Photo spot in Dolomites
Alpe di Siusi at sunrise
The largest high meadow in Europe, with the Sassolungo and the Sella group across it — and a first hour of light that belongs to whoever came up early.
About Alpe di Siusi at sunrise
Get directionsThe meadow rolls for kilometres, broken only by wooden hay barns and single larches, and it faces the Sassolungo and Sassopiatto head on. That is the whole trick of the place: you can put a couple anywhere on it and still have a mountain wall behind them, without a fence, a road or a queue in the frame.
The road from Siusi is closed to private cars during the day, which is why the cable cars matter — from Ortisei or from Siusi, fifteen minutes up, first departure usually around eight and last down in the early evening; check the current timetable, because it changes between summer and winter and the last cabin is not a suggestion. If you want the meadow genuinely empty, sleep up at Compatsch and start before the first lift.
June and July give wildflowers, September clean green and quiet, and the second half of October the larches turn. In winter the same field is a groomed white plain with the same peaks behind it.
Best time to shoot
The hour after sunrise; the last hour before the final cable car down
Tips
Check the first and last cable car before you plan anything — the road up is closed to cars during the day. It is around ten degrees colder than the valley, and afternoon storms are normal in July and August.
Other spots in Dolomites
Lago di Braies
Turquoise water, a wooden boathouse and a wall of rock at the far end — the most photographed lake in the Alps, and empty for about an hour a day.
Seceda and the Val Gardena ridge
A grass ridge that ends in a row of vertical rock blades — the sharpest, most graphic skyline in the Dolomites, reached by lift from Ortisei.
Tre Cime di Lavaredo
Three vertical towers standing alone above a stony basin — the most recognisable silhouette in the Alps, and a toll road that takes you to its foot.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know Alpe di Siusi at sunrise — free of charge.