Seceda

This route pulls you from the elevated Seceda to Col Raiser, uncovering along the way a world that seems almost too extraordinary to be real. At 2,519 metres you begin already at the top of the scenery: the rock faces of the Puez-Odle Nature Park cut sharply against the sky, and the Val Gardena lies far below like a miniature of itself. The path follows the mountain's flanks in an easy, rolling rhythm — neither technical nor exhausting, but far from dull. The 419 metres of ascent spread across just over ten kilometres, which means you feel the altitude gradually in your legs, rather than all at once.

What gives this walk its character is the openness. There is almost no shelter: no forest, no narrow valley to limit the view. You move in full sight of the Dolomites, those impossibly weathered summits keeping pace along the horizon the entire time. The light behaves differently here than on lower paths — it falls harder, the shadows are sharper, and in the morning or evening the rock shifts in colour from grey-gold to something close to orange. For photographers exploring on foot or by bike in search of broad, unhurried landscape with a clear visual structure, this is a route that keeps on giving.

The descent to Col Raiser is gentle and closes the loop on a quieter note. Those accustomed to long days out will find this a comfortable half-day; those with fewer kilometres in their legs would do well to take their time and resist the urge to push on. This is not a route to rush — the landscape asks you to stop, to sit for a moment on a rock and watch the clouds move across the cliff faces.