Practical Information for visiting Belluno

Belluno's historic centre is compact and walkable, though built on a spur -- the streets between the two squares are level, but everything beyond them drops away steeply.

Belluno station is a short walk below the old town. Trains run down the Piave valley to Venice in around two hours, and north toward Calalzo for Cortina. The line is slow and single-track, but it is one of the more scenic journeys in the Veneto.

The mountains need a car, or a bus and patience. The national park, the Vajont, the Nevegàl and the higher valleys are all served irregularly at best, and the walking starts where the buses stop.

Cortina is about an hour and a half north by road; there is no direct train, and the bus from Calalzo completes the journey.

Mobile coverage is good in the town and along the valley floor, and unreliable to absent in the side valleys and on the mountains. This is not a minor inconvenience here: the national park is genuinely remote in places, and a phone is not a substitute for telling someone your route.

EU visitors roam on their own plans; others can buy a prepaid SIM at operator shops in the centre. Wi-Fi is standard in hotels and cafés, and rarely available in refuges.

Belluno is a very safe provincial town. The hazards here are the mountains, and they are real ones.

• The Dolomites are serious terrain. Weather turns fast, paths are unsurfaced, and the drop from valley to summit is over two kilometres. Check the forecast, carry proper gear, and tell someone your route.
• Mobile coverage fails in the side valleys and on the walls. Do not rely on a phone as your safety plan.
• The Piave rises quickly after mountain rain, and its gravel banks are not a safe place to be during a storm upstream.
• Winter driving on the valley and mountain roads needs winter tyres, which are a legal requirement in season here.
• Crime is essentially not a factor beyond ordinary care.

Belluno has a large public hospital, the Ospedale San Martino, with a full emergency department serving the whole province -- which matters, because it is the only one for a very large mountain area.

EU visitors with a valid EHIC are treated on the same terms as residents; non-EU visitors should carry travel health insurance, and anyone walking in the high mountains should check that their policy covers mountain rescue, which is not always included and is not always free.

Tap water is excellent, coming from alpine sources. Seasonal considerations are altitude on the higher walks, ticks in woodland and rough pasture from spring to autumn, and sun exposure at altitude, which is stronger than the temperature suggests.

Single emergency number: 112, free from any phone, covering police, fire, ambulance and mountain rescue.

Mountain rescue: reached through 112. Give your position as precisely as you can -- a path number and a refuge name are worth more than a description.

Hospital with emergency department: Ospedale San Martino, Belluno -- the province's main hospital.

Police: the Polizia di Stato questura and the Carabinieri both operate here; a formal denuncia is required for almost any insurance claim.

Lost passport: contact your own country's embassy or consulate, most of which are in Rome or Milan.