Lake Misurina

Over 160 years ago German and British travellers discovered the limestone mountains Dolomites, and treated the small villages scattered around the area as base for their excursions.
At the beginning separated from the civilization soon they received the new roads and railway connection with Venice and Milano. The winter resorts were modeled after St.Moritz in Austria, as most of the mountains were under the Austrian-Hungarian Empire rule.


        The new hotels were build in Cortina d'Ampezzo, San Martino di Castrozza also in Madonna di Campiglio to name just a few important ski resorts.A little outside of the main track the ski resort San Martino remained its egalitarian character. Unlike the other resorts, which are better or worse interconnected between each other, it is rather difficult to ski elsewhere while sleeping in San Martino, thus the tourists came there more for relaxing and admiring the phantasy shapes of Dolomite peaks still enjoying skiing.
The visitors, who want to experience the biggest number of kilometers and the bigger variety of slopes choose the area of Sella Ronda. within last years the Italian magazines and organizations voted Alta Badia and Val Gardena the best ski resorts of Dolomites, and among the best in Italy, considering the accommodation base, tourist information and overall preparation for the Winter and Summer seasons.
British tourists prefer Madonna, which competes with Cortina for the title 'Queen of Dolomites'. Not only British, recently Madonna has seen Naomi Campbell, and Michael Schumacher, who became the frequent guest there. But Cortina is definitely the icon of Dolomites, and a really 'must-see' for the firs timers in Dolomites.
Already popular at the beginning of 20th century it became the resort of 'rich and famous' especially after the World War II, which fruited with hosting Winter Olympics in 1956.
Several iconic movies were made on the slopes of Tofane, including Bond with Roger Moore, who visited Cortina several times after. Cortina is still the elite ski resort, however today is harder to spot a celebrity, who rather stay within the privacy of their apartments. The photo shows Lake Misurina, a marvelous table of water reflecting the surrounding mountains in the relaxing tranquility of existence.

To read about the best hotels in Dolomites please visit the pages of Ski Italy, where you can also find more about Ski Cortina.

Photo courtesy of satyricon86