Four ski days from Corvara to Lagazuoi, a World Cup slope and star chefs in the huts. Five days in a Ladin valley of the Dolomites.
Photo: Zoran Kurelić Rabko, CC BY-SA 3.0
Alta Badia is the upper end of the Val Badia, five villages in a row at 1,300 to 1,650 m: Badia, La Villa, San Cassiano, Corvara and Colfosco. The valley takes its name from the Benedictine monastery at Badia, and the mountains around it, Sella, Sassongher, Lagazuoi and the Fanes, are part of the UNESCO Dolomites. Skiing came early: Corvara says Italy's first lift facility and Alta Badia's first ski school were founded here in the 1930s, and the valley's own history page calls its lifts the work of people who left the barn.
This is a Ladin valley. Ladin, a Romance language that grew out of the Latin of Roman soldiers and the speech of the Rhaetians who lived here, is the first language of 87% of people in Corvara, 92% in the municipality of Badia (which includes La Villa and San Cassiano) and 96% in neighboring La Val (2024 census). It is spoken at home and at work and taught at school, and the signs come in three languages. The skiing is gentler than the grand name suggests, the huts are the best reason to ski it, and two restaurants in the valley hold a Michelin star. Five days is the right length: four ski days, and one day off skis, because the nearest real town, Brunico, is about 38 km away by road.
The days go by geography. Day one is Corvara, Pralongià and the Gran Risa, day two the Sellaronda counterclockwise from Corvara, day three Armentarola and Lagazuoi, day four La Crusc and the gourmet side of the valley, and day five a break from skiing in Brunico. Start on a Monday outside the holidays: the Sellaronda then falls on a Tuesday, and the Messner museum in Brunico (closed on Tuesdays) is open on the Friday. If you have already read the Val Gardena guide, this one covers the Sellaronda from the other side, and the Armentarola run is the same one the Cortina guide approaches from Cortina. For the rest of the country, see the Italy guide.
Every stop from the plan below, colored by day. Pick a day to see its route.
A first day on the central plateau of the valley, a hut lunch with a chef's dish and the World Cup slope above La Villa.
The Sellaronda counterclockwise, 39.6 km around the Sella massif, back to Corvara over Arabba and the Campolongo pass.
Out of Alta Badia by taxi bus, up to Lagazuoi by cable car and back down the Armentarola run, ending with a horse-drawn tow.
The quiet north end of the valley on skis, a star-chef lunch in a hut and a tasting dinner at a one-star table.
A day off skis down the Val Badia: the Messner museum in Brunico castle, the old town and the mountaintop museum on Kronplatz.
Alta Badia is a 130 km ski area with 54 lifts, and it is the easy-going one of the big Dolomites valleys: 74 km of its slopes are blue, 47 km red and only 9 km black. It sits on the Sellaronda circuit and is part of Dolomiti Superski, which adds 12 areas and 450 lifts (1,200 km of slopes in all) for anyone who buys the big pass. The valley's own pass is enough for Corvara, Pralongià, the Gran Risa and Lagazuoi, but the Sellaronda day needs the Dolomiti Superski pass. Col Alto and Pralongià are the easy ground for beginners and families, the Gran Risa and the Vallon are the black runs, Armentarola and La Crusc suit intermediates who want quiet, and the Sellaronda asks for stamina more than technique. The huts are the real point of the day here.
| Dolomiti Superski, 1 day, adult, high season | 89 EUR |
|---|---|
| Dolomiti Superski, 6 days, adult, high season | 453 EUR |
| Dolomiti Superski, season pass, adult, advance sale | 990 EUR |
| Dolomiti Superski Family, per day | 43 EUR |
Alta Badia sells its own valley pass for its 54 lifts, 130 km of slopes and the passes of Campolongo, Falzarego and Gardena; its day and 6-day prices come from a calculator that could not be read on 21 October 2026, so check it before you buy. The Dolomiti Superski prices above are high-season rates; low-season days cost less. Buying online at least two days ahead saves 5%. Liability insurance is not in the pass, and helmets are mandatory.
Source: The 130 km (74 easy, 47 medium, 9 difficult), 54 lifts, 1,300 to 2,800 m and the 4 December to 4 April season are from the Alta Badia tourism board; the lift hours from its lift list; the 1,200 km and 450 lifts of Dolomiti Superski are from its Dolomiti Superski page, and the 2026/27 prices from the Dolomiti Superski press release of 30 September 2026; rules from the slope rules page, checked 2026-10-21
The lifts from Corvara take you straight to the middle of the ski area, so day one needs no bus and no early start. Pick up the pass first, then spend the day on wide red and blue runs before the black one. The trap is time: Alta Badia's lifts are listed with closing times around 16:15, and the Gran Risa finishes in La Villa, so plan your ride back.
The Col Alto gondola leaves from the edge of Corvara and is listed for 8:30 to 16:15 in 2026/27. Corvara sits at 1,568 m, and the valley says Alta Badia's first ski school and Italy's first lift facility were founded here in the 1930s.
In holiday weeks the Col Alto and Boè gondolas out of Corvara are where the morning queue forms. The operator publishes no queue figures, so treat that as an expectation: be at the base for the 8:30 opening, or start from the Piz La Ila gondola in La Villa or the Piz Sorega gondola in San Cassiano. Pick up the pass at the office at the Boè ropeway.
Between Corvara, La Villa and San Cassiano the mountain flattens into a high plateau, the Pralongià, reached by interconnected lifts. The valley rates the view from here highly: the Marmolada, the great peaks of the Dolomites and, on a clear day, the Austrian Alps.
Spend the morning on the blue and red runs around the Pralongià, Col Alto and Arlara lifts. The slopes here are the gentle ones, the right warm-up for a Gran Risa afternoon, and there is a kids' slope, Movimënt Kidslope Pralongià.
The huts of Alta Badia take their food seriously, and for 2026/27 the valley's A taste for skiing project pairs ten mountain huts with star chefs. At the Ütia Pralongià, the chef is Simone Cantafio of La Stüa de Michil in Corvara, who serves a Neapolitan pasta omelette with artichokes and wild mint. Every dish in the project sends 3 EUR to a children's hospice fund.
Treat the hut as a proper lunch stop: order the chef's dish, a panicia (barley soup) or tutres (see the food section), and leave time for the Gran Risa.
The Gran Risa is a giant slalom hill on Piz La Ila above La Villa, and it has hosted World Cup races since 1985. The race course is 1,225 m long with a 448 m drop and a maximum gradient of 69%, and the winners' list runs from Alberto Tomba to Marcel Hirscher. For skiers it is marked black on the piste map data, and it is a proper test: steep, with constant changes of rhythm and a few flat-looking stretches that are not flat.
If black is too much, take the Piz La Ila gondola and ski the red runs beside it. The race hill is prepared for about two weeks by 50 people, so in the weeks before the World Cup check that it is open to skiers.
If your week matches, plan around the 41st edition of the race: the opening party is on Saturday 19 December 2026, the men's giant slalom on Sunday 20 December (first run 10:30, second 13:30, with a flyover of the Frecce Tricolori at about 12:45), and on Monday 21 December the first night slalom in the history of the Gran Risa, with the first run at 17:45 and the second at 21:00.
The finish area is at La Villa. Expect full hotels and a busy valley road, so unless you come for the race, pick another week.
La Villa (La Ila in Ladin) lies at 1,433 m, between the Puez-Odle and Fanes-Senes-Braies nature parks. Its core is the Ciastel Colz castle and a parish church built in 1516 and dedicated to Saint Mary of the Assumption. In summer it is the start of the Maratona dles Dolomites, and in December it is the finish of the Gran Risa.
Walk the village after the lifts close, and stop at a bar such as Bar Manuela.
Today you ski around a mountain. The Val Gardena guide takes the orange direction (clockwise) from Selva; this plan takes the green direction, counterclockwise, from Corvara, so the two guides do not repeat each other. You need the Dolomiti Superski pass, not the valley pass. Alta Badia lists 4.5 hours of skiing, the Sellaronda site 5 to 6 hours with the lifts, and lunch comes on top. So be at the first lift by 8:45, at Passo Sella by about 11:30 and at the Belvedere hut for lunch by 12:30 (our rule of thumb, not a published schedule). Alta Badia's lifts are listed until 16:15, and Selva and Arabba keep their own times.
The Sellaronda is the circuit of four passes around the Sella massif: Gardena, Sella, Pordoi and Campolongo, linked by lifts and slopes in both directions. The operators list both directions as moderate. Clockwise is orange, about 4 hours of skiing, and counterclockwise is green, about 4.5, and from Alta Badia you can do either without crossing the same spot twice. Both are moderate, so the limit is the clock, not your technique.
Counterclockwise from Corvara, two chairlifts take you to Colfosco, the Borest gondola climbs to the Jimmi hut and the Val Setus chairlift reaches Passo Gardena at about 2,100 m, the first pass. From there it is the Dantercepies lift and the long run through the woods down to Selva.
Selva (Sëlva), the highest village of Val Gardena, is the far end of the lap from Corvara. Here the green route climbs by the Ciampinoi gondola, drops to Plan de Gralba and goes through the Città dei Sassi, the field of boulders under the Sassolungo, before the Sassolungo chairlift reaches Passo Sella, about 2,240 m, the second pass. The Val Gardena guide covers the valley itself, so here the job is to keep moving.
From Passo Sella, the Sasso Levante chairlift takes you over to the Val Salei, the Pian Frataces gondola climbs out of it, and a six-seat chairlift reaches the Sas Becè hut at the Belvedere above Passo Pordoi, the third pass.
Around the Belvedere and Passo Pordoi a hut lunch is part of the lap, and the food is the same family as in Alta Badia: canederli, barley soup, goulash and strudel. Order what comes quickly: an hour is the budget.
After Arabba the only exit is the road: Arabba to Corvara is about 10 km over the Campolongo pass, around 15 minutes by car. The tourist board lists member taxi companies but publishes no fare for this run, so ask your hotel for a number and a price the evening before.
Arabba is the village on the Belluno side of the Sella, and the Porta Vescovo cable car (Funifor Arabba - Portavescovo) lifts you to a view of the Marmolada glacier. On the green route a long run from the Belvedere ends in Arabba, and a chairlift there takes you up toward Bec de Roces; Porta Vescovo is on the orange route and a detour from the green one.
The Great War ski tour (80 km, 8 hours) also starts from here; that is a day of its own, not an add-on to today's lap.
The last section brings you back into Alta Badia: the chairlift to Bec de Roces, a descent to Passo Campolongo at 1,875 m, the fourth pass, then the lift to Crëp de Mont and the run into Corvara.
If you have time and legs, the Vallon-Boè black run is the one the operator calls tough, while the Boè slope is the intermediate way down. End the lap with a drink in Corvara.
This is the most unusual ski day of the week, and it starts in San Cassiano. You ski to Armentarola, take a taxi bus up the Falzarego road, ride the cable car to Lagazuoi and ski the 8.5 km run back down, with a horse to finish. The Cortina guide approaches the same run from the other side; here you start in Alta Badia, so the day finishes close to your own door. The traps are the clock and the season. The cable car is listed for 9:00 to 16:30 from 5 December, but Alta Badia's slope list showed the Armentarola run only from 29 December last winter and the red Lagazuoi slope, which returns to the pass, from 1 February. If you are here earlier, swap: ski the San Cassiano side (Piz Sorega and Pralongià) today and keep Lagazuoi for another trip.
The Piz Sorega gondola in San Cassiano is the valley's own entrance to the Dolomiti Superski carousel, and from the top an easy blue run, mapped as Piz Sorega B - Armentarola, leads to the hamlet of Armentarola. San Cassiano itself is at 1,537 m, at the foot of the Lavarela and the Conturines.
Be at the gondola when it opens: the Armentarola run takes about two hours, plus the taxi bus, the cable car and the ski home, and the last Alta Badia lifts are listed for 16:15.
The Falzarego Pass is 12 km from the Val Badia, and no lift links it to Alta Badia. A taxi bus covers the 10.2 km from the Hotel Armentarola to the pass, and last winter it ran from 8:30 to 17:00. A Cortina Express bus also serves the pass on a timetable that last winter began on 20 December. The 2026/27 times and fares were not published on 21 October, so ask at the San Cassiano tourist office the day before.
The cable car lifts you from the pass at 2,107 m to 2,732 m in three minutes, with no pylon in between. Lagazuoi was a front line in the First World War, when both armies dug tunnels into the mountain, and the terrace looks across to the Marmolada, the Sella, the Civetta, the Pelmo and the Tofane. Alta Badia lists the cable car for 9:00 to 16:30 from 5 December 2026 to 3 April 2027.
The Rifugio Lagazuoi sits at the top, next to the start of the Armentarola run, a coffee stop if it is open (its 2026/27 dates were not published). Keep it short: the run, the horse and the ski home take longer than the map suggests. Winter access to the war tunnels is not published, so treat them as a summer visit.
English-language guides call it the Hidden Valley run. The Armentarola slope starts at 2,730 m, runs 8.5 km through the Fanes-Sennes-Prags Nature Park along the rock walls of the Cima Scotoni and the Fanis group, past old stone pines and the icefalls, and ends at the Capanna Alpina, from where the horse tow carries you to the Sarè bridge at 1,660 m. The operator calls it gentle and varied and puts the whole tour at about two hours.
The slope is rated medium and is fine for a competent intermediate. There is no lift back up to Lagazuoi, so the run is a one-way commitment. The Fanes realm, which the tourist board names first among the valley's Ladin myths and legends, belongs to these mountains, and a cave under the Conturines holds the bones of a bear that lived here 40,000 to 60,000 years ago.
The Scotoni hut stands in a side valley of the run and is known for its grill specialties; Alta Badia lists it for 23 December 2026 to 4 April 2027. The Capanna Alpina, at the start of the horse tow, is the other choice. Eat on the run, not at the top.
The run ends at the Capanna Alpina, 2.5 km from the Hotel Armentarola, and from there a horse-drawn carriage pulls skiers to the Sarè bridge, the way back into the Alta Badia ski area. It is the oddest lift of the week and worth a photograph. The operator says the horse lift does not run when the ski route from the Capanna Alpina to Armentarola is closed or in a snow storm.
From the Armentarola ski lift you can go on toward the Badia slopes or ride the taxi bus back to Falzarego for a second run.
Bio Lüch Ruances is a small farm restaurant in San Cassiano, in Costadedoi, serving dishes made from organic products of the farm and the area. It is open daily from 4 December 2026 to 4 April 2027, with hot meals from 18:30, and also does breakfast and an aperitif.
Ask for the Ladin dishes (see the food section for tutres, panicia and cajincí) and what the farm has that day. Book ahead, since the room is small.
Today is the gourmet day, and it goes north. The La Crusc side above Badia is the quiet part of the ski area, and the huts around Piz La Ila are where the star chefs serve their dishes. The trap is the dinner: Porcino serves dinner only by reservation, and only in a window from 12 December to 20 March, so book before you leave home.
Badia is the northernmost of the five villages, at 1,324 m, and the La Crusc gondolas start here, with the Badia ski pass office at the Santa Croce gondola (open from 3 December). The operator calls the La Crusc slope peaceful, and on the piste map data the runs here are mostly blue.
If you stay in Corvara, take the ski bus or ski over from La Villa. The South Tyrol Guest Pass covers the ski buses of the valley, but not the one in Badia.
Above the top of the gondolas rises the Sas dla Crusc (Heiligkreuzkofel in German), a peak of the Fanes group, and near it stand the Santa Croce hospice and its huts. The valley calls the area La Crusc - Santa Croce and sells it as the quiet corner of the ski area.
For one week every winter the huts here serve traditional Ladin dishes cooked to old recipes, under the name Roda dles Saus. Ask at the tourist office for the dates of 2026/27, which were not published on 21 October.
This is the valley's gourmet ski tour. For fifteen years the project A taste for skiing has paired mountain huts with chefs, and in 2026/27 the theme is the plant world. At Club Moritzino on Piz La Ila at 2,100 m the dish is by Tomaž Kavčič of the one-star Gostilna Pri Lojzetu in Slovenia. Other huts serve dishes by Massimiliano Alajmo (three stars, Le Calandre) at Ütia Bioch, Marco Verginer of Porcino at Ütia Jimmi and Giancarlo Perbellini at the Piz Boé Alpine Lounge.
Ten huts take part. The Gourmet Skisafari on Sunday 13 December 2026 (11:00 to 15:00) moves skiers from hut to hut, with five chefs, and the voucher is collected at the tourist offices or at the huts.
Above La Villa the Gardenaccia chairlift serves three slopes, a blue, a red and a black, and the Puez-Odle nature park lies behind it. After lunch it is a good place to repeat the best run of the morning; from the bottom you reach La Villa and the ski bus back to Corvara.
Badia is where Ladin farm life is easiest to see. The valley's old settlements are the viles, tight groups of houses and stables with shared ovens, granaries, woodsheds and small squares, and Badia has kept its farmsteads and its customs. The two Ladin museums, the Museum Ladin Ćiastel de Tor and the Ursus ladinicus in San Cassiano, are open only from 1 May to 1 November, so in winter the viles are the culture on offer.
Walk the lanes before dinner, and look at the houses as much as the views.
Porcino, in the Badia Hill hotel, won its first Michelin star in November 2025 for chef Marco Verginer. Dinner is by reservation only, from 19:00, and only as a tasting menu for the whole table. The hotel's September 2026 menu lists 145 EUR for three courses and 185 EUR for five, with wine pairing at 72 or 115 EUR on top, and the dishes change with the season. Booking needs a card, and canceling after noon the day before costs 100 EUR per person. The restaurant is open from 12 December 2026 to 20 March 2027. The valley's other starred table is La Stüa de Michil in Corvara, which kept its star in 2026; its dinner days were not confirmed.
The famous name that is missing is the St. Hubertus at the Rosa Alpina in San Cassiano. It held three stars under the chef Norbert Niederkofler, closed in March 2023 for a hotel renovation, and is not starred in 2026; Niederkofler has three stars at Atelier Moessmer in Brunico. For a cheaper night, Ciasa Urban in Badia serves Ladin food every evening by reservation (the tourist board lists no prices).
Alta Badia has no town, so the day goes about 38 km down the Val Badia to Brunico, the largest town in the Puster Valley, and then up to the Kronplatz. On a Friday both Messner museums are open: the Ripa in Brunico castle is closed on Tuesdays, and the Corones on the summit has no closing day. Honest verdict: with the bus at about an hour each way it is a long day for legs that want rest, and the Corones takes its last visitor at 15:30, so go up the Kronplatz before the castle if the sky is clear. The slower option is a valley day: the tourist board lists winter hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country trails, though the Ladin museums are shut.
On the way down you pass San Martino in Badia (San Martin de Tor), where the Museum Ladin sits in the Ćiastel de Tor castle. The museum is open only from 1 May to 1 November, so in winter you see the castle from the road. The valley's Ladin institute is named after Micurà de Rü (1789-1847), a priest born in San Cassiano who wrote a Ladin grammar in 1833.
Without a car, regional bus line 460 runs daily from Corvara to Brunico station roughly every 30 minutes, in about an hour (66 minutes in the 2025/26 Südtirol Mobil timetable; the 2026/27 winter one starts on 13 December).
On the summit of the Kronplatz stands the Corones, the Zaha Hadid museum cut into the rock, with Messner's story of mountaineering and a panorama through its big windows. In winter it is open from 28 November 2026 to 11 April 2027, 10:00 to 16:00 (last entry 15:30), with no closing day, and adults pay 14 EUR. It cannot be reached by car, so you ride a cable car, and the Kronplatz has a new 10-seat gondola from Reischach for 2026/27.
Skiers can also reach the Kronplatz from Alta Badia without a car: a free Dolomiti Superski shuttle runs in about 20 minutes from the Sponata chairlift in Badia to the Piculin cable car at San Martino. Today you ride as a pedestrian.
Brunico (Bruneck) was founded in the 13th century by the Prince-Bishop of Brixen, and the Stadtgasse, the main street, was laid out around 1250 alongside the castle. Today it is the best place in the valley for a long, slow lunch and a walk past the shops, away from the ski carousel.
Eat speck, canederli or a plate of local pasta in a Gasthaus on the Stadtgasse. For a splurge, the three-star Atelier Moessmer of Norbert Niederkofler, the chef of the old St. Hubertus in San Cassiano, is in Brunico, but book it well ahead.
The Messner Mountain Museum Ripa is in Bruneck Castle, the fortress the Prince-Bishops of Brixen built above the town in the 13th century and later used as a summer residence. It is the Messner museum of the world's mountain peoples: it shows how people in Asia, Africa, South America and Europe have lived at altitude, with building styles from Nepal, Peru and Morocco. It is open from 7 December to 25 April, 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:00), closed on Tuesdays and on 24 and 25 December, with adults at 14 EUR.
Short trips from the valley, ordered by distance from Corvara.
Arabba is the village on the Belluno side of the Sella, and the Porta Vescovo cable car climbs from it toward the Marmolada glacier. The 80 km Great War ski tour is a separate full day of skiing.
Getting there: About 10 km south over the Campolongo pass, about 15 minutes by car, or on skis by the Sellaronda
The other big Ladin valley of the Dolomites. Selva, Santa Cristina and Ortisei have their own ski area with Seceda and the Saslong. The Val Gardena guide covers it in five days, including the Sellaronda clockwise.
Getting there: About 20 km to Selva, 30 minutes by car over the Gardena Pass when the road is open, or on skis by the Sellaronda
Kronplatz is the ski area north of Alta Badia, reached by the free ski shuttle from the Sponata chairlift to the Piculin cable car.
Getting there: About 20 km, 23 minutes by car to Piculin; the free Dolomiti Superski shuttle from Sponata in Badia takes about 20 minutes
The town of the 2026 Winter Olympics sits on the other side of the Lagazuoi massif. Its three ski areas are covered in the Cortina guide, and the Cortina Skyline gondola links the Lagazuoi and Cinque Torri areas.
Getting there: About 37 km, 40 minutes by car over the Falzarego Pass; a Cortina Express bus also runs from the valley
Brixen is the oldest town in South Tyrol. The bishops moved here from Säben in 992, when the cathedral was finished, and the cathedral quarter is a good walk on a day off skis.
Getting there: About 62 km, around an hour by car; the train station is 65 km from Alta Badia
Bolzano is the capital of South Tyrol, and its South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology holds Ötzi, the Iceman. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30), and is closed on Mondays except when a Monday is a holiday in July and August; adults pay 13 EUR.
Getting there: About 65 km by the Gardena Pass road (the tourist board's figure), allow an hour and a half; check road conditions
Ladin cooking is farm cooking, and the huts have taken it up in a big way. Read the menu for the Ladin names.
Fried pastry pockets filled with spinach or cabbage, the dish the tourist board names first when it describes Ladin food.
Where to try it: Bio Lüch Ruances in San Cassiano, or a hut that lists Ladin dishes.
A barley soup with the fragrance of the field, one of the old dishes of the Ladin farm kitchen, and a warm starter in a hut.
Where to try it: Ask for it at a hut at lunch, or at a farm restaurant in the evening.
Ravioli stuffed with spinach and cottage cheese, served with melted butter. The tourist board lists them as a staple of the old farm kitchen.
Where to try it: Ask at Ciasa Urban in Badia, which serves Ladin food every evening by reservation.
Dumplings made of bread, with speck, cheese or spinach, in broth or beside a goulash. The Knödel is Central European, and the Alta Badia event Nos dales bales in Badia is a dumpling night.
Where to try it: A hut at lunch, or at the Nos dales bales evening in Badia when it runs.
Apple strudel is the Austro-Hungarian pastry that the whole region ate, and Kaiserschmarrn is a shredded pancake named for Emperor Franz Joseph. Share one of each at the end of a hut lunch.
Where to try it: Every hut on the slopes.
South Tyrolean speck is a smoked ham, which is what separates it from Prosciutto di Parma, and it is eaten in thin slices on a board with Schüttelbrot, a thin crisp rye bread.
Where to try it: A board at any hut, and the farm shops in the villages.
Sweet pastry whorls from the old Ladin kitchen, the sweet on the tourist board's short list of traditional dishes.
Where to try it: Ask at a farm restaurant, or at one of the renowned patisseries of Corvara.
The A taste for skiing project puts dishes by chefs with stars on the menu of ten huts for the whole winter. For 2026/27 the theme is plants, and every dish sends 3 EUR to a children's hospice fund.
Where to try it: Ütia Pralongià, Club Moritzino, Ütia Bioch and Ütia Jimmi; the list is on the Alta Badia site.
The valley's restaurants list South Tyrolean wines, from fresh whites to Lagrein, a red grape native to the valleys of South Tyrol and recorded as early as the 17th century. The Wine Skisafari, De dl vin, is a hut-to-hut wine day on 21 March 2027.
Where to try it: Ask the sommelier at Porcino, or the staff at any hut.
Grappa is a brandy distilled from the pomace left over from winemaking, served after dinner as a digestive.
Where to try it: Order one with the coffee, and sip it.
A beer on a hut terrace and a cappuccino in a Corvara pastry shop are the two classic breaks.
Where to try it: Any hut terrace after the last run, and the cafés of the villages.
All four bases share the same lifts and the same pass. Corvara is the center and Colfosco the Sellaronda base; La Villa has the Gran Risa and San Cassiano the road to Lagazuoi.
Best for: First-timers and the Sellaronda: the center of the valley, with the most choice for dinner
Corvara is the easiest base for the Sellaronda. You can walk to the lifts, to a pastry shop and to a good dinner. The catch: it is the busiest village and the priciest.
Italy Skiing Corvara - la Villa Alta Badia · GP. Product · 7 min · YouTube
Best for: Sellaronda skiers who want to be a few lifts from Passo Gardena and to sleep in a quieter village
Colfosco is the choice for the Sellaronda and the Val Mezdí side of the mountain. It is smaller and calmer than Corvara and has the Sassongher over the village. The catch: the Gran Risa is a bus ride away, and the evenings are quiet.
South Tirol, Italy - Colfosco - The Most Charming Village in The Dolomites - 4K UHD Video · WalkingTrails&TravelVibes · 46 min · YouTube
Best for: Racing fans and families: the Gran Risa, the Piz La Ila gondola and a slower village
La Villa suits skiers who want the Gran Risa and a more everyday village, with shops and a pharmacy on the main street. The catch: in the World Cup week it is full, and Corvara and the Sellaronda are a bus ride or two lifts away.
ITALY ALTA BADIA - Discover La Villa, a Village for Skiing and Winter Wonders, Dolomites · WanderWorldTravel · 51 min · YouTube
Best for: Lagazuoi and Armentarola, and quiet evenings with a good table
San Cassiano is the village of Lagazuoi and of the old star restaurants, and its slopes feel remote from the rest of the valley. It suits skiers who want Armentarola and a quiet night. The catch: it is the farthest from the Sellaronda and the Gran Risa.
San Cassiano - Alta Badia - (Sci / Ski Sella Ronda) · Franci CiSKo · 9 min · YouTube
In Map Drop the countries of Europe fall one at a time and you drop each into its place - Italy is one of the pieces.
The practical stuff that makes the first day in Alta Badia easier.
Alta Badia's own pass covers 54 lifts and 130 km, as far as the passes of Campolongo, Falzarego and Gardena. The Dolomiti Superski pass covers 12 areas and is what the Sellaronda needs; whether a single Dolomiti Superski day can be added to a valley pass was not confirmed, so ask a pass office. Buy online two days ahead for 5% off and pick up the My Dolomiti Card at a ski pass office; the offices in every village open daily from December.
Third-party liability insurance is required on the slopes and is not in the ski pass, though it can be bought for a single day. Since the 2025/26 winter helmets are mandatory for every snow sport, whatever the age.
The valley lies between 1,000 and 2,000 m, and winter tyres or snow chains are required. The villages have mechanics and e-car charging points, and buses and ski buses reach the lifts, so the car can stay at your lodging.
The South Tyrol Guest Pass, given by member lodgings, covers all local buses including the winter ski buses (but not the one in Badia) and the regional trains. Brunico, 30 km away, is the nearest station, and the Südtirol Mobil app plans the connections.
Italian, German and Ladin share every sign, and English works in hotels and huts. Learn Bëgnodüs (welcome) and bun dé (good day).
The Alta Badia lift list shows most lifts running from about 8:30 to 16:15 and the Lagazuoi cable car from 9:00 to 16:30. Plan the last run before the last ride, especially on the Sellaronda. The clocks go forward on 28 March 2027.
Porcino serves dinner only by reservation from 12 December 2026 to 20 March 2027, and La Stüa de Michil is also a booking. The Gourmet Skisafari on 13 December 2026 needs a voucher from the tourist offices or the huts. The huts of A taste for skiing serve their dishes all winter.
Yes. Four ski days cover the central plateau and the Gran Risa, the Sellaronda, Armentarola and Lagazuoi, and the quiet La Crusc side. The fifth is a day off skis, because the nearest town, Brunico, is 38 km away. A week lets you add a second Sellaronda direction or the First World War ski tour.
Alta Badia has 130 km with 74 km of blue runs, 47 of red and 9 of black, and the best huts. Val Gardena is bigger, at 181 km together with Alpe di Siusi, and has a larger share of red and black. Both sit on the Sellaronda, so you can ski the other valley in a day. See the Val Gardena guide.
Yes, in either direction. Dolomiti Superski lists both as moderate: clockwise (orange) about 4 hours of skiing and counterclockwise (green) about 4.5, both about 39.6 km. Start by 8:45, check the live status of the circuit and use the Dolomiti Superski pass.
The men's giant slalom is on Sunday 20 December 2026 and a night slalom on Monday 21 December, with an opening party on Saturday 19 December. Tickets went on presale on 15 October 2026.
Yes. 74 of the 130 km are blue, there are kids' slopes at Pralongià and a package for ages 3 to 5 with five half-day lessons, rental, a lift pass and accommodation. Seven ski schools teach in the valley.
Corvara for the Sellaronda and the evenings, Colfosco for a quieter start of the Sellaronda, La Villa for the Gran Risa and San Cassiano for Armentarola and Lagazuoi. All four share the same lifts and the same pass.
It is at the expensive end of the Dolomites. A Dolomiti Superski day pass is 89 EUR in high season in 2026/27, and huts and the starred restaurants add up. Low-season days and the online 5% discount bring it down.
Find Alta Badia on the map, learn the flag and check how much you really know about Italy.
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