Yep. Real close - can take a chair/gondola between the two.Colfosco is right near Corvara right?
Can recommend Garni Flurida as well in Val Gardena. Location, location, location and great hosts (3 or summers ago mind you).We stayed at Garni La Dorada in Cofolsco. Have a look at that or a couple around there. Walking distance to small supermarket/s, not flashy, walking to bridge that goes down to main Gondola and you can ski back home.
That looks almost perfect except no washing machine/dryer. We will be there with kids for 10 days and will need to wash clothes frequently.We stayed at Garni La Dorada in Cofolsco. Have a look at that or a couple around there. Walking distance to small supermarket/s, not flashy, walking to bridge that goes down to main Gondola and you can ski back home.
I did washing in the sinkThat looks almost perfect except no washing machine/dryer. We will be there with kids for 10 days and will need to wash clothes frequently.
looks niceMy favourite non touristy spot was Speikboden- Klausberg. Dolomites best kept secret. Quiet and some great offpiste ( some of it very steep) where you be lucky to see a contest for first tracks. Sand in Taufers is a lovely quiet town and Kronplatz is close.
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sounds goodIf you consider Cortina, which is an unbelievable place, Faloria is definitely the place for snowboard, a quick chair over to Mont Cristallo a fun snowboard paradise.... Tofana is steep, seriously steep.
sounds good, alsoOf the locations you have mentioned to stay, how would you order them in terms of preference?
In terms of accessing areas that aren't directly on the Sella Ronda:
- Corvara stays sunnier longer into the afternoons; only the southern areas of the town have walk-to access to lifts.
- Arabba is in the shadow of the mountains under the Marmolada Glacier; colder generally with steeper runs.
- Selva / Val Gardena / Wolkenstein (multiple names as the region has been part of differing nation states and/or empires over time) is the largest village in the area. I haven't spent much time in the town.
- Canazei requires a lift to get skiing each morning; is down in a valley so it loses the sun relatively early.
Which accommodation sites do you use to book your holiday? I sometimes book directly with the accommodation. Other times we've gone through Mario's tour company here -
- Corvara and Colfosco gain direct access to the Alta Badia region in the hills above.
- Arabba accesses the hills above and also has the quickest access to the Marmolada Glacier; all the other towns can access the glacier but Arabba is quickest / easiest.
- Canazei / Alba access the Belvedere region in the hills above, and also has quick access to the Ciampac / Buffaure region.
- Canazei / Campitello have quickest access to the Val di Fassa in the valley below.
- Campitello / Val Gardena have quickest access to the Plan de Gralba.
- Val Gardena has quick access to the Seceda area above, and the ski around to Ortisei, etc.
http://www.dolomitesskitours.com.au/
Sounds like German would serve you better for this trip? In the Bolzano/Dolomiti area you will find many Italians speak German. Or maybe a combination of Italian and German. I make do with my high school German and the Italian I learnt at home from my parents. Sorry I can't help more. Anyway, your trip sounds wonderful.I am planning a trip in September next year with my son. It will follow on from near 3 weeks with OG1 doing the old folks river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam after some days in Prague. He and I will leave from Amsterdam and stop in Munich for a couple of days then to Bolzano for 4 days hiking in the Dolomites. After that the idea is to train it to Florence for 2 days (had 7 days there with OG1 a couple of years ago) then hike to Siena from San Gimignano over 4 days. Then we will head to Rome for 5 or 6 days (including visit to Pompeii and/or Heraclaneum, is I spelled that right) before heading home.
Still need to try out the idea to see if it will fit and cost it out.
One thing though is I reckon I should try to learn some basic Italian. Not just this trip (simple requests and pleasantries, reading maps etc) but having been retired a year now I need some intellectual challenge and hobby so why not?
Seems like there are various pathways for this such as short courses at TAFE etc or Dante Aleghre (?spelling). Any particular suggestions?
That could work.....if I wanted to spend my entire holiday at the sink!I did washing in the sink![]()
Does it have laundry facilities? I can't get the website to workhttps://www.portavescovo.it/en
We'll be at this hotel in Arabba in January. Get's the thumbs up from most that have stayed there.
Check out the terrain at 1 minute 15
is it easy to get to and is accommodation easy to get, also?
No mention of the Hidden Valley? Quite a novel experience - skiing past frozen waterfalls and eventually finishing with a horse rope tow
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that's the area below Lagazuoi?
yep - I stayed at Rifugio Lagazuoi evernight - a must-do - and skied down next dayThat's right. Bus from downtown Corvara to the Falzarego Pass (top left in the below trail map) or you can ski over to Armentarola on the far side of the Alta Badia ski area and catch a mini bus / taxi from there. Then a cable car up to Lagazuoi from the Falzarego Pass. Then a long ski down what's known as the 'hidden valley'. There's a rifugio called Scotoni Hutte on the way down. It's a grill restaurant - smells great, although we've never eaten there. At the bottom you have a kilometre (or so) of flat valley floor to get back to Armentarola. Around thirty people can latch onto ropes behind a horse-drawn sleigh and get pulled to Armentarola. Costs two euro. It's either that or skate / walk along the valley floor. Bargain.
https://www.altabadia.org/en/winter-holidays/italian-alps/lagazuoi-circuit.html
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that's the area below Lagazuoi?
... especially since after Hidden Valley its one way bus out only.
The horse tow drops you at Armentarola, and you skate a hundred yards or so (around the hotel, through some trees, alongside a creek, over a flat bridge) to a poma which lifts you up into the hills of Alta Badia. From the top of the poma you traverse around the hill to the gondola at San Cassiano, which is a little further down valley. From there you're free to ski on.
[edit - then you get lost in the maze of lifts in Alta Badia, but that's another story]
You are missing the point, "Shoey" started out of Cortina.
[edit - then you get lost in the maze of lifts in Alta Badia, but that's another story]
Thumbs up to Val GardenaHi
My family and I stayed a week in Selva Val Gardena a while back and it was fantastic
Stayed in an apartment right on the Sella Ronda touring circuit
Great food,interesting mix of italian and German influences, stunning scenery, options for off circuit skiing to Ortesi and Mamolada Goodfor families
There are two supermarkets in Colfosco.I'd be heading for a two bed apartment in Corvara. Look for one in the southern end of town which is close to / walk to lifts and the supermarket. All the accommodation options in the north will require a bus service to get to the centre of the town.
Below is a map of Corvara. The map looks sideways, and it is. I've aligned it so north/south is oriented properly ... or as properly as I can get it. Colfosco is out of sight at top left - north west of Corvara at the end of the horizontal Borest gondola. The local Alta Badia ski region is off to the right / east. The town is right on the Sella Ronda so you have access to just an untold number of lifts and valleys and areas and slopes and runs and rifugio. You'll ski all day and you won't need to do the same lift or slope twice.
Down the bottom there, just above the wiggly road, is the middle of town. There are a number of apartments nearby - sort of in between the two southernmost lifts. I'll send you a PM with some residence names I jotted down earlier this year. They'd be perfect. Not sure of the rates, but they're self-catered places and they'd work nicely. The real trick will be to find them online for booking.
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Val Gardena would be the other obvious choice. Bigger town, a bit lower in its valley, a lot more accommodation options. I've no experience in that town, I've just zoomed through (as you do) so I'll defer to anyone else who's been there.
Colfosco is also right on the Sella Ronda but I'm not sure it has a supermarket. I'm happy to be corrected though. [edit - higher up the page someone says there is a supermarket there]
Friends have been recommended
Most resorts around Sella are good - all depends on what your are looking for.Now that we have finished skiing in Oz this year I am turning my attention to Italy again.
Friends have been recommended San Cassiano as a base, though I'm not sure why. Looking at maps of the area I feel that Corvara/Colfosco would be better options for us. Anyone aware of why San Cassiano would be 'highly recommended'?
The recommendation came from a local that our friends met in Venice last week, but I suspect it was about the accommodation rather than the location.Treading carefully here, but before you listen to friends' recommendations I'd do some work qualifying their overseas skiing experience.
It was classic here on the forums years ago: "OMFG Whistler is the best ski resort in the world" "Where have you skied overseas?" "Whistler!!!!"
Fortunately the forums have since been graced with members like @Heinz and @Zeroz who have seriously impressive travel resumes.
Just because friends had a good time somewhere, and let's be honest Australian skiers are pretty easily impressed, doesn't necessarily mean that it's the best place to go, or suits your requirements. @Legs Akimbo made a quip a little while ago that I use as my forum signature...,
Attached is a large scale trail / lift map of the Sella region. This'll help flesh out my earlier post.
The Alta Badia region is circled in yellow, with San Cassiano situated on the far right of that circle. The Sella Ronda is the green circle. You can see Corvara is within the yellow circle, and on the green circle. It represents the Alta Badia 'corner' of the Sella Ronda, along with Colfosco next door. From San Cassiano you need to cross Alta Badia to begin the Sella Ronda. That's two lifts (from memory) and a looong, shallow schuss down the hill to reach Corvara each day.
To give you a sense of scale, the whole image is about 40km square. Lift time for one lap of the Sella Ronda (either direction) is around two hours. If you hit first lifts, ski very quickly, and don't waste much time over lunch you could do the Sella twice in one day. That's if everyone is shifting along with a bit of intent.
Armentarola is on the right edge of the yellow circle, next to San Cassiano. From there you can get a ride up to the Passo Falzarego to reach Lagazuoi, or go over the pass and down into Cortina, both of which are just off the right edge of this image. Skiing Cortina for a day then getting a bus back is a viable option from Alta Badia.
The Marmolada Glacier is lower right. Easily accessed from anywhere in Alta Badia. There and back in a day - easy.
Seceda is the blue circle. It's accessed from the bottom of the World Cup downhill run in the Val Gardena / Santa Cristina region. You take a light rail trip up the hill to access that area, and come back the same way on return. Val 'd'Anna is most of the way down the run into Ortisei.
Ciampac / Buffaure is the red circle at lower left, and is accessed from Alba. You can ski all the way to Pozza di Fassa and back. You used to have to take a bus to get to Alba, but they've installed a new cable car between Alba and the Belvedere ski area at Passo Pordoi - it's new enough that it doesn't show on this map.
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Google map or Dolomite superski is very slow in updating new lifts, so the new Alba lift and the crossing over Arabba are not on after quite some years.Attached is a large scale trail / lift map of the Sella region. This'll help flesh out my earlier post.
The Alta Badia region is circled in yellow, with San Cassiano situated on the far right of that circle. The Sella Ronda is the green circle. You can see Corvara is within the yellow circle, and on the green circle. It represents the Alta Badia 'corner' of the Sella Ronda, along with Colfosco next door. From San Cassiano you need to cross Alta Badia to begin the Sella Ronda. That's two lifts (from memory) and a looong, shallow schuss down the hill to reach Corvara each day.
To give you a sense of scale, the whole image is about 40km square. Lift time for one lap of the Sella Ronda (either direction) is around two hours. If you hit first lifts, ski very quickly, and don't waste much time over lunch you could do the Sella twice in one day. That's if everyone is shifting along with a bit of intent.
Armentarola is on the right edge of the yellow circle, next to San Cassiano. From there you can get a ride up to the Passo Falzarego to reach Lagazuoi, or go over the pass and down into Cortina, both of which are just off the right edge of this image. Skiing Cortina for a day then getting a bus back is a viable option from Alta Badia.
The Marmolada Glacier is lower right. Easily accessed from anywhere in Alta Badia. There and back in a day - easy.
Seceda is the blue circle. It's accessed from the bottom of the World Cup downhill run in the Val Gardena / Santa Cristina region. You take a light rail trip up the hill to access that area, and come back the same way on return. Val 'd'Anna is most of the way down the run into Ortisei.
Ciampac / Buffaure is the red circle at lower left, and is accessed from Alba. You can ski all the way to Pozza di Fassa and back. You used to have to take a bus to get to Alba, but they've installed a new cable car between Alba and the Belvedere ski area at Passo Pordoi - it's new enough that it doesn't show on this map.
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@linked_recoveries want to come along with us and be our guide? Do you speak Italian?
Thanks for the accommodation link. I now feel a bit embarrassed asking the original question.Google map or Dolomite superski is very slow in updating new lifts, so the new Alba lift and the crossing over Arabba are not on after quite some years.
Try http://www.opensnowmap.org.
Many B&B remember Saturday -Saturday or Sunday - Sunday they do not wamt to spoil the weeks.
https://www.altabadia.org/en/hotel-...dolomites/hotel-accommodation-alta-badia.html
And remember the first world war ski trip.
https://issuu.com/altabadia/docs/erster-weltkrieg-grande-guerra
(sorry couldn't find the right link just now)
Troier on SecedaFor lunch there are 3 places I would advice (there are for shure many more, but....)
http://www.fornata.it/mountain-hut/lodge-uetia-de-bioch.htm Alta Badia area
Rifugio Friedrich August Hütte Campetello area (often af nice dog at the local lift )
http://www.troier.com/en/ Seceda - St. Christina (remember the underground)
For all of them - come early or very late - otherwise no place for you.
Troier on Secedagreat spot.
Will look forward to the trip report and your thoughts on colfosco as a baseStaying in Colfosco for a week in mid January 2019, spending a month in total winding our way north from Rome (where we will be for New Years). Seriously looking forward to it!