While a trip through the spectacular Italian Dolomite mountain range is worthwhile in itself, when combined with the experience of skiing one of the largest interconnected lift systems in the world, a vacation in the Dolomites rates as tops.

The natural panoramas found in the Dolomites around virtually every bend in the road and ski trail are hard to properly describe. And Val Gardena, with some of the best prices in Europe, is hard to beat.

Here is the Ortisei town map in pdf format.

Here is the S. Cristina town map in pdf format.

Here is the Selva Gardena town map in pdf format.

The Ladin culture is centered in the five main Dolomite valleys, in eastern Switzerland and in Italy’s far northeast. Val Gardena is a stronghold of the culture, and its residents speak Ladin, a Latin derivative, as their first language. They also speak German and Italian.

The people of this region have a Germanic passion for detail and hard work, so everything works perfectly. They also have the Italian love of life, so they play as hard as anyone in the world and enjoy great music and food. The cooking is a wonderful marriage of creativity with Italian pastas and wines and German meat and potatoes.

The Gardena valley has three main villages. The first and largest, coming from Bolzano, is Ortisei. The second is S. Cristina, and the third, just at the start of the Gardena Pass and Sella Pass is Selva Gardena. S. Cristina is spread out along the highway and does not have much of a town center in which to congregate after skiing, so book your accommodations in Ortisei or Selva Gardena if après-ski is a priority. Selva Gardena, smaller and closer to the other Dolomite slopes, has improved in terms of nightlife over the last few years. It’s rumored to now have more après-ski than Ortisei which is further away from the interconnected ski areas. The atmosphere in the entire valley is more German than Italian, with a beer-hall flavor.

Whichever resort you choose you will have a great vacation and you will have the opportunity to move easily between the towns on the five-euro shuttle service which links Ortisei, Selva Gardena and S. Cristina.

Val Gardena Tourist Office
Str. Dursan 80c
I-39047 S. Cristina, Italy
Country code: 0039
Telephone prefix: 0471
Telephone: 777777
Fax: 792235

Ortisei/St. Ulrich Tourist Office, Reziastr. 1, 39046 Ortisei, Italy
Country code: 0039
Telephone prefix: 0471
Telephone: 0471-796328
Fax: 0471-796749

S. Cristina Tourist Office, Chemunstr. 9, 39047 S. Cristina, Italy
Country code: 0039
Telephone prefix: 0471
Telephone: 0471- 777800
Fax: 0471-793198

Selva Gardena Tourist Office, Mëisules 213, 39048 Selva Gardena, Italy
Country code: 0039
Telephone prefix: 0471
Telephone: 0471-795122
Fax: 0471-794245

Internet: www.valgardena.it
Email: info@valgardena.it

Note: All prices are in Euros unless otherwise noted.

For more information on skiing and staying in the country of Italy, click the map.