Updated: September 2026 · Fees, dates and timetables apply to the 2026 summer season.
If you’ve just discovered that Tre Cime di Lavaredo parking means booking a toll road weeks in advance, paying €40 and letting a licence plate reader decide whether you get in, you’re not misreading it. That is exactly how it works. This page covers the car park itself: booking, prices, opening dates, and what happens when you turn up without a reservation. Short answer to that last one: you get sent back down.
I’m Enrico. I’ve been driving up and down this road, and watching the queues form and dissolve, for over twenty years. This isn’t the tourist board version — it’s what I’ve seen with my own eyes, checked against the official booking portal before writing it down.
How Tre Cime di Lavaredo parking works, in short
The car park is at Rifugio Auronzo, 2,333 m (7,654 ft), reached by a toll road costing €40 per car in 2026. You must book online with your licence plate: there is no paying at the barrier. The ticket lasts 12 hours from your entry time, and only 680 cars are let up each day.
A rifugio, if you haven’t come across the word, is a mountain hut — here it means a proper building with a restaurant, toilets and beds, not a shelter with a bench. Tre Cime di Lavaredo, by the way, means “three peaks of Lavaredo”; Italians never call them “Three Peaks” in conversation, so neither will I. The loop trail starts from the car park itself, and I’ve written a separate guide to what the Tre Cime loop is actually like if that’s what you’re planning once you’re up there.
The toll road starts near Lake Antorno — not in Misurina, whatever some articles claim — and climbs roughly 6 km (about 4 miles) to the barrier. It’s narrow, with one hairpin after another. Driving it isn’t technically difficult, but it does need your full attention, which is worth knowing if you’ve never driven a mountain road before.
How to book the toll road
Booking happens on one site and one site only: the official access booking portal at pass.auronzo.info. It isn’t an app, and it isn’t in English by default — it’s the municipal booking system for Auronzo di Cadore, run by the local council. Set aside ten quiet minutes for it rather than doing it on your phone at the airport.
You’ll need three things:
- Your full licence plate number — the barrier is automated and reads it directly, so there’s no ticket to show and no cash to hand over
- A specific date and entry time slot
- A card, because payment is taken at the time of booking
The road opens for the 2026 season on 23 May and normally stays open until the end of October, weather permitting. In winter it’s closed completely. Once you have a confirmed slot, your ticket is valid for 12 hours from that entry time, not 24. If you want to stay longer than that, you need a second slot — assuming one is still available that day.
There’s a hard daily cap of 680 cars, which is why July and August weekend slots sell out. Book at least a week ahead outside peak season, and a full month ahead if you’re coming in July or August. Don’t leave it until the week before and expect a Saturday morning slot to still be open, because it won’t be.
One detail that catches people out: booking is compulsory for every car, every day of the season, including drivers with a disabled parking badge. Access for badge holders is free, but it still has to be registered and booked through the same portal. There is no walk-up option at the barrier. If your plate isn’t in the system, you’re turned around, full stop.
Tre Cime di Lavaredo parking prices for 2026
| Vehicle | Price (2026) |
|---|---|
| Car | €40 |
| Motorbike | €26 |
| Campervan / caravan | €60 |
| Coach, up to 30 seats | €80 |
| Coach, over 30 seats | €160 |
| Auronzo municipality residents | €5 |
Everything is priced in euros and there’s no other currency option on the portal, so budget accordingly if you’re coming from the UK, the US or anywhere else outside the eurozone. The full tariff list is published by the council on its information page for the Tre Cime car park, in Italian — worth a look at the start of the season in case anything changes.
When Tre Cime di Lavaredo parking fills up
In high season the car park is under siege by 9 am. By 10:30 there’s a standing queue of cars stretching from Misurina up towards Lake Antorno, all waiting to reach the barrier. Getting from Lake Misurina to the car park takes about 20 minutes when the road is clear. With the queue it becomes 50 to 60 minutes, sitting in a line of cars on a narrow mountain road, going nowhere.
The worst day of the year, without competition, is Ferragosto — 15 August, an Italian public holiday and the single busiest day in the Dolomites. If you’re not Italian this date means nothing to you until you’re stuck in the queue for it. Avoid it if you can choose your dates.
I remember Ferragosto in 2023. Nine in the morning, and there was already a queue to get up to the Tre Cime: from Lake Antorno you could see the line of cars, one direction crawling towards the barrier, the other crawling back towards Misurina. Too many people. Even the shuttle was struggling that day. I got talking to a group of tourists who’d decided to walk up instead — two and a half hours on foot — just to skip the queue entirely. Good for them: that’s the real spirit of the mountains. But not everyone can afford that choice, especially with children or a tight schedule.
Once you’re through the barrier, you’re directed towards whichever section is still free. Campervans usually get a dedicated area lower down. From there to Rifugio Auronzo itself is a few minutes on foot.
Not driving? Here’s what actually gets you there
If you don’t have a hire car, or you’d rather not test your nerve on a narrow mountain road with a queue behind you, there are two separate bus services. This is where I see the most confusion online, so let’s be precise about it.
The shuttle from Lake Misurina
This is a Dolomiti Bus service running from Misurina Genzianella, via Lake Antorno, up to Rifugio Auronzo. It starts on 30 May 2026. A ticket costs €10 per person and is valid for the whole day, so you can go up and come back down whenever you like. Departures run from 7:40 to 19:15. Full service runs every day from 8 June to 9 September; outside that window — 30 May to 7 June, and 10 September to 4 October — expect a reduced timetable.
Tickets come from the DolomitiBus app, from authorised resellers, or contactless on board. Waiting times depend on how busy it is and run from a few minutes to about an hour at peak times. It’s a solid option, and the one I’d point most people towards if they’re staying in Misurina.
Line 444 from Dobbiaco (Toblach)
This is a different service entirely, and it’s worth keeping the two straight because plenty of articles blur them together. Line 444 starts in Dobbiaco (Toblach), well to the north, and runs directly to Rifugio Auronzo — it does not stop in Misurina. In 2026 it runs from 31 May to 11 October and requires online booking with prepayment, unlike the flexible day ticket from Misurina. If you’re based around Dobbiaco this is your route; if you’re staying by the lake, the Misurina shuttle is the one you want.
Walking up
Some people walk from Lake Misurina to Rifugio Auronzo rather than take any vehicle at all. It’s about 8 km and two and a half hours of steady climbing, and on a bad traffic day it can genuinely be quicker than sitting in a queue of cars. It is not a casual stroll, though: treat it as a hike, with the boots and the water to match.
Letting someone else handle it
If the idea of registering a licence plate on an Italian municipal portal, timing a 12-hour window and then queuing on a toll road doesn’t appeal — and honestly, for a lot of visitors it shouldn’t — a guided excursion is the sensible alternative. A guide handles the access booking and the timing, and you just turn up. It’s worth considering if you don’t have a hire car at all, or if driving exposed mountain roads isn’t something you enjoy. Sunrise and sunset departures are where this makes the most sense: the light is worth the early start, and you really don’t want to be the one worrying about parking at 4 am.
🏆 If you’d rather skip the toll, the plate and the time window: guided Tre Cime excursions departing from Cortina and Auronzo take care of access and timing for you — useful if you’re travelling without a car, or simply don’t fancy driving the toll road. Check availability on GetYourGuide.
This article contains affiliate links: if you book through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Where to stay if you want an early start
Beating the 9 am wall means sleeping nearby the night before. Misurina is the obvious base: it puts you at the start of the shuttle route and a few minutes from the toll road entrance near Lake Antorno. I’ve covered the practicalities of sleeping in Misurina to get an early start separately, including what a first-light departure actually buys you in terms of avoiding the queue.
Leaving the car in the village instead
Worth flagging clearly: parking in Misurina village is a completely different matter from the Rifugio Auronzo car park covered on this page. Different rules, different prices, no booking system. If you’re planning to leave the car down by the lake and take the shuttle up rather than drive the toll road at all, I’ve laid out the options for leaving the car down in Misurina village on its own page. Doing it that way round is, in my view, the least stressful version of this whole trip — and if you’re still deciding whether Misurina is worth a night rather than a photo stop, here’s a quick look at Lake Misurina itself.
Tre Cime di Lavaredo parking: frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to drive to Tre Cime di Lavaredo?
In 2026 the toll is €40 for a car, €26 for a motorbike and €60 for a campervan or caravan. Coaches pay €80 up to 30 seats and €160 above that. Residents of the Auronzo municipality pay €5. The price covers both the road and the car park at Rifugio Auronzo, for 12 hours.
Do you need to book Tre Cime di Lavaredo parking in advance?
Yes, always, for every vehicle and for the whole season. Booking is done online at pass.auronzo.info with your full licence plate, and the barrier is automated. Drivers with a disabled parking badge travel free but must still book. Without a booking you cannot pay at the barrier: you are turned back.
Can you get to Tre Cime di Lavaredo without a car?
Yes, and for many visitors it’s the better option. The Dolomiti Bus shuttle runs from Misurina Genzianella to Rifugio Auronzo from 30 May 2026, costs €10 per person and the ticket lasts all day. From Dobbiaco, line 444 runs directly to Rifugio Auronzo but does not stop in Misurina, and needs booking with prepayment.
What time does the Tre Cime car park fill up?
In high season it’s already under pressure by 9 am, and by 10:30 there’s a queue of cars stretching from Misurina towards Lake Antorno. The drive that normally takes 20 minutes can take 50 to 60. Arriving before 7:30 is the only reliable way to avoid it, which is why staying in Misurina helps.
When is the Tre Cime toll road open?
The 2026 season starts on 23 May and normally runs to the end of October, weather permitting. The road is closed all winter. The Misurina shuttle runs from 30 May, with full daily service from 8 June to 9 September and a reduced timetable either side of that window.
Whichever way you go — booked car, shuttle, line 444 or on foot — sort it out before you leave home, not the week you arrive. Auronzo’s system doesn’t do walk-ups, and by midsummer the good slots are gone long before you’d think to check.
