Cortina d'Ampezzo: Via Ferratas, Museums and Nature

Cortina d'Ampezzo combines alpine activities with an unusually diverse museum and cultural landscape. If you would like to choose between nature experiences, easy paths, more challenging routes and exhibitions for your trip, you will find several clearly distinct focal points here. More than 30 via ferratas of varying difficulty levels are located in Cortina d'Ampezzo. This allows you to choose a mountain experience according to your preferred level of challenge, without all activities having to follow the same format.

Dolomite landscape and paths for different pursuits

To the north of the built-up centre, the Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo extends across 11,200 hectares. The nature park thus forms an independent landscape area alongside the town and complements the selection of via ferratas with the opportunity to experience the surroundings along other routes. The cross-country ski trails in Fiames are suitable for beginners and children.

There is also a clearly described option for a cycling tour: the Lunga Via delle Dolomiti | Cortina-Calalzo is an easy, 35-kilometre cycling route. It begins at the bus station in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Those who would like to discover a historic landscape in a way other than on a sports or nature route can visit the restored trenches of the Museo all'Aperto della Grande Guerra – 5 Torri. From Bai de Dones, you can reach them on an easy, family-friendly hike or alternatively by chairlift. These two options already differ in the type of access and allow you to choose between a path and an ascent aid.

Fossils, modern art and the history of the landscape

The Museo Paleontologico Rinaldo Zardini takes you far back in time. It displays a valuable collection of Triassic fossils found in the Cortina d'Ampezzo area and illustrates 200 million years of geological development in the Ampezzo Valley. A separate section is dedicated to botany. The museum visit therefore combines fossils, geological history and botany, rather than focusing on just one part of natural history.

Another cultural focus awaits you at the Museo d'Arte Moderna Mario Rimoldi. It houses paintings and sculptures by important representatives of 20th-century Italian art. The collection is displayed on a rotating basis. If you visit the museum at different times, the selection on display may therefore change. Together with the palaeontological museum, it creates a contrast between the geological dimension of time and modern Italian art.

An observatory for looking into the sky

The Osservatorio Astronomico “Helmut Ullrich” expands the selection with an astronomical focus. For visual observation of deep-sky objects, planets, the Moon and the Sun, it has a 40 cm Ritchey-Chrétien telescope and a 28 cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Astronomy is thus documented in Cortina d'Ampezzo as a distinct sightseeing focus, complementing the outdoor and museum offerings with observation of the sky.

Other destinations in the same navigation area

For further orientation, you can also find Salce, Tignes, Pian Molin-costa di Mezzo, Colderù, Rocca Pietore, San Gregorio Nelle Alpi and Cencenighe Agordino.

To the overview of the wider travel area: Belluno.

More about the destination

Relevant information for planning your trip:

Cortina d'Ampezzo.