use of a sleeping bag liner. Most rooms have power outlets, however, we also recommend bringing a powerbank to enable you to charge your devices. Most rooms have bunks. Shared common showers and restrooms are usually located down the hall. Each Rifugio has a restaurant, and the food is excellent. All Rifugios are very clean!
Guide - Sam Scicluna
I was born and raised on the island of Malta, where my love for seascapes began. I have always enjoyed being outdoors and surrounded by nature. Growing up on an island has meant that I always had a special bond with the sea, this led to seascapes being a natural comfort zone and starting point in photography. In 2014, I went on an expedition to climb Mount Etna and later that year also climbed Monte Rosa, spending time in the mountains is what sparked my passion for landscape Photography. In 2016 I traveled to Iceland for the first time, realising a dream and further affirming my passion for landscape photography. I have always been amazed by the night sky, and going camping often has led me to experiment with astrophotography and shooting the night sky. I love outdoor activities like camping, hiking, climbing, scrambling and just exploring new places in general! I also just love taking time out to appreciate the world around me.
Important Information:
Please do not book travel to Italy before we confirm the tour. In the event of trip cancellation, we will not be responsible for any refund for non-refundable airline tickets or for any airline tickets purchased by the passenger directly from an airline or travel agent. Please ensure you have suitable travel insurance.
Alternatively, you can book by sending an email to info@samuelscicluna.com
Still undecided? See what previous participants have to say about my tours: