Skiing and Eating in the Italian Alps: Madonna di Campiglio, Bormio and Cortina

Italy’s ski resorts are better paired with food than those of most Alpine countries — partly because the mountains run through regions with some of the strongest culinary traditions in Europe, and partly because the Italian resort culture has always treated the lunch stop as seriously as the skiing. The three areas below are the most consistent in quality for combining serious piste skiing with genuinely regional food: Madonna di Campiglio in Trentino, Bormio and Livigno in Lombardy, and Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Veneto Dolomites.

Madonna di Campiglio (Trentino)

Madonna di Campiglio sits in the Rendena Valley in the Brenta Dolomites, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. The ski area — part of the Skirama Dolomiti network — connects directly with Pinzolo, Folgarida, and Marilleva, giving access to around 150 km of marked runs across 57 lifts. The terrain suits intermediate skiers well, with a consistent snow record from December through April at elevations between 1,550 and 2,600 metres. The resort has been a fixture of the Italian celebrity and VIP circuit since the 1960s, which makes accommodation and restaurants expensive by comparison with smaller Trentino resorts.

The food is specifically Trentino rather than generically Italian. Polenta — made from local stone-ground yellow maize — is the carbohydrate base, served with game (venison, chamois, wild boar) or with mushrooms (porcini and finferli from the surrounding forests). Canederli (bread dumplings with speck or cheese, served in broth or with butter and sage) are the defining first course of the valley and appear on almost every mountain restaurant menu. Strangolapreti (spinach and bread gnocchi in butter and sage) is the vegetarian alternative. Local wines from the Trentino DOC — Teroldego Rotaliano, Marzemino, and Nosiola — are the right pairing. The villages around Campiglio — Caderzone, Carisolo, Pinzolo — have smaller, cheaper restaurants serving the same food without the resort markup.

Bormio and Livigno (Lombardy)

Bormio is a proper mountain town — it has been a spa destination since the Roman period, when the thermal springs were already in use — set at 1,225 metres at the head of the Valtellina valley near the Stelvio National Park. The ski area runs up to 3,012 metres and includes the World Cup downhill course, one of the most technically demanding on the circuit. The thermal baths (Terme di Bormio and Bagni Vecchi, the Roman baths 10 km up the valley) provide a natural complement to a day on the slopes.

Livigno, 30 km further north and at 1,816 metres, is technically a comune extraterritoriale — a customs-free zone that makes fuel, alcohol, and consumer goods significantly cheaper than elsewhere in Italy or Switzerland. The ski area is large (115 km of runs) and snowfall is reliable; the terrain is gentler than Bormio, better suited to beginners and intermediates. Saint Moritz is about 35 km away over the Maloja Pass.

The food of Valtellina is one of the most distinctive in Lombardy. Pizzoccheri — short, flat pasta made with buckwheat flour, cooked with Savoy cabbage and potatoes and dressed with Valtellina Casera cheese and butter — is the defining dish of the valley and is specifically IGP-protected from Teglio. Sciatt are small fritters of buckwheat batter stuffed with Casera cheese, eaten as an antipasto. Bresaola della Valtellina IGP — air-dried beef cured in salt and spices — is the local cured meat, served thinly sliced with rocket, lemon, and olive oil. Sforzato di Valtellina DOCG (made from partially dried Nebbiolo grapes, similar in production method to Amarone) is the serious wine of the valley.

Cortina d’Ampezzo (Veneto Dolomites)

Cortina is the most glamorous resort in Italy and has been since it hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics. It sits in the Valle del Boite at 1,210 metres, surrounded by some of the most dramatic Dolomite scenery in the Alps — the Tofane, Cristallo, and Faloria massifs rise directly above the town. The ski area was expanded and connected for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, linking Cortina with the broader Dolomiti Superski network. The Corso Italia, the pedestrian main street, has a concentration of luxury fashion boutiques alongside ski rental shops and cafés — the shopping and the skiing are genuinely integrated here in a way that few other resorts manage.

The food reflects the area’s history as part of the Austrian Empire until 1918. The culinary tradition is Ladin — the culture of the valleys around Cortina — with heavy Austrian and Tyrolean influence. Canederli in brodo (bread dumplings in broth) appear here too but in the larger, denser Tyrolean style. Gröstl (a pan-fried hash of potatoes, onions, and meat, often served with a fried egg) is the mountain worker’s lunch dish. Apfelstrudel made with local mountain apples is the standard dessert. Grappa from the surrounding Veneto hills — particularly from Bassano del Grappa — is the correct digestivo.

Practical Notes

• Madonna di Campiglio from Bologna: About 3 hours by car via Mantua, Verona, and the Brenner motorway to Trento, then west into the Rendena valley; or train to Trento then bus
• Bormio from Milan: About 3 hours by car via the A4 and SS38 through Valtellina; no direct train — nearest rail is Tirano (1 hour by road)
• Livigno from Milan: About 4 hours by car; the road via the Maloja Pass from Saint Moritz is another option in good conditions
• Cortina from Venice: About 2 hours by car via Belluno; from Bologna about 3 hours
• Snow season: All three areas typically reliable from December through late March; Livigno and Cortina at higher elevations often extend into April
• Lift passes: Multi-day passes for connected areas (Skirama Dolomiti for Campiglio, Dolomiti Superski for Cortina) are significantly more cost-effective than single-day resort passes