History of Cortina
Once the Pearl of the Dolomites, and now the Queen of the Dolomites, Cortina d’Ampezzo has a rich history. Originally called Ampezzo, it was governed by several empires over the last 500 years including the Republic of Venice, the Austrian Empire, the French Empire (Napolean), the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and presently the Kingdom of Italy. Its name was changed to Cortina d’Ampezzo after World War I when it was annexed into Italy.
The once sleepy agriculture community turned into an elite tourist destination in the late 1800’s following an Austrian mountaineers famous climbs of 1864. By 1956, after Cortina hosted the first ever internationally televised Winter Olympics, the Pearl of the Dolomites was thrust into the spotlight.
Later its dramatic limestone peaks served as the backdrop for movies like James Bond and The Pink Panther. More recently, together with Milan, Cortina held the 2026 Winter Olympics. Today, the Queen of the Dolomites balloons from 7,000 residents to 40,000 people during ski season. The destination also attracts many hikers during the summer months.
Breath-taking scenery, fun pedestrian street markets, and upscale dining and shopping are just a few things to enjoy on a quick weekend getaway to Cortina or a longer hiking adventure in the Dolomites.
Our visit to Cortina was the beginning of a seven-day hiking tour through the Dolomites highlighting parts of the Alta Via 1, a famous 75-mile trek from rifugio to rifugio situated in the mountain peaks. During our self-guided, in comfort tour with Macs Adventure, instead of staying in the rifugios, we hiked down to nearby towns and stayed in hotels. There are several pros and cons to hiking the Alta Via 1 this way, but I will save them for another post.
How to Get to Cortina
We arrived in Cortina without a glitch. It is always pleasant when the logistics of an international flight to Venice, baggage claim, passport control, and a hired private driver (in advance) all work out. While we could have caught a bus to Cortina, landing with jetlag and a small language barrier, we chose a driver who took us right to the front door of Hotel Pontechiesa.
Where to Stay in Cortina
Hotel Pontechiesa is an alpine-style hotel located by the river just outside the city center. The hotel features a charming garden with a sitting area by the crystal clear, glacial water river, a restaurant, some sitting rooms, and a smalI spa.
The spa doesn’t operate during the summer, at least not the two nights I was there because they turned the sitting area of the spa into a hotel room. While my room was slightly small, they left the door of the spa open for me, so I had a fabulous view of the mountains from the balcony. Unfortunately, no free spa equipment uses for me!
The breakfast buffet included a mix of American and European selections like eggs, bacon, cheese, speck, honeycomb, and a variety of pastries and hiking snacks.
I quite liked the hotel location by the river. It split the difference between the Cortina’s pedestrian street and the Freccia nel Cielo ski lift that takes visitors up to the third highest peak in the Dolomites, Cima Tofana. Also, near this ski area is the Olympic Curling Center and Sliding Track.
Others would probably prefer a hotel directly in the city center, but seeing as how you need the windows open at night to cool down the rooms, I think it would be a bit noisy.
Things to Do in Cortina
Stroll the Cortina’s Pedestrian Street
Since we arrived in the late afternoon, we headed straight to the pedestrian street to get acclimated with Cortina. On a summer Sunday, you’ll find a local market featuring dried goods, fake flowers, cooking utensils, arts and crafts, and souvenirs. The temporary tent booths set up in front of all the brick-and-mortar retail stores, so the shopping is plentiful.
Admire the Church
Also, along the pedestrian street you will find the Basilica of Saints Philip and James. It seems like every mountain town in the Dolomites has church with a bell tower. And for that matter, even most of the hiking trails include shrines and religious images.
Anyway, this church with its bell tower is a defining feature of Cortina’s skyline. Unfortunately, the doors were locked when we tried to enter, but it is known for its ornate High Altar and paintings by local artists.
Watch a Performance
Behind Cortina’s church is a stage which holds many events. During our visit, we saw a wood chopping competition and a tug of war competition. Additionally, musicians performed the Monday night we returned, so keep an eye out for local entertainment.
Visit a Museum
Also on the pedestrian street, you will find the Mario Rimoldi Modern Art Museum. This intimate gallery showcases an incredible collection of 20th-Century Italian Paintings.
Closer to the Hotel Pontechiesa near the roundabout, stands the Rinaldo Zardini Paleontological Museum which houses one of the most significant selections of prehistoric marine fossils in the world. It is remarkable to think that these beautiful peaks were once a seabed.
Also, a bus ride away to Cinque Torri is the World War I Open Air Museum. You can hike around the five towering rock formations that served as a command base and military post for the Italian Army while exploring the restored trenches, bunkers and command posts.
The high-altitude historical site may be reached by a chairlift and short trails or be a variety of long hikes as well. The area is breathtaking and definitely worth a visit!
Snap a Photo with the Olympic Rings
Given Cortina has hosted the Olympics twice, it only seems reasonable to get the obligatory Olympic Ring photo before you leave the pedestrian area. Situated next to the Piazza Angelo Dibona with the Dolomites in the background, it makes an Instagrammable moment.
Take a Hike
Of course, one of the biggest draws to Cortina in the summer is all the available hiking. While we used Cortina as a starting point to hike the highlights of the Alta Via 1, there are a variety of treks around the area, though most are considered hard according to AllTrails.
Ride the Gondola to Restaurants, Hikes, and Views of Cortina
Rather than starting with a hard hike, for our spare day to get acclimated to the altitude, we took the Freccia nel Cielo ski lift to Cima Tofana. There are three stops on the gondola, which may be purchased individually or together.
Col Druscie
The first stop, Col Druscie, includes a restaurant, astronomical observatory, as well as biking and hiking trails. We visited this location at 5,833 feet first as it was below the cloud cover. While the views were spectacular, we couldn’t walk around too much at this location unless we wanted to hike several miles down to Lake Ghedina.
Cima Tofana
Upon the clouds rising, we skipped the second location, Ra Valles and went straight to the top of Cima Tofana, towering 10,643 feet above Cortina. As with Col Druscie, Cima Tofana featured amazing views.
It was also fascinating to watch it create its own microclimate. The clouds circled both directions around the peak! They hovered just above the surrounding mountain tops. The plateau afforded us a short walk to see views on the other side of the mountain as well.
There was also a trail which led to a higher point. The path was wide and well-maintained but exposed just enough that I didn’t like looking over the ledge! Some visitors stayed on the viewing deck, some hiked along the plateau, while others made it to the peak. It is hard to grasp the scale of the mountains until your hiking buddy looks like a speck in the sky from 100 yards away!
Capanna Ra Valles
After wandering along the trails and checking out the mountain top restaurant with a surrounding deck, we took the gondola down to the middle location, Capanna Ra Valles. Situated at 8,104 feet, the Capanna Ra Valles rifugio boasts the highest pizzeria in the Dolomites. It also features a fantastic panoramic deck, so this is where we ate lunch!.
After taking in some more unbelievable views and setting out on another short hike to a rock outcropping, we called it the day and returned on the Gondola to Cortina. Our leisurely experience in nature was just what I needed to rejuvenate from a hot, stressful Texas summer. It’s ironic to me too, because when I lived in Colorado in towns like Steamboat Springs because that was too touristy!
Grocery Shopping
Back in Cortina, we needed some snack food for our Alta Via 1 trek. The local grocery store across from our hotel featured a glass counter of cheese and speck. They were so patient with us trying to figure out what would be safe enough to pack without refrigeration for a few days.
Buses from Cortina to Lago di Braies
We also seeked out the bus station and other bus stops to see how long we needed to reach our early morning bus to Lago di Braies, for the beginning of our Alta Via 1 trek. We learned a lot on this journey! Don’t make our mistakes!!
First: Tickets must be purchased from Cortina to Toblach bus station (busbanhof) not train station (bunhof).
Second: Macs Adeventures recommended we purchase the tickets in advance on the Sudtirol website and board at the Olympiastadion. We purchased the tickets while in the USA which was a mistake, because it later changed the time by our 7-hour time difference kind of like Google changes the time in your calendar when you set an appointment back home while you are traveling!
Furthermore, there is not a stop at Olympiastadion (or Hotel Venezia) as shown on the website. The new name is Hotel Bellaria…Important information for Google maps!
Having said all that, if you want to guarantee yourselves a seat during the peak July/August hiking season, be sure to get the ticket from the bus station, Scuole and board at this location at the opposite end of town.
The bus company sold more tickets than seats available, so many passengers who got on at our stop stood for the 45-minute ride. This bus also let passengers pay on the bus, thus it delayed the arrival to our location by nearly 10 minutes. By the time we got on and pulled up our digital ticket, the driver just shooed us to the back, so we didn’t end up needing our second set of tickets!! But it seemed like the policies to purchase tickets on the bus during high season were soon to change.
The drive on winding mountain roads to Toblach was nice and only slowed by about five minutes for construction. Though I am glad we got the last few seats and didn’t have to stand the whole way.
Third: The tickets for the second bus from Toblach to Lago di Braise (Pragser Wildsee Lake) had to be purchased online beginning July 6th for the high season. Those who did not have a ticket were turned away.
Fortunately, the Cortina/Toblach bus stops right next to the second bus going to Pragser Wildsee Lake. We arrived at 9:01am, right when the second bus was scheduled to depart, and it waited on us just like airlines wait on connecting passengers as otherwise it would have one out vacant! After another pretty drive, we all spilled out at the Lago di Braies about an hour later.
The buses from Cortina leave every hour in the morning and every two hours in the afternoon while the bus from Toblach had a more frequent schedule.
It is important to note that during the hours of 9 am to 4 pm in July through mid-September, private transportation is not allowed into the area unless you have a reservation at the hotel on Lago di Braies or you have made a parking reservation in advance. So having a bus schedule and ticket is a must!
A little known fact is hotels in the Dolomites that are part of local tourism associations are supposed to supply a free bus and train pass to visitors. While this did not apply in Cortina, it was the case for our stays in St. Viglio and St. Kassian, so be sure to ask the front desk at your hotels.
Well, that was probably more than most people want to know about buses, but it can really mess with your first day of hiking the Alta Via 1 if you don’t get it right. We were glad we confirmed our information with our hotel and did a dry run or we would have missed our bus for sure! And our wandering around Cortina turned into finding some popular restaurants to boot.
Where to Eat in Cortina
Cortina’s restaurant scene ranges from traditional mountain cuisine to Michelin-starred establishments. We were too jetlagged and tired on arrival to try any fine dining and Micheline star restaurants, but some fancy choices include SanBrite, Ristorante Tivoli, and Alajmo Cortina.
We at least hopped off the main drag for our first two nights in Cortina and tried Pontejel Bierstube Forst and Janbo.
Pontejel Beirstube Forst is a popular Austrian inspired tavern is known for its local fare. We arrived early and only got to try its snack menu. But lasagna and limited pasta options worked for us as we enjoyed the nice temperature on their patio.
Janbo is a gastropub and discobar that serves a large menu of hamburgers, sandwiches and healthy bowls. We selected the restaurant because it had outdoor seating off the main street and it had a good Google rating of 4.2 stars. The food was decent though we were surprised to find “American Fries” are sweet potato fries!
Upon our return a week later, we made a reservation for Il Vizietto Di Cortina on the pedestrian street. Visitors waited in line to eat at this cozy venue. In the summertime, I highly suggest the patio, as the fans struggled to cool the indoor seating.
This restaurant features a large selection of upscale dishes and after a week in the mountains, we were excited to find vegetables beyond a dinner salad, and meals beyond speck, cheese, and pasta. An added touch was the amuse bouche, free chocolates for dessert, and lovely staff.
Finally, if you have a sweet tooth, try the gelato or pastries at Bar Cafe Embassy and people watch while sitting on the patio on the main pedestrian street!
Overall, we really enjoyed our time in Cortina, also known as the Queen of the Dolomites or the celebrities living room! And we are excited for hiking in the Dolomites for a week. ETB
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