My husband and son are planning to visit our other son while he is studying abroad in northern Italy. I believe they will fly into Venice as it is about an hour from my son's school. I am looking for suggestions about where to ski/stay for a 3 night ski weekend. I see there is a ski pass that covers 12 ski areas. Just at a bit of a loss as to where to start looking and also the best way to get there from Venice. They are all excellent skiers.
Thank you for any advice!
My suggestion would be to stay somewhere on the "Sella Ronda" circuit. This is a 25 mile circular ski route that goes around the Sella Massif. There are 4 valleys that spread out in the four compass points from the Sella. Each valley has their own ski village and all are interconnected by lifts and ski trails. Good skiers should be able to do it in 4 hours. You can do it clockwise or counterclockwise.
The four towns in each valley are Canazei, Arabba, Corvara (Kurfar), and Selva di Gardena (Wolkenstein).
If they have a car, I would suggest Canazei as easiest drive from Venice, about 2 1/2 hours. If they use public transportation, I'd go with Selva which is train to Verona, then train to Bolzano, then bus to Selva.
Both towns are great ski towns. I've stayed and skied from both. In Canazei, the Astoria is a top hotel with breakfast and dinner and shuttle van to the main lift station about a half mile away. In Selva, there are many hotels of various price levels, from the ultra luxiourious Granbaita, to the low key 3-star Hotel des Alpes.
Lots of great skiing and eye-candy of the Dolomite peaks all around.
Thank you for your suggestions, Sam!
I can't comment on skiing because we visited the Dolomites during the summer. However, if you do visit the Val Gardena area, I highly recommend the Dorfhotel Beludei. It is about a 10 minute drive from Selva Wolkenstein.
http://www.beludei.com/en/information/index/1-0.html
We stayed there for a 4 night hiking trip and it exceeded our expectations. Incredibly gracious staff. Wonderful breakfast and dinner, and hearty snacks served in the late afternoon. Beautiful spa area. I see that they have a shuttle to the lifts during ski season. (All this is included in your room rate.) I think we were the only Americans staying at the hotel when we were there last August. We went on a couple of guided hikes with Italian guests who were a lot of fun.
We used public transportation on our trip - train from Verona, then bus to Val Gardena. We stayed in Brixen for a night before heading out to Val Gardena, but returned to Verona through Bozen. The bus station in Bozen is less than a 5 minute walk from the train station. The buses have big storage spaces accessible from the outside of the bus for skis and luggage. You could also arrange a private taxi from Bozen to the hotel.
Here is a special ski run I think your gang would enjoy, the Lagazuoi Valley, or sometimes referred to in English as the Hidden Valley. It will take an hour or 2 to get to from Canazei or Selva, but they did go to ski, n'est pas?
They should head to Armenterola on the far east end of the Sella Ronda circuit. There is a small hotel there, and in the parking lot next to the road, there will be a bunch of taxis and some buses. For a flat fee, (was 5 EUR per person 10 years ago) they will haul you up to the top of the Falzarego Pass on the way to Cortina d'Ampezzo. There, there is a cable car that takes you up onto the mountain. Note the informational signs that this was the front line during WWI and the Italians and Austrians kept trying to dig tunnels under each others positions and blow each other up. Not much came of it except to make a lot of of road building material for after the war.
Anyway, ski over the other side and there is a groomed ski trail through an isolated valley that is exceptionally beautiful, with frozen waterfalls all about. Further down the trail, there are a couple of restaurants to stop for refreshment. At the end of the run, it becomes too flat to ski. There are a couple of horse-drawn sleighs to haul skiers over the flat section. Three ropes are dragged behind the sleigh with a knot about every 3 feet. You grab on to a section of rope, pay the attendant about 2 EUR and when 40 or 50 people are holding the rope, the drivers shouts "giddeyup!" (or the German or Italian equivalent), and the skiers all get towed to Armenterola.
The first time I did this about 20 years ago, dodging the horse apples in the ski run was part of the challenge. Nowadays, the horses wear diapers, so that is no longer an issue. At Armenterola, there is a small poma lift behind the hotel to boost you up high enough to get on a run taking you back to the main lifts.
Wow, that sounds great! Thank you again!
