What to do in Cortina d'Ampezzo, queen of the Dolomites

We arrive in Cortina d'Ampezzo from the south as if passing through a curtain. The Cadore, in the heart of the Venetian AlpsWith its villages stretching along the valley and its slopes still classically "alpine," the Dolomites first envelop you in a gentle, wooded landscape. Then, as you travel along the road, the cliffs rise, the rock whitens, and the air seems to gain in purity. The light becomes more direct, almost mineral: the light of the Dolomites, made of angles, verticality, and milky reflections on the stone. As you approach the pass, the silhouettes form an amphitheater: you feel that you are no longer "coming to the mountains," but entering a setting with its own unique character. And when Cortina finally appears, nestled in the heart of the Conca Ampezzana, it's a stunning arrival: a resort town, yes, but set in such a theatrical backdrop that you immediately understand why so many travelers speak of a "stage" rather than a "landscape."

Why Cortina is called the “Queen of the Dolomites”

Expression "Queen of the Dolomites" It was not born from a tourist slogan, but from an early observation of Cortina d'Ampezzo by those who discovered it before it became famous. At the end of the 19th century, British mountaineers, travel writers, and the first aristocratic winter visitors were already talking about Ampezzo as a unique place, not only for the beauty of its mountains, but for its central position, almost theatrical, at the heart of a unique Dolomite cirque. Unlike other valleys enclosed in a single direction, Cortina is surrounded by iconic peaks on all sides: Tofane, Cristallo, Sorapiss, Faloria, Lagazuoi… a complete, legible, harmonious mineral crown. The “queen” here is not the one that dominates by height, but the one that organizes the landscapewhich provides access, which welcomes and which radiates.
The term became definitively established at the beginning of the 20th century, when Cortina became simultaneously a health resort, a fashionable center, and an Alpine crossroads between Italian, Austrian, and Ladin cultures. After the 1956 Olympic Games, the phrase was adopted by the international press: it then encapsulated a dual idea, that of a natural elegance, never noisy, and that of a prestige built over timenurtured by mountaineering, the art of living and an intimate relationship with dolomites. For Cortina, being the Queen of the Dolomites is therefore not about reigning over the mountain; it is about embodying, better than any other, the rare balance between landscape, culture and alpine hospitality.

How did Cortina's reputation begin?

Cortina's reputation was built up in layers, like the strata visible in the Dolomite cliffs. First, there is the raw beauty, the kind that has made travelers stop for centuries and which, in the 19th century, attracted more and more mountaineers, explorers, and then visitors in search of fresh air and panoramas.

The year 1956 marked a decisive turning pointBy welcoming the Winter OlympicsThe 1956 Winter Olympics cemented Cortina's place in the global imagination. For the first time, the mountains became a global media spectacle: television cameras, still rare at the time, broadcast images from the Dolomites of sun-drenched slopes, elegant grandstands, and skiers gliding beneath vertical, pink cliffs. Cortina was no longer just a ski resort; it became a showcase of the alpine lifestyleat the crossroads of sport, modernity and aesthetics.

But above all the 1960s and 1970s which will transform this sporting renown into cultural mythAt a time when Italy was shining brightly with its cinema, fashion, and art of living, Cortina became the winter and then summer refuge of the European and international jet set. Figures like Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Gunter Sachs or, Gianni Agnelli They frequent the hotels, terraces and slopes of the valley. Their presence is never ostentatious: Cortina cultivates a discreet elegance, far from the glitz, where one skis in the morning, has a long lunch in the sun, then meets in the evening in wood-paneled lounges, between fireplace and discreet conversations.

Cinema also plays a key role. Films shot or set in Cortina disseminate an idealized image of the resort: that of a place where the mountain is both spectacular and accessible, worldly but never artificial. Unlike other resorts built from scratch, Cortina retains its identity of an alpine villagewith its bell tower, its old houses, its still very much alive Ladin traditions. It is precisely this authenticity, combined with an international openness, that makes it so appealing.

From the 1980s onwards, while many Alpine resorts adopted a standardization approach, Cortina followed a different path. rejects excessIt limits massive construction, protects its landscapes, and focuses on a higher-quality offering: technical skiing, mountaineering, via ferrata, hiking, culture, and gastronomy. Its renown is therefore conveyed less through media hype than through... word-of-mouth among insiders, athletes, artists, travelers sensitive to the balance between nature and civilization.

Today, if Cortina remains world-famous, it is not solely thanks to its Olympic past or its illustrious visitors. It is because it has managed to preserve what made it unique: a vertical and luminous mountainA refined alpine culture, and that rare ability to make the spectacular and the intimate coexist. 2026 Olympics only prolong this story, not by reinventing it, but by reminding the world why, for almost seventy years, Cortina d'Ampezzo has not been just another resort, but an absolute reference in the imagination of the European mountains.

Cortina d'Ampezzo: a real village and real traditions

Before looking up at the peaks, take the time to walk CortinaThe walk naturally begins on the Course ItalyThe village's backbone, where elegant shop windows and historic facades tell the story of a subtle blend of tradition and modernity. Looking up, one can see the dark wooden roofsThe sculpted balconies and painted decorations are reminiscent of Ladin architecture. Then, head to the parish church of Saints Philip and James, identifiable by its slender bell tower, a true visual landmark in the Ampezzane basin. Continue to the Angelo Dibona SquareA quieter area where you can feel the daily pulse of the village. Wandering up the side streets, you'll discover old patrician houses, stone fountains, and a few historic hotels that bear witness to Cortina's golden age. End your walk near the old... Ice Palace, an emblematic vestige of the 1956 Games, before settling down on a terrace. Cortina d'Ampezzo reveals itself as an inhabited, elegant and profoundly vibrant mountain village.

 In this regard, while the Cortina Valley is a world of woods, meadows, animals, and long seasons, the local culture is not merely decorative: it stems from necessity. It was necessary to manage the forest, the water, the alpine pastures, to distribute rights, and to prevent the depletion of resources. In the Ampezzano region, this relationship to the land was embodied in ancient community institutions, the Regole d'Ampezzo, who organized the collective management of land and forests for centuries; a very Dolomite idea: the mountain as a common good, not as a simple resource to be exploited.

This tradition is still felt when you venture a little further from the center: the hamlets, the clearings, the larch forest edges tell the story of a mountain cultivated with patience. And behind the postcard images lies a strong cultural identity, linked to the Ladin world (and more broadly to the Alpine border cultures), made up of language, festivals, simple yet hearty cuisine, and tales of mountain passes and winters.

The mountains of Cortina: the spirit of the Dolomites, in wide-angle view

We “understand” the Dolomites at Cortina because they reveal themselves in a wide-angle view, and above all because they are constantly changing. In the morning, the rock is almost cold, whitened, as if dusted with flour. At midday, it becomes dazzling, yellower, more vibrant. And in the evening, it's a theatrical spectacle: theenrosadiraThe way the dolomite seems to catch fire—pink, orange, copper—as if the mountain were lighting up from within. This sensation is one of the strongest of a trip to the Dolomites: you look at a rock face, and you feel as if it's looking right back at you.

Discovering the mountains is like a gradual increase in intensity, almost an initiation. They are not all approached in the same way, and each imposes its own rhythm, its own light, its own unique emotion.

Tofans They first command attention with their sheer mass. They close off the horizon to the west of Cortina, a pale wall striated with ledges and couloirs, omnipresent as soon as you look up from the Corso Italia. To reach them, simply take the Tofane cable car, which departs directly from the village: in a few minutes, you leave the elegant facades behind and plunge into a mineral world. Up there, your vision expands. In winter, the slopes plunge into the void with a rare grandeur, wide, powerful, almost solemn. In summer, it is the balcony trails that overlook the Ampezzo valley, revealing a clear, almost didactic geography: hanging valleys, rocky folds, plays of light and shadow on the pale dolomite. The Tofane mountains provide an initial clue: here, the mountain is not decorative, it is structural, foundational.

Facing them, on the other side, the Monte Cristalo It plays a different tune. More tapered, more slender, it seems almost drawn with a pen, with its sharp edges and elegant towers. It can be reached via the lifts from the Rio Gere sector or the Tre Croci pass, a superb road that connects Cortina to Misurina. From the very first steps on the high-altitude trails, Cristallo evokes a more intimate feeling. Here, you don't dominate: you accompany the mountain, along airy ledges and accessible cable sections, where each step opens a new frame of the Marmarole or the Sorapiss peaks. The dolomite is finer, almost sculptural, and the silence seems denser. It is a mountain of contemplation, inviting you to slow down, to observe the details of the rock, the flowers clinging to the fissures, the low morning light.

Then comes the shock, more brutal, more laden with memory: the sector Lagazuoi – Cinque TorriYou can reach it via the already spectacular Falzarego Pass road, or by cable car to quickly ascend to the heights of Lagazuoi. Here, the landscape tells a different story. The cliffs are pierced, carved, and scarred: trenches, tunnels, and observation posts from the Great War cling literally to the rock. Walking through these galleries, headlamp on, you touch a mountain that has been lived in, endured, and defended. Then, emerging into the open air, the vertigo takes hold once more. The viewpoints suddenly open onto a chaos of limestone towers, the Cinque Torri, arranged like a giant construction set. You sit, you fall silent, you watch. The wind passes between the blocks, the light glides across the walls, and you understand that these mountains are not merely beautiful: they carry a human, historical, and emotional density that is found nowhere else.

The Faloria viewpoint, the postcard of the Dolomites

From the center of Cortina d'AmpezzoThe Faloria viewpoint is undoubtedly the most immediate and revealing. The cable car rises almost seamlessly above the village, and in a few minutes, the landscape unfolds like a book. Up there, on the panoramic terraces of the faloriaCortina appears below, nestled in its basin, while all around unfolds the amphitheater of the Dolomites: the massive Tofane to the west, the slender Cristallo to the north, the pale-hued Sorapiss to the east. Faloria is not a mountain to be conquered, but to be interpreted. One comes here to understand the geography of Ampezzo, to mentally connect the valleys, the passes, the rocky silhouettes. In winter, the slopes glide in a cold, clear light; in summer, the high-altitude trails invite gentle, almost contemplative walking. Here, more than anywhere else, one becomes aware that Cortina is a center, a point of equilibrium between very different mountains, united by a shared mineral elegance.

What to do in Cortina in winter

Skiing: a mosaic of areas, a shared sense of grandeur

Ski at Cortina d'AmpezzoIt's rarely about skiing with your eyes glued to the ski tip. Here, the snow is inseparable from the landscape. The ski area, vast but never overwhelming, unfolds in archipelago of sectors, each with its own personality, linked by the same idea: that of an open, bright skiing experience, where the view is an integral part of the experience.

The Cortina ski area includes approximately 120 km of trailsdistributed over 73 marked trails, served by 36 ski liftsThe altitudes range from approximately 1,220 m to over 2,740 moffering a beautiful diversity of terrain, from skiing in the trees to vast, rocky slopes. But beyond the numbers, it's the way these areas interact with each other that impresses the skier.

Tofana: the signature side, between power and elegance

The massif of the Tofana is the sporting and symbolic heart of skiing in Cortina. It is here that one most clearly feels the impression of gliding along a monumental facadeas if the mountain rose up beside you, vertical and sovereign. The slopes are long, wide, designed for speed and fluidity.

The area contains a large proportion of the resort's red and black runs, including the legendary Olympia delle TofaneA regular venue for women's World Cup events, this descent leaves a lasting impression even for a non-competitive skier: a sustained gradient, reassuring width, and above all, that exhilarating feeling of spaciousness, with Cortina far below. It's demanding skiing, but never oppressive, where the mountain commands respect without ever closing off the horizon.

Faloria–Cristallo: panoramic, aerial and refined skiing

Conversely, the sector Faloria–Cristallo offers a more contemplative approach to skiing. Accessible directly from Cortina by cable car, it offers approximately 20 km of slopes, spread over a twenty descents, often large and bathed in light.

Here, the mountain changes its character. The lines are finer, the perspectives wider. The CristalloWith its clean lines and sculpted profile, it accompanies the skier throughout the descent. The slopes alternate between technical sections and elegant flat areas, ideal for relaxed, almost meditative skiing. People come here as much for the quality of the snow as for the continuous panorama of the Dolomites, with the impression of moving on a balcony suspended above the Ampezzo valley.

Lagazuoi – Cinque Torri: skiing in a landscape steeped in history

The area Lagazuoi–Cinque Torri is undoubtedly the most narrative. Here, skiing becomes a true journey. The slopes wind between rocky towers, golden cliffs and high plateaus, in a setting where the memory of the Great War surfaces at every turn.

The slopes aren't the most technical in the area, but they are among the most memorable. From the summit of Lagazuoi, accessible by cable car, the view encompasses a sea of ​​Dolomites. The famous descent of theArmentarola This then leads the skier on a long, panoramic glide, punctuated by flat sections, open forests, and silence. Skiing here is less about performance than about the experience.emotion of the crossing, with the feeling of walking through a life-size movie set.

Cortina and the Dolomiti Superski: skiing as itinerant

Cortina is not limited to its own estate. It is part of a much larger whole. Dolomiti Superski, one of the world's largest interconnected domains, with approximately 1,200 km of tracks and more than 450 ski lifts distributed throughout the Dolomites.

This sense of belonging profoundly changes the way one skis. One doesn't just come to "ski the slopes," but to travel on skisMoving from one mountain range to another, from one valley to another, while maintaining a coherent landscape and culture, Cortina becomes an ideal gateway to this world, offering a rare balance between sporty skiing, spectacular panoramas, and the art of living.

Other winter activities: the elegance of the cold

À Cortina d'AmpezzoWinter isn't just about skiing. It lingers, expands, and is experienced at a different pace. As soon as you leave the lifts, the valley reveals another facet, quieter, almost intimate. Around the conca d'AmpezzoNumerous routes allow for walking in the snow, using snowshoes or simple crampons depending on the snow conditions. In the larch forests of the area Flames, toward Lower Field or along the trails of Ampezzo Dolomites Natural ParkThe footsteps become muffled, absorbed by the powder snow. Sounds fade away, breathing slows, and the Dolomites transform into a white cathedral, where every crack of a branch resonates like a whisper.

Cross-country skiing also finds a prime location here. The groomed trails of Three Crosses Pass or Flames They offer elegant, often quiet loops where you glide between clearings and forest edges, facing the silhouettes of Cristallo and Pomagagnon. It's a style of skiing that requires stamina and consistency, far removed from speed, allowing you to physically immerse yourself in the landscape, almost to converse with it. And let's not forget the piste that climbs back up towards Cimabanche, Lake Landro, and Dobbiaco in Val Pusteria.

In the heart of the village, winter is also experienced as a way of life. The Olympic ice rink recalls Cortina's sporting history, while the central streets invite leisurely strolls, camera slung over your shoulder, especially at dawn, when the pink light sets the Tofane mountains ablaze and the facades are still asleep. And then comes that very Italian, almost ritualistic moment: the end of the day. We sit down at a table on a terrace sheltered from the wind, on the Course Italy or near the Piazza DibonaA thick hot chocolate or a bombardino in hand, accompanied by a local pastry. Before you, the peaks slowly take on the color of fire, then fade away. In Cortina, even without skis, winter remains a complete experience—made of slowness, contemplation, and that understated elegance that transforms each day into a lasting memory.

Wellness in Cortina: the body at rest, the mountain in the background

À Cortina d'AmpezzoWell-being is not simply an add-on to skiing: it is its natural extension. The resort has always cultivated a form of treatment by altitude, where the rest of the body is set within the mineral landscape of the Dolomites.

The iconic location remains the Cortina Wellness CenterLocated in the heart of the village, the spa offers heated indoor and outdoor pools, panoramic saunas, steam rooms, and relaxation areas for complete recovery after exercise. What truly stands out is the contrast: outside, the dry cold and winter light; inside, warmth, water, and silence. A gentle transition between muscular tension and profound relaxation.

Many of Cortina's historic hotels have also developed a more intimate approach to wellness. Private spas, treatments inspired by alpine plants, and targeted massages for skiers—calves, back, shoulders—extend a local tradition where the body is cared for as if it were a precious tool. Here, well-being is never ostentatious; it is functional, elegant, deeply connected to the rhythm of the mountain.

Finally, Cortina offers a more subtle, almost invisible form of wellness: walking slowly in the snow under the winter sun, breathing the dry air of the valley, sitting with a view of the Tofane mountains without doing anything. A passive rejuvenation, both mental and physical, that many travelers consider one of the resort's rarest luxuries.

In Cortina, well-being is not opposed to effort. It complements it. It balances it. And it reminds us that, in the Dolomites, the mountain heals as much as it awes.

What to do in Cortina in the summer

Summer is undoubtedly the most revealing of Cortina. The one where the mountain can be approached at eye level, where you no longer cross it at ski speed, but where you... bed step by step, in the long light of alpine days. Here, walking is not just moving around: it is understanding the dolomite, touching it, following it with your eyes to its vanishing lines.

Hiking: Cobalt lakes and dolomite beneath your fingertips

The trails around Cortina are numerous, but they share a rare quality: they almost always give the feeling of entering in the landscape, not just looking at it.

Among the iconic routes, the Sorapis Lake It remains a unique experience. Access is from the Tre Croci pass via a trail that alternates between forest paths, exposed ledges, and sections with fixed ropes. The hike warms the legs, heightens the focus… then the scenery shifts dramatically. The lake suddenly appears, nestled at the foot of a pale, almost unreal, milky blue wall. It's not a "postcard" color; it's a substance. One then understands that the magic of Lake Sorapis comes not only from its hue, but from… the effort that leads to itArriving early in the morning allows you to enjoy the silence and the low light, before the place becomes too crowded.

Cortina is also a ideal base camp to radiate outwards towards other important Dolomite sites. The Three peaks of LavaredoAlthough located further east, they naturally fit into a stay in Cortina. This proximity is one of the great advantages of the site: here, the wonders are never isolated, they interact with each other, within an hour's drive or walk.

Refuges: eating the landscape

In summer, the refuge is not just a simple rest stop. It is a emotional anchor pointWe often arrive with the idea of ​​leaving quickly… and we stay. Because the terrace opens onto a sculpted wall, because time slows down, because our gaze wanders.

Around Cortina, there are shelters like Averau Refuge, Nuvolau Refuge ou Rifugio Lagazuoi offer much more than just a meal. You can eat creamy polenta, canederli, drink fresh lemonade or a glass of white wine, and above all, you eat with your eyesThe dolomite changes color throughout the day, shifting from ivory to pink, then to the soft orange of evening. These suspended moments are an integral part of the journey.

The mountain pass roads: reading the Dolomites in motion

Around Cortina, the scenic routes offer another way to hike with your eyes, at your own pace. Passo Giau, Falzarego Pass, Or Three Crosses Pass are not simply roads: they are landscape thresholds.

At each pass, the mountain changes its language. The shapes soften or become more rugged, the rock is stratified differently, the vegetation recedes or reappears. Even without sporting ambitions, whether by car or bicycle, one travels through a succession of natural landscapes, as if slowly turning the pages of a book on geology and light.

Heritage and culture: what you see when you slow down

Taking your time in Cortina also means discovering what isn't immediately obvious. Behind the resort's elegance lies a ancient mountain culturethat of Ampezzano, shaped long before the arrival of skiing. The churches, the oratories, the old mule tracks, the traditional festivals and the artisanal know-how tell the story of a valley that has never been just a backdrop.

In summer, when the tourist pressure eases, this depth becomes more apparent. You meet locals, you still hear the Ladin language, you understand that Cortina is not just another resort but a inhabited territory, with its codes, its memory and its intimate relationship with the mountain.

Summer in Cortina is therefore not simply an “off-season”. It is a time for slow reading, for sensitive understanding, where one does not come just to see the Dolomites: one learns to to inhabit them temporarily.

Arriving by train: the logical choice from Cadore (and beyond)

Cortina does not have a train station in the center: rail access is via Calalzo–Pieve di Cadore–CortinaThen a bus connection. From Cadore, it's particularly straightforward: you travel up the valley, stop at the train terminus, and finish by road, already winding through the Dolomites. Schedules vary depending on the season, but the connection Dolomiti Bus (Line 30) connects Calalzo to Cortina.

And if you like the idea of ​​a “journey that begins on the train”, there are even initiatives of seasonal tourist trains linking Rome to Cadore with a connection to Cortina: a very narrative way of arriving in the Dolomites, by slowness.

Cortina 2026: When the Olympic spirit revives the queen of the Dolomites

With the 2026 Winter Olympics, Cortina d'Ampezzo becomes the first mountain resort in the world to welcome twice the complete Winter Olympic Games (all disciplines, including skiing), following those of 1956Seventy years separate these two events, but they tell the same story: that of a mountain territory already structured, already geared towards international hospitality, and deeply linked to the history of winter sports.

En 1956Cortina had hosted the alpine skiing, bobsleigh, figure skating, and ice hockey events. These Games were a first in several respects: they were the The first Winter Olympic Games broadcast live on televisionAnd they revealed to the world an Italian Alpine resort capable of combining spectacular scenery, modern facilities, and a refined lifestyle. It was at this time that Cortina firmly established its image as an elegant and international destination.

En 2026Cortina returns to the heart of the Olympic program, as part of an organization spread across several alpine and urban sites, with Milan as a ceremonial and logistical hub.

In 2026, the Cortina cluster is expected to host several flagship competitions of the Olympic program:

• Women's Alpine Skiing, with all its disciplines (downhill, super-G, slalom, giant slalom and combined), which will take place on the slopes of the Tofane.
• Curling and wheelchair curling, in a dedicated infrastructure, the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
• The trials of bobsleigh, skeleton and luge are also scheduled in Cortina, thanks to the renovation or construction of the track planned for the event.

The calendar anticipates the Games being held in the February 6 to 22, 2026with sites spread across Veneto, Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige. Cortina thus fits into a more sustainable Olympic model, based on the reuse or adaptation of existing infrastructure, rather than on a massive concentration of facilities.

The Olympic legacy is central here. Since 1956, the Olympic movement has profoundly shaped the resort: improved access, a more structured ski area, international renown, and a sporting culture passed down through generations. The 2026 Games will extend this momentum, with targeted investments in transportation, sports facilities, public spaces, and sustainable mobility, designed to remain functional long after the event.

Unlike some host cities built around a single event, Cortina is approaching 2026 as a continuityThe Olympic venues are located in a territory that is already alive, already used, already recognized. Olympism is not a temporary backdrop there, but an additional layer in a long history, made up of skiing, mountaineering, tourism and cultural openness.

For visitors, the Games' impact will be felt before, during, and after 2026: in modernized facilities, improved site layout, and enhanced accessibility to high-altitude areas. But above all, in the rare impression of a place that hasn't been transformed. by the Games, but who continues to tell their story with them. Cortina does not become Olympic in 2026: it becomes so again, strengthened by a sporting memory already deeply inscribed in its mountains.

Cortina d'Ampezzo is a destination that operates on two speeds, and that's its strength. On a daily basis: cafes, narrow streets, terraces, the gentle pace of Italy. On an hourly basis: a climb, a viewpoint, an immense rock face, a lake the color of clear ink. You come for a trip to the Dolomites, and you leave with a more precise feeling: that of having traversed a place that has physically "placed" you face to face with the mountain, not as a backdrop, but as a presence.

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