The laziest place in the world to go skiing
It might be wrong to label the Dolomite mountains in Northern Italy as the laziest place in the world to go skiing. After all, there are hundreds of kilometres of interconnected runs and plenty of powder hounds, who visit from all over the world to be up with the larks on the first gondolas of the day.
But if you’re at that stage of life – and I raise my ski pole here – where the snooze button is your friend, that third breakfast cappuccino seems awfully inviting, and a lingering, wine-infused lunch on the terrace of a sunny mountain restaurant is an integral part of your trip, well then, say buongiorno to your new favourite winter holiday region.
The opportunities for skiing in the Dolomites are extensive, but so is the range of new and revamped ski-with-spa hotels and world-class restaurants that sprinkle the Ladin, Italian and German-speaking region, which until the First World War was a part of Austria. There are easy connections from Innsbruck, Venice and Verona airports, including new Wizz Air flights from Gatwick to the latter starting in mid-December.
One way to get a taste for the region is hotel hopping, over the course of a week or long weekend, on a ‘gourmet ski safari,’ with your luggage transported for you as you schuss, sauna and snack your way from east to west or vice versa.
Over an extended weekend, with my knowledgeable guide Agustina, I skied my way across the mountains that connected three resorts, starting around 9.30am each day and finishing in good time to rest piste-bashed limbs in the nearest whirlpool bath. And although I got quality time on the slopes, there were chances most days to settle down later with a good book by a crackling fire too.
Unhurried proceedings began in Cortina d’Ampezzo – home of the 1956 Winter Olympics and future joint site of the 2026 games – where I ambled on the pedestrianised Corso Italia with trendy weekenders from Rome and Milan. They paraded past shops that sold Dior, Moncler and Yves St Laurent, while my vibe was more C&A-closing-sale 2001.
The town originally developed in the middle ages, passing from Venetian to Hapsburg rule. It now attracts the jet set, plenty of whom come to ski, but just as many are here to eat, shop, and potter in the snow taking selfies, fortified by mid-morning Bombardinos: half egg nog, half brandy with a generous dollop of whipped cream plonked on top. Not looking one’s best on the slopes here – where ski lifts are sponsored by prosecco companies – would be as unthinkable as a cappuccino at midday.
The 22-room de Len Hotel, with its slatted-wooden façade, shocking-yellow-carpeted corridors, basement cocktail lounge, check-shirted staff and top-floor spa, is what a trendy Brooklyn hotel would be if New York’s hipster hangouts decided to add a ski room.
After a day on easy blue and red runs in glorious sunshine I moved my lazy safari on to another comfortable hotel, which has undergone a multi-million-euro refurb over the last few years, the family-run Kolfuschgerhof outside Colfosco, about 20km west of Cortina.
The property is dominated by the dramatic towers, pinnacles and vertiginous cliffs of the Dolomite Mountains in the middle distance. In the evening, a pianist tinkled by the fireside before Agustina and I tucked into beef cheek with celery puree or rack of rabbit in a courgette crust. Beforehand, we’d sneaked into the village for a pre-dinner drink at the lively L’Got Bar, where negronis were topped with home-dried rhubarb, and quite frankly we could have made a full meal out of the bar snacks alone.
Many stay here for the spa experience, not least the roof-top sauna and open-air bubble pool, which must have one of the most beguiling mountain views in Europe. Downstairs I enjoyed the treatment rooms where I was wrapped in warm hay from the local meadows. Quite frankly, I have no idea what it does for you because I was asleep in seconds, but afterwards I smelled terrific.
My final stop, another 20km or so further west, in the village of Ortisei, was the grand but friendly Hotel Gardena Grödnerhof, positioned just three minutes’ walk from the nearest ski lift. Here, again, the spa – all multi-levelled, 1,500 square metres of it – and gourmet restaurant were the star attractions bidding to hijack my time away from the slopes.
The spacious indoor pool even has a fireplace at one end, while elsewhere I nipped in and out of the saunas (yes, plural), steam bath, gym, treatment rooms and outdoor whirlpool as well as floating waterbeds where I slipped on headphones to be soothed by classical music. In the Anna Stuben restaurant that night, I gorged on the tasting menu that encompassed dishes of trout, spaghetti with oysters, local lamb, dry-aged beef, and a chocolate dessert with mandarin foam.
In terms of piste-side lunches my favourites included the Scotoni mountain hut, in between Calfosch and Cortina, where the signature dish was a heaving plate of grilled local meats, and which left me so stuffed I paid €3 to be pulled behind horses on my skis rather than langlauf to the nearest car park.
Another memorable feast that I can highly recommend came from the kitchen of Baita Piè Tofana, tucked into woods near Cortina, where the dishes of soft polenta, poached egg and gooey cheese followed by veal ravioli jumped right onto the list of my all-time most delicious mountain meals. I lounged on its sunny terrace, restoring my vitamin D levels while contemplating another run down the uncrowded blue slope nearby. But first, an espresso and a grappa to ease into the afternoon.
Essentials
Dolomite Mountains (dolomitemountains.com) offers a week’s Gourmet Ski Safari from €4,690pp/£4,035 (based on four travelling). This includes six nights’ half board accommodation (which can include the three hotels mentioned here), private transfers, private guiding and luggage forwarding.
The Dolomites can be accessed from Innsbruck, Venice or Verona airports, with regular flights by easyJet (easyjet.com), British Airways (britishairways.com), WizzAir (wizzair.com) and Ryanair (ryanair.com).
