The queen of the Dolomites
In a wide green valley surrounded by some of the most spectacular peaks of the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cortina d'Ampezzo is the most famous mountain resort in Italy, known as the "Queen of the Dolomites". Around it rise the Tofane, Cristallo, Sorapis, Pomagagnon and the Cinque Torri, which turn pink and orange at sunset, the phenomenon known as "enrosadira". Until 1918 Cortina belonged to Austria, and it still has a Ladin culture and language.
Cortina became internationally famous with the 1956 Winter Olympics, the first broadcast on television, and seventy years later, in February 2026, it hosted the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics together with Milan, with women's alpine skiing on the Olympia delle Tofane slope, curling and the sliding events. Its elegant Corso Italia, lined with luxury boutiques, cafés and the Basilica of Santi Filippo e Giacomo with its tall bell tower, is the meeting place of the jet set. In winter it is part of the Dolomiti Superski area, with over 100 km of slopes; in summer it is a base for hiking, via ferratas on the routes of the First World War and climbing. Cable cars climb to the Tofana di Mezzo at over 3,200 metres and to the Lagazuoi, with its open-air war museum.
Tip: the Cinque Torri, easily reached by chairlift, offer one of the most beautiful short walks in the Dolomites among the rocks and First World War trenches.
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