Discover the Via Ferratas in the Italian Dolomites with Cicerone

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps
• Further Reading

Visitors to the Dolomites are generally well served by mapmakers. For general orientation and travelling around the region, it is hard to beat the road maps produced by the Italian Touring Club (TCI) at a scale of 1:200,000, although the AA Road Atlas at 1:250,000 is another good choice. However, travellers are increasingly relying on electronic mapping systems, and it is pleasing to note that the coverage of northern Italy is excellent, with Microsoft AutoRoute and the main SatNav systems featuring accurate, street-level mapping.

There is a growing range of the more detailed maps needed in the mountains, with several manufacturers producing maps at both 1:50,000 and 1:25,000. While the smaller scale is perhaps suitable for gaining an overview of an area, the complex terrain of the Dolomites makes the larger scale essential in the mountains.

The best coverage of large scale maps is by Tabacco and Kompass. Each has its adherents (we favour Tabacco), but there is little to choose between them in terms of quality. Both are easy to read and fairly accurate, albeit somewhat diagrammatic. Consequently, neither can match Ordnance Survey or French maps for detail and accuracy. Both manufacturers are now including geographic coordinates, but see individual maps for Datum settings to use with your GPS unit.

There are, however, other manufacturers you might wish to consider. Lagir Alpina and the Austrian Alpine Club’s Alpenvereinskart series both cover parts of the area covered by this guidebook. There is also an exciting new development in the form of GPS-generated maps produced by 4Land Alpine Cartography, available both as conventional paper maps, but also as digital maps for Garmin GPS units.

The availability of maps in most of the areas covered by this volume is good, as most newsagents and gift shops, and many supermarkets, stock local maps, even in small settlements.