Host of the 1956 Winter Olympics, Cortina d’Ampezzo ski resort attained international recognition as an elegant ski resort. Four Dolomite mountain peaks shield Cortina while providing a world class ski and snowboard area. There are 140kms of runs as well as a wide variety of off-piste terrain.

Cortina d’Ampezzo is Italy’s trendiest resort town with lots of cultural and historical appeal. There is a huge range of fashionable boutiques and ski sport shops, and accommodation is also varied, with over 23,000 beds on offer in castles, hotels, apartments and private homes.

Exactly 101 slopes run over 140kms of beginner to expert terrain at Cortina. The runs are divided into 33 per cent for beginners; 62 per cent for intermediates; and five per cent suitable for experts. There are 51 ski lifts, with a capacity for 60,000 skiers per hour. Several off-piste trails are available for thrill-seeking skiers and snowboarders alike and there is also 73kms of cross-country skiing.

Other winter activities and facilities include: ice-skating (at the Olympic Stadium); bobsledding; tobogganing; taxi-bobbing; snow rafting; curling; ice hockey; dog-sledding; hiking; and horse-drawn sleigh riding. In addition, there is a sports centre, indoor tennis and swimming, and a sauna. Cultural meetings, live music performances, trendy cafés, fine restaurants, bars and discos provide other entertainment.

The November to April ski season at Cortina d’Ampezzo ski resort has its best snow from February to mid-March, and cheapest weeks before the Christmas holidays and towards the end of the season.

The most convenient way to get here is to fly to the nearest airport, Treviso, and transfer by free coach (available on weekends in the winter season) direct to the resort, or by hire car.