Discover Cortina d'Ampezzo: Mountains, Culture and Excursions

Cortina d'Ampezzo between Mountains and Culture

Cortina d'Ampezzo offers you an unusually diverse basis for a trip to the Dolomites: Alpine landscapes, via ferratas and winter sports are just as central as museums, historic sites and astronomical observations. This allows you to plan your days according to your interests and combine experiences in nature with cultural impressions.

The Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo covers 11,200 hectares north of the built-up centre of Cortina d'Ampezzo. This clear spatial division makes the nature park an important point of reference for anyone who wants to include mountain landscapes and hiking experiences in their travel plans. When choosing your accommodation, it helps to first decide whether your priorities lie more with the mountains, the museums or excursions in the surrounding area.

Active Days in Summer and Winter

Those interested in secured climbing will find more than 30 via ferratas of varying difficulty levels in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The broad range appeals to different levels of experience, without prescribing any particular route or difficulty level.

There is also a clear point of reference for winter activities: the cross-country ski trails at Fiames are suitable for beginners and children. Another way to experience the surroundings by bicycle is the Lunga Via delle Dolomiti | Cortina-Calalzo. The easy cycling route is 35 kilometres long and starts at the Cortina d'Ampezzo bus station. This allows travel plans to take very different forms of physical activity into account, from a short introduction to cross-country skiing to a longer bike tour.

Museums of Geological and Modern Art

The Museo Paleontologico Rinaldo Zardini displays a valuable collection of Triassic fossils found in the Cortina d'Ampezzo area. At the same time, the museum illustrates 200 million years of geological development in the Ampezzo Valley. A separate section is dedicated to botany. The visit is therefore aimed not only at specialists, but also gives interested non-specialists access to the valley's geological history and natural environment.

The Museo d'Arte Moderna Mario Rimoldi features paintings and sculptures by important representatives of 20th-century Italian art. The collection is displayed on a rotating basis, so the works on show should not be understood as a permanently unchanging presentation.

History, Stars and Special Excursion Destinations

The restored trenches of the Museo all'Aperto della Grande Guerra – 5 Torri can be reached from Bai de Dones on an easy, family-friendly hike or alternatively by chairlift. The Osservatorio Astronomico "Helmut Ullrich" has a 40-centimetre Ritchey-Chrétien telescope and a 28-centimetre Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

Excursion destinations around Cortina d'Ampezzo include the Cascate di Fanes waterfall and the Resti del Castello Sant'Uberto ruins. Punta Nera is a summit in the immediate vicinity, while Tofana di Mezzo is classified there as a mountain and Cima Formenton as a summit. The wider regional area also includes the ancient site of Roggia dei Mulini and the forts Forte Alto di Col Vidal and Batterie Corazzate di Col Vidal. These different natural and cultural destinations allow you to vary your daily plans between observing nature, mountain scenery and regional history.

Other places you can consider when planning your trip include Triches, Pelos Di Cadore, Dosoledo, Soverzene, Perarolo di Cadore, Gosaldo, Campagna and Malga Ciapela.

For the higher-level travel overview: Belluno.