Passport processing times have once again returned to normal, pre-pandemic levels.
30.11.2023 - 17:27 / nationalgeographic.com / Winter Olympics
Of the key Alpine ski destinations, Italy offers the best value for money. Here, an espresso can cost €1.50 (£1.30) a shot, and a piste-side plate of pasta €10-15 (£9-13), items that are often 70-100% dearer in the A-list ski areas of France. And a peak-week, February half-term holiday in a three-star hotel can come in less than €1,745 (£1,500) per person half board, including flights and transfers. And that’s not taking some back-of-beyond resort as a point of comparison, either: all these prices are available in or around Canazei in Val di Fassa, part of the vast Dolomiti Superski area. On its doorstep, more than 300 miles of perfectly groomed pistes spin off the central Sella Ronda circuit; explore the area’s outer limits and that total hits 745 miles.
But it’s not the value that will spark your passion for the Italian Alps. It’s the look and taste of them, especially if you gravitate towards the Aosta Valley and the Dolomites, two of Italy’s most spectacular areas for both skiing and gastronomy. The former wriggles eastwards beneath the central Alpine Ridge, serving up some of Europe’s most hair-raising landscapes. The fearsome southern face of Monte Cervino (the Matterhorn’s Italian name) is one, so sheer and towering it seems certain to topple as you cower beneath it in Cervinia.
Over in the Dolomites, meanwhile, primordial coral reefs have been left high and dry by retreating oceans to become flat-topped, sheer-sided citadels of rock. You can’t, as a general rule, ski down them; the pistes unfurl across the pastures below. But they provide a mesmerising backdrop to the area and its gastronomic scene. Along with the rich larder of ingredients from the Alps, the Adriatic and the Po Valley, wines from this sunny, southeastern corner of the Alps are also exceptionally varied and surprisingly good: try a glass of twice-fermented Trentodoc Spumante fizz to get the gist. And this season, the region gets direct flights from Stansted, with Sky Alps into Bolzano.
Italy, though, tends to be sunnier and drier than France, Switzerland and Austria. Occasionally, runs of winter storms can provide dramatic exceptions to this rule. But for the most part, don’t come here for knee-deep snow. You will, however, get some of the world’s best snow-making systems, capable of covering hundreds of miles of pistes in good-quality powder.
In a couple of seasons’ time — February 2026 — the Winter Olympics are coming to Italy, with Cortina d’Ampezzo set to be one of the hosts. Once the world gets a taste of its Dolomite scenery and thrilling Olympia Delle Tofane downhill course, it’s bound to come running. So book now: those low-ish prices may not survive the charge.
1. Canazei
Best for: intermediate skiers
Some of the
Passport processing times have once again returned to normal, pre-pandemic levels.
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