This morning, we say good-bye to the Alta Badia and make our way to the upscale ski resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, made famous from hosting the Winter Olympics in 1956. They will host it again in 2026! 

The route itself is filled with fascinating stops, including a small WWI museum packed to the brim with local memorabilia.

Our Great War journey continues at Lagizuoi, where we take a gondola up the mountain for a sightseeing excursion that includes a WWI “open air museum,” to discover tunnels, bunkers, and old barracks. Not far away, we take one more gondola to the top of Cinque Torre (meaning five towers) and tuck into a rifugio lunch. Yes, the rock formations look like five towers and yes, there will be more massive views.

Just a half an hour drive away, we check into our luxury Hotel de Len located in the center of charming Cortina, making it easy to explore the town on your own this evening. 

We have left the late afternoon and evening unscheduled to take advantage of Cortina’s elegant shops, restaurants, and superb Alpine scenery.  And if you are not gondola-ed out, consider soaring up to Tofana if the skies are clear to see the town’s Olympic ski run.

Dinner on your own. If you are out on the town, we recommend Il Vizietto, a cute local restaurant with great house-made pasta and fresh salads, only a short stroll from our hotel.  Our hotel also has a very nice restaurant.

Private transfer to see the Tre Cime di Lavaredo – probably the most famous landmark in all the Dolomites and also part of the world history of mountaineering – the first routes were climbed in the 1930s. From our lakeside vantage point, you will see 2 of the 3 “Cime”.  To see all three, we suggest taking a helicopter ride, let us know if that is of interest to you!

From Lake Misurina, we will take the gondola to Col de Varda at 2,120 meters.  From there, we will set off on a walk that takes advantage of the exceptional views of the Cadini mountains and avoids the masses of crowds hiking the traditional route around nearby Tre Cime. Enjoy a slightly challenging hike of about 1h 15 minutes, looking out for wild strawberries to snack on along the way.  Our goal is the Carpi rifugio, a perfect stop for lunch where you can taste local specialties such as canederli (a Tyrolean dumpling) or goulash (a beef soup or stew). Wash it all down with the local “ski water” a refreshing non-alcoholic spritz with raspberry and lemon.  After lunch, we retrace our steps back to the starting point (again around 1h15 minutes) and head back to Cortina.

Non-hikers will have another opportunity take an optional helicopter ride to see the Tre Cime, or gondola up to the top of Tolfana if you missed the opportunity the day before.

This evening, we will gather for an exquisite farewell dinner raising one final glass of Italian bubbles to our Soirée—it has been splendido!

After one last morning strudel, meet our private driver for a leisurely 2.5 hours drive south to Venice Marco Polo Airport.  That final ride down the mountain passes while watching the peaks fade away in the distance may pull those heartstrings—till the next time bella Italia…arrivederci!