Before visiting the Dolomite region of Italy, I knew very little about it. I had, however, heard about Cortina d’Ampezzo, a small mountain town that I think is a bit like Italy’s equivalent to Aspen, Colorado. The residents & visitors strut around in their trendy threads, the resorts are high-end and the shops are upscale.
Normally it’s not the kind of place I’d go out of my way to visit, but I also like to check it out. So we detoured on our circular route around the Dolomites in order to pay a quick visit to Cortina.
Steep rocky mountains give way to the more gentle sloping green hillsides that flow into Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The buildings & chalets have decks that are decorated with colorful flowers & are reminiscent of similar Swiss & German mountain towns.
The pedestrian walkways in the town’s center offers glimpses of the high-end shops & people who frequent them.
Summary
We unfortunately didn’t have much time to amply visit or explore Cortina d’Ampezzo, but I’m at least glad that we had some time to at least see a little what it’s about. Cortina did seem perhaps a bit high end for my taste, and I’d probably prefer a more laid-back town to this one, but I suppose it’s only right to reserve full judgment until I have more time to spend here. :)
Map
Cortina d’Ampezzo (far right of map) is really far away from where we were staying at Hotel Vroni in Castelrotto (far left of map). But we were closer than we’d ever been, in the scheme of things, so we drove all the way over to check it out.
Here’s the map of our route where we also drove over Sella Pass & Gardena Pass & took the cable car up Sass Pordoi to hike. (Click the map image to go to Google’s Map.)
Wishing you safe & happy travels!
Kim