Cortina d'Ampezzo

Cortina d’Ampezzo is the most storied resort in the Italian Dolomites, a name synonymous with alpine skiing prestige the world over. Cradled among the sheer walls of the Tofane, Cristallo and Faloria massifs, the Queen of the Dolomites has built its reputation across nearly a century of Olympic history, social glamour and sporting achievement unmatched anywhere in the Italian Alps.

Olympic Legacy

Cortina’s relationship with the Olympic Games runs deep. In 1956 the town hosted the VII Winter Olympics, the first Games ever held on Italian soil, an event that fundamentally reshaped the resort and gave it the infrastructure that would define the following decades. In 2021, Cortina returned to the global stage with the Alpine Ski World Championships. The circle closes with the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, where the Ampezzo basin will host the women’s alpine ski races and the bobsled and skeleton events at the completely rebuilt Cortina Sliding Centre. Very few mountain resorts anywhere in the world can claim a comparable record.

The 2026 Lifts

The Olympic building programme has bequeathed Cortina a landmark installation: the new Son dei Prade-Bai de Dones gondola, which links the town centre directly to the Tofane slopes, eliminating much of the vehicle traffic that historically choked the resort during peak hours. Ten-seat cabins carry 2,400 passengers per hour with state-of-the-art comfort and noise levels. Alongside this, the Cortina Sliding Centre has been completely overhauled to meet international federation standards for bobsled and skeleton, and will remain operational after the Games as a European benchmark for ice sports.

The Ski Area

With 120 kilometres of runs spread across five distinct sectors — Faloria, Cinque Torri, Lagazuoi, Tofane and Socrepes — Cortina offers exceptionally varied skiing. The overall character leans towards intermediate and advanced skiers: the Tofane descents rank among the most technically demanding in the Dolomites, while Socrepes welcomes beginners more generously. One point worth noting is that the five sectors are not all linked on snow; to move from Faloria to Cinque Torri, for instance, you take the free shuttle buses included with the ski pass. Far from a shortcoming, this keeps each sector its own identity and crowd density pleasantly low.

Getting There

Cortina is reached by car from the A27 motorway out of Venice, roughly ninety minutes in normal conditions. By air, the Cortina Express coach links Venice Marco Polo Airport directly to the town centre. From Bolzano the route follows the SS51 through the Val Pusteria and the Ampezzo valley, approximately ninety minutes.