Cortina d'Ampezzo

Cortina d'Ampezzo is one of the few places we'd recommend skiing even if you didn't ski. It is, first and foremost, a town: a properly handsome Italian alpine town of around 6,000 people, dramatically located beneath the toothy peaks of the Dolomites, with a pedestrianised centre lined with elegant 19th-century buildings, serious independent shops, and a cafe culture that operates entirely on its own clock. The skiing happens around the town, on three separate (and mostly unconnected) ski areas, and it's the skiing that gets caveated rather than the place.

The 2026 Winter Olympics are co-hosted with Milan, and the resort has put substantial money into its lift infrastructure as a result. The new Tofana-Cinque Torri connection finally links two of the three main areas, and the Falzarego cable car has been upgraded. By the time you're reading this, the network should feel more cohesive than the slightly fragmented set-up Cortina was previously known for.

What Cortina offers a family is something quite different from the French and Austrian options. The skiing is gentler (slope-angle-wise, you'd struggle to find genuinely steep terrain on-piste; this is broadly a good thing for mixed-ability groups), the sun exposure is generous (south and west-facing for most of the lift system, so warmer mornings are common), and the food culture is in another league entirely. A long lunch on a sunny terrace at Rifugio Averau or Rifugio Scoiattoli, looking at the Cinque Torri pinnacles, is the kind of experience that converts non-skiers into skiing enthusiasts.

What you give up is the scale of linked terrain you'd get in the French Alps. The three areas (Tofana, Faloria-Cristallo and Cinque Torri-Lagazuoi) require some bus or transfer use even with the new lift connections, and 120km of pistes feels modest by Three Valleys standards. The resort therefore suits families who plan to ski 3-4 hours a day and treat the rest of the day as part of the holiday.

The three main areas

Tofana, accessed by the Freccia nel Cielo cable car directly from town, is the largest single area: long blue and red runs from Ra Valles back down towards Cortina, with the famous Olympia delle Tofane downhill course running through it (you can ski the women's World Cup downhill if you've got the legs). Faloria-Cristallo, on the eastern side, is the quietest and probably has the best on-mountain restaurants. Cinque Torri-Lagazuoi is the most scenic by some distance: skiing here, with the pinnacle peaks of the Cinque Torri to one side and the Dolomite walls to the other, is visually unlike anywhere else in Europe.

The Hidden Valley

From the top of the Lagazuoi cable car, you can ski the Hidden Valley (Armentarola), a long, gently descending blue run that drops you into the Alta Badia ski area and ends with a horse-drawn taxi ride back to a chairlift. It's an absolute classic and a must-do day for any first-timer in Cortina. Plan for a full day, including lunch at Rifugio Scotoni roughly halfway down.

Beginner and family terrain

The Socrepes area, accessed from the lower Tofana cable car, has the most beginner-friendly terrain: gentle blues, a magic carpet, and a cluster of mountain restaurants with proper kids' menus. The Italian ski schools are excellent (Scuola Sci Cortina is the long-established option), with English instruction available on request. Children's lessons typically start at 9.30am, which gives you a more civilised start to the day than the 8.30am scrambles we associate with French resorts.

Cortina's apres is the Italian version: less rowdy than Austria, more sociable than Switzerland, and centred on aperitivo. The classic post-ski stop is LP26 in the centre of town for proper cocktails and small plates. The bar at Hotel de la Poste has been the meeting point for the smart Italian crowd since the 1950s and is worth at least one visit for the atmosphere alone.

Beyond drinking, the town's pedestrianised centre is genuinely lovely for an evening passeggiata: lit shops, an active main square, and proper Italian shopping (the Bottega Veneta and other big-name boutiques are all here, but the smaller independent shops are arguably more interesting). For families, the ice rink at the Stadio Olimpico (built for the 1956 Olympics, in continuous use ever since) is open most evenings and is a brilliant pre-dinner activity.