Cortina d’Ampezzo is a beautiful mountain city set high in the Italian Alps. A place ideal for both the active individual and the avid sight seer, Cortina offers exciting and fun opportunities in both winter and summertime.

Cortina is a large tourist spot for skiers and hikers. In the winter, it serves as a large ski town, providing luxuriously snowy slopes to skiers from all over the world. There are chair lifts and cable cars equipped to take skiers high up into the mountains. In the summertime, the hills and mountains make great hiking paths, leading hikers and walkers up windy paths to wondrous views. Even if you are not a rugged hiking fan the cable cars and buses can take you to some very beautiful spots to view the landscape. The mountains are the real attraction of this mountain town.

Cortina hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and remnants can be found all over the town. Take a trip out to the Stadio del Ghiaccio (Ice Stadium) and see the actual Olympic stadium used. It is open to the public and is still adorned with the Olympic logo.

A 18th-century parish church sits in the heart of the town, its steeple a definite eye-catcher and one of the more prominent elements of the town, besides the gigantic mountains. You can’t miss this on a visit to Cortina.

There are three museums in the city that are worth your interest. The galleries are all housed in one building and consist of a modern art gallery, a gallery dedicated to the historic communal administration of Cortina, and a paleontological gallery. These are cheap and easy forms of entertainment and can provide you with great insight as to where the town originated from.

The restaurants and bars in Cortina serve a large array of foods from local favorites to international cuisine. Minus a few exceptions, the restaurants and bars generally charge average prices for food and drinks, if not only slightly above average. There are a few specialty restaurants and upper class restaurants that tend to charge more for their food and services, but there are pizza places and regular Italian restaurants that serve traditional Italian meals, such as spaghetti, gnocchi, and pasta.

There are plenty of hotels to stay in while visiting Cortina. Some do close during off peak times (fall and spring), but many others offer deals if you stay outside of the busy season.

Generally speaking, a trip to Cortina d’Ampezzo will not break the bank. The activities are affordable, the sights are free to see, and the food prices are fairly average.