Sci in Trentino-Alto Adige

Trentino-Alto Adige is, without question, Italy’s most important ski region in terms of volume, quality and variety. It concentrates the greatest number of ski areas, the most modern lift systems, the finest mountain cuisine and a hospitality network that has no rival anywhere in the Italian Alps. This region is also among Europe’s most complex in terms of cultural identity: to the south lies Trentino, Italian in language and customs; to the north, Alto Adige — known as Südtirol to its German-speaking inhabitants — carries deep Central European roots, unmistakable Tyrolean architecture and a bilingualism that permeates every aspect of daily life.

The entire system revolves around the Dolomiti Superski, a ski pass without equal in the world for scale and integration. Linking 12 interconnected areas with more than 1,200 kilometres of groomed runs and over 450 lifts, it allows skiers to explore the same territory for weeks without repeating a single descent. Its jewel is the Sellaronda circuit, which loops around the Sella massif through four valleys — Gardena, Fassa, Livinallongo and Badia — completing the tour clockwise or anti-clockwise in a full day for a competent skier. It ranks among the most celebrated ski itineraries on earth.

Plan de Corones, Kronplatz in German, stands as one of Europe’s technologically most advanced resorts. Its pyramid shape, with runs descending in every direction from the 2,275-metre summit, guarantees a variety that satisfies every ability level. At the top, the LUMEN Alpine Photography Museum designed by Zaha Hadid Architects fuses art and mountain landscape at the very highest level.

The Alpe di Siusi is the largest high-altitude plateau in Europe: a tableland of meadows and forests suspended above the Val Gardena and Isarco valleys, with the Odle peaks and Sassolungo filtering the light differently at every hour. In winter it becomes a paradise for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing; in summer, a sea of wildflowers drawing hikers from across the continent.

In the valleys of Gardena and Badia, Ladin culture survives as a living heritage. This Romance-language community, descended directly from the Romanised Raeti, preserves traditions, legends and an Alpine vision of extraordinary originality. In Alta Badia, several Michelin-starred mountain restaurants reinterpret local flavours with a creativity that has turned this valley into a gastronomic pilgrimage for connoisseurs worldwide. Trentino-Alto Adige is a region where every dimension — slopes, culture, cuisine, nature — has been brought to its absolute peak.