The Northeasternmost region of Italy, South Tyrol boasts as many as 300 sunny days a year and as such, it’s unsurprising that it’s one of our favourite winter destinations.
With modern ski facilities, well groomed slopes and even a ‘snow guarantee’, South Tyrol provides some fantastic skiing and Val Gardena is the ideal place in which to base yourself to explore the area.
Val Gardena is a Ladin valley consisting of three villages and hundreds of skiing slopes snaking below imposing mountains: the rocky massifs of the Odle, Sella, Sassolungo, Cir. The Dolomites, also known as the ‘Pale Mountains’, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are a feat of beauty that should be on every skiers bucket list. For passionate skiers, no ski holiday would be complete without conquering the “Sellaronda”. This ski tour route circles the Sella massif and is accompanied by spectacular Dolomite views, perfect slopes and fantastic refreshment stops en route.
Val Gardena and the villages of Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva are well-known names on the international skiing stage, making them the perfect destination for people wanting to spend a winter holiday with plenty of outdoor leisure activities. Five Alpine skiing schools and two mountaineering schools welcome enthusiasts of all ages every year and offer fun activities both on and off the slopes.
In the last years, Val Gardena has received numerous recognitions, including five stars as ‘best skiing area’ by German website skiresort.de, one of the most important in the world for assessing skiing areas. Moreover, famous travel portal Trip Advisor awarded Selva Val Gardena the 6th place out of the top 10 most voted in the annual ‘Travellers Choice Award’ where tourists vote the best holiday destinations, placing just after the cities of art par excellence and some beach locations.
Val Gardena also stands for high-quality food as well as art and culture, being a valley steeped in history and traditions which embody the Ladin culture. Combined with the unique Alpine-Mediterranean cuisine characteristic to the South Tyrol region, rural, down-to-earth tastes fuse with with Mediterranean charm to create distinctive and delicious flavours. Every year in Val Gardena, initiatives and events burst on the scene to give visitors a glimpse of the peculiarities of said heritage.
