Italy’s new sleeper train is the answer for the ultimate city-ski holiday
For Italians, tempo counts. Adagio – the thrum of cobblestones beneath a Roman taxi. Andante – a serene parade of fur coats down Cortina’s Corso Italia. In Italy, all good things come to those who wait.
And now, a relaxed nine-hour overnight journey on the new Espresso Cadore sleeper train makes the marriage of Rome and Cortina even sweeter. Until this winter, to link the pair required a traffic-snagged eight-hour drive. Now, skiers leave the Eternal City on Friday evenings at 9.40pm and arrive in Calalzo di Cadore (45 minutes by bus from Cortina) just before 8am. The retro-fitted train offers single and double sleeping cabins, and four or six-person couchettes reserved for groups. The onboard restaurant car serves dinner and breakfast, and there’s an all-night bar.
The journey begins in Roma Termini and – after an unannounced track change that added 20 sweaty minutes to the exercise – a troupe of red-coated stewards and waiters were ready for us to board, eager for us to sample the newest way to combine a city break with skiing.
Our couchette had two beds made up with crisp white sheets, duvet, bottled water, toiletry kit and, critically, a window that opened. In the restaurant car, retro Cortina ski photographs were hanging above linen-dressed tables lit with tiny lamps and red upholstered seats. A three-course menu and bar snacks were served with proper china and, cheeringly, a half bottle of wine was just €9 (£7.70) and poured into an actual glass. Bellissimo!
Calming in the city
An equally relaxed tempo had been put in place over the previous two days in Rome. In a city bursting with ruin-ringed pleasures, museums, galleries, and more than 200 fountains, two days provided a tidy fix.
It was a blessing on the budget too. Compared to the May-through-October high season, Rome’s wintertime hotel prices are lower and there are fewer visitors. Even the police seemed to get the easy-going vibe: the no-sitting on the Spanish Steps law, enacted in 2016, went unprosecuted for ice cream lovers.
A landmark since the 1720s, Hotel Hassler sits in a privileged position atop the storied stairway. Family run for six generations, it’s a perch of warmth and elegance that’s attracted a host of luminaries – from Charles III (then the Prince of Wales) to Eisenhower, who established his private study here, and Audrey Hepburn who favoured silk-padded suite 610 for her stays.
The early-morning chimes of the adjacent Trinità dei Monti bell tower are a call to action: hundreds of sparkling boutiques and designer shops spill forth from the Piazza di Spagna below. Another bonus for cool-weather visitors: January sales are in full swing.
When in Rome, even in winter it’s wise to book in advance. Heavy hitters such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Sistine Chapel are never out of season. We snagged last-minute tickets at the gates of 17th century Villa Borghese, an ornate feast of Baroque paintings and Roman sculptures by Rubens, Raphael and Caravaggio. Later, little energy was required for a hop-on hop-off bus tour, a cheap and cheerful mode of covering thousands of years of history in an hour and a half.
Onward to the slopes
With the city behind us, we sped through the night towards Italy’s chicest Alpine destination – the perfect companion to the elegance of the Eternal City. Cortina, where people wear fur and dogs wear clothing – the most Italian of Italian resorts and a byword for alpine glamour since Sophia Loren opened the 1956 Winter Olympics here with a smile that flashed around the globe.
With one ski boot planted firmly in its vintage past, Cortina now looks to its future as joint host of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games. Efforts are underway to modernise – though no one has much to say about what, how or when – to update ageing lifts, improve inadequate road access and elevate run down hotels.
A bright light on the hotel front is Hotel de Len, a plush sanctuary that opened in 2022. An intimate sixth-floor spa has the best view in the house, where peaks glitter through panoramic windows that frame the sauna, ice waterfall and open-air hot tub. In the evening, occasional chef swaps — such as January’s dinner with Sardinian chef Luigi Pomata — offer master menus alongside Hotel de Len’s own chef Andrea Ribaldone.
City smog now forgotten, there was no lack of clean air at the top of the Tofane mountains, awash in sunshine and groomed to perfection. Under the charming guidance of Filippo Turrin, from the experienced local outfit Dolomite Mountains, we cruised around Cortina’s famous south-facing steeps, including the classic Stratofana Olimpica Ladies’ Downhill.
Descending its heart-fluttering fall-away of 56 per cent, pre-iced as it was for the upcoming World Cup race, and sandwiched between two sentinel rock walls, warranted a celebration.
Rifugio Pomedes has been welcoming sunbathers to its terrace since 1956, when the Austrian racer Toni Sailer scooped three Olympic golds on the resort’s slopes, at the first televised Winter Games. I slurped a Bombarino – the whipped cream, egg and rum-doused concoction that shouts viva Italia! – while Filippo traced the highlights of one of the alpine world’s greatest panoramas on the horizon.
The glittering Marmolada Glacier, Nuvolau (home of the region’s first hut built in 1883), Cinque Torri (alpinist’s paradise), Antelao (King of the Dolomites), and the Faloria and Cristallo ski areas on the valley’s far side.
All eyes are on Cortina in 2026. Now that the Queen of the Dolomites is only one sleep from the Eternal City, a rebirth is afoot. Given what Italy knows about the business of renaissance, it could be a masterpiece.
Essentials
The Rome-Cortina Sleeper train cost from £134 per passenger in a six-berth compartment, departing Roma Termini at 9.40pm Friday and arriving in Cortina at 7.57am Saturday, December 2024 through February 2025 (dates to be confirmed).
In Rome, doubles at Hotel Hassler Roma cost from £856 per night. In Cortina, doubles at Hotel de Len cost from £384 per night, B&B.
Leslie was a guest of Hotel Hassler, Hotel de Len and Dolomite Mountains.
