Veneto · Belluno
San Vito di Cadore
A Cadore valley village at 1,011 meters between the Antelao and the Pelmo, ten kilometers south of Cortina and built around a fifteenth-century frescoed chapel.
Picked by Peter Benei
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Visiting
- Best time
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- By car
- 1 h 51 min from Venice
- Population
- 1,916
- J3°
- F6°
- M7°
- A11°
- M16°
- J21°
- J23°
- A23°
- S18°
- O15°
- N9°
- D4°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The village sits in the upper Boite valley, with the road from Belluno to Cortina running straight through the centro. Antelao closes the view to the east and the Pelmo faces it across the valley to the west, so the settlement reads as a single street pinned between two mountains rather than a place that spread outward on its own terms. The commune appears in records from 1208, the date tied to the parish church, and the chapel at the south end of the village was added more than two centuries later, remodeled again in the sixteenth. Its altarpiece painter's family came from the next valley over, a detail that ties the church's decoration to the wider Cadore rather than to any outside workshop.
Tourism arrived in the mid-nineteenth century and grew steadily after the 1950s, and the marks of that later phase sit apart from the older core: Lago di Mosigo was cut from a marsh in 1929 and works as the summer center of the village, while the Lunga Via delle Dolomiti runs through the commune on a railway bed that stopped carrying trains and now carries the Greenways recognition. What holds the place together is the layering itself, a medieval religious core along the through road, a mountain on each side that never changes, and a twentieth-century lake and railway path built for people passing through rather than living there.
How to get there
From Treviso (TSF), about 1 h 42 min by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 3 h 3 min away.
By car from the center of Bolzano 2 h 3 min or Padua 2 h 7 min.
Every town within reach of Treviso airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Chiesa della Madonna della Difesa
Late fifteenth-century Gothic chapel frescoed throughout, holding an altarpiece by Francesco Vecellio, Tiziano's younger brother. Stands at the village's south end.
Chiesa dei Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia
Parish church first documented in 1208, rebuilt in the eighteenth century with frescoed ceilings and wooden altars by local craftsmen.
Lago di Mosigo
Artificial lake created in 1929 from a drained marsh, the village's summer center with a circular walking path and the Pelmo above it.
Monte Antelao
3,264-meter peak, second highest of the Dolomites after the Marmolada and known as the king of the Dolomites.
Lunga Via delle Dolomiti
Cycle path on the bed of the old Calalzo-Cortina railway, crossing San Vito on its way north toward Cortina and the Cadore tunnels.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Baita Prà SolìoRistorante
Baita Prà Solìo carries a Gambero Rosso listing.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
San Vito di Cadore is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,916. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Cortina d'Ampezzo, is 16 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Belluno, a city of 35,543, is 58 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 1,916, up 2.4% since 2015
- Nearest city Belluno, 58 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Pieve di Cadore, 14 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €3,400 to €5,000 per m² to buy, €6.90 to €9.20 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 91% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Venice Marco Polo airport (VCE), 1 h 41 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Market day Thursday
- Regional capital Venice, 1 h 51 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine, Romania and Kosovo, against 9% across Italy. There are 244 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 72% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Belluno province ranks 33rd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Cortina d'Ampezzo, 13 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Bolzano, 66 km away. The nearest IB school is Realgymnasium Bozen, 66 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.14% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Veneto spends about €2,310 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €490 a year for water, on the Veneto average. In Belluno, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.44, a meal in a pizzeria €11.82 and a man's haircut €23.08.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone F, the coldest of Italy's six, with no national limit on when the heating runs. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 11% in a high or medium one. 3% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
ANTELAO
The 3,264-meter king of the Dolomites, the second-highest peak after the Marmolada, rising directly above the village.
VECELLIO ALTARPIECE
Sixteenth-century altarpiece by Francesco Vecellio, Tiziano's younger brother, in the Chiesa della Madonna della Difesa.
LUNGA VIA
The Lunga Via delle Dolomiti cycle path, built on the Calalzo-Cortina railway bed, crosses the commune on its way north.
Common questions
- What is San Vito di Cadore known for?
- San Vito di Cadore is a Cadore valley village at 1,011 meters between the Antelao and the Pelmo, ten kilometers south of Cortina and built around a fifteenth-century frescoed chapel.
- Where is San Vito di Cadore?
- San Vito di Cadore is a comune in the province of Belluno, in Veneto, at 1011 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to San Vito di Cadore?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Venice Marco Polo (VCE), about 1 h 41 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Bolzano to San Vito di Cadore?
- About 2 h 3 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit San Vito di Cadore?
- Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 23 degrees, and June the wettest, with about 24 rain days.
- Which other towns are like San Vito di Cadore?
- Falcade, Rocca Pietore and Moena.
- How many people live in San Vito di Cadore?
- 1,916 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is San Vito di Cadore a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, San Vito di Cadore is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Cortina d'Ampezzo, is 16 min away. The nearest city, Belluno, is 58 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Pieve di Cadore, 14 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 91% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 1011 m
- Population: 1,916
- Surface area: 61.62 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists San Vito di Cadore appears in
Similar
Towns like San Vito di Cadore
What all six share with San Vito di Cadore: high in the mountains · under 3,000 people
Falcade
Province: Belluno
both mountain towns above 1,000 metres
Rocca Pietore
Province: Belluno
both mountain towns above 1,000 metres
Moena
Province: Trento
both mountain towns above 1,000 metres
Canazei
Province: Trento
both mountain towns above 1,000 metres
Scanno
Province: L'Aquila
both mountain towns above 1,000 metres
Alleghe
Province: Belluno
50 min apart by road
The letter
San Vito di Cadore is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when San Vito di Cadore comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Chioggia, 138 km away. Read its letter →
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