Cortina d'Ampezzo

Cortina is a high mountain valley, and there is no beach life here. The Adriatic coast lies more than two hours' drive away. Small alpine lakes such as Ghedina and Pianozes are lovely to walk round, but they are fed by snowmelt and stay cold even in midsummer. A hardy dip is possible, but swimming mostly means a hotel pool.

Eating in Cortina is better than its size suggests, because it caters to a wealthy crowd. The local Ampezzan cooking is mountain food with a Venetian accent: casunziei (half-moon pasta filled with beetroot and dressed with poppy seeds), polenta with game or mushrooms, speck and barley soup. The most memorable meals often come at the mountain huts, the rifugi, on sunny terraces among the peaks.

In the valley there are a few ambitious kitchens, cosy stube-style dining rooms and wine bars pouring Veneto and South Tyrolean wines. The range is narrow, though. There is little street food, almost nothing international, and very little that is cheap.

Cortina is a resort first and a place of sights second. The centre is pleasant: the Basilica of Saints Philip and James with its tall bell tower, painted Tyrolean-style houses, and the Olympic ice stadium built for the 1956 Winter Games. The Regole d'Ampezzo look after three small museums. The Mario Rimoldi collection of twentieth-century Italian art is the best of them, alongside museums of Dolomite fossils and local ethnography. Together they fill a rainy afternoon. The most striking heritage is the First World War front line, with tunnels and trenches preserved on Lagazuoi and the Cinque Torri, but reaching it means a day in the mountains.

Evenings centre on après-ski, with drinks after the lifts close and a busy passeggiata along the Corso Italia. Then come long dinners. In the peak winter weeks a few smart bars and a club or two stay open late for a glamorous Italian crowd. Outside those weeks, and in most of summer, the town is quiet by late evening. Nobody comes to Cortina for the nights out.

This is one of the great mountain settings on earth. The pale, jagged Dolomites form a ring around the Ampezzo valley: the Tofane, Cristallo, Pomagagnon and the Cinque Torri towers. Lifts climb straight from town onto the peaks. The Tre Cime di Lavaredo and the turquoise Lago di Misurina are under an hour away, and the Fanes-Sennes-Braies nature park begins at the valley's edge.

In winter, Cortina is part of the vast Dolomiti Superski area. The Sella Ronda circuit and long descents such as the Armentarola run are within reach. Summer brings the Alta Via 1 long-distance trail, hut-to-hut hiking, some of the oldest via ferrata routes in the Alps, climbing, mountain biking and paragliding. June and September are quieter and the light is often at its best.

Most outings from Cortina head into the mountains, which says something about how few towns lie close. The best is South Tyrol to the north. San Candido and Dobbiaco are under an hour away, and Brunico has its castle and the Messner Mountain Museum at Plan de Corones. Bolzano, with the Iceman in its archaeology museum and its arcaded old town, is about two hours by road. Lienz in Austria and the cities of Belluno and Feltre in the Veneto are also within range. Venice is a long day, at around two and a half hours by coach each way. The towns are charming rather than essential.

For families who ski or hike, Cortina works well. Ski schools cater to all ages, beginner areas sit at Socrepes and above the town, and the Olympic ice stadium offers public skating. In summer there are easy lake walks, gentle trails to huts with meadows to run around in, and a forest rope park. The small centre is safe and calm. What the town lacks is anything built for children beyond the outdoors: no zoo, aquarium or amusement park. Rainy days with young children can drag, and costs add up fast.

The centre of Cortina is small and flat enough to cross on foot in minutes. In winter, ski buses and lifts connect the town to the main ski areas. Beyond that, things get harder. Cortina has had no railway since its mountain line closed in 1964. Getting there means a coach from Venice or a long drive. Local buses up to the passes, Misurina and the Tre Cime run on a limited service, and the mountain roads can be crowded in August. Many visitors hire a car to explore the wider Dolomites.

Shopping in Cortina means the Corso Italia, a short pedestrian street lined with luxury fashion, jewellers, furriers and upmarket ski and mountain wear, aimed at the resort's wealthy visitors. Its anchor is the Cooperativa di Cortina, founded in 1893, a multi-storey store selling everything from local foods to homeware and outdoor gear. There are also shops for local crafts such as wood carving and filigree. Beyond this one strip there is little, so the offer is polished but narrow.

Cortina is among the most expensive places to stay in Italy. Hotels in the winter peak and in August cost luxury-resort prices, and so do restaurants in town. Lift passes and equipment hire add to the bill. Meals at the rifugi are better value than the setting suggests, and early summer and late September bring easier rates. Even so, budget travellers often stay in cheaper valleys nearby and drive in.

Cortina has no theatre season and no regular music venue. In summer, chamber and classical music festivals bring concerts to churches and halls, and sometimes out into mountain settings. There is also a summer programme of talks and cultural evenings, and the odd concert falls around Christmas and New Year. At other times of year there is little to go to in the evenings.

Cortina has no thermal springs or public bathing tradition. Wellness here lives in the hotels, many of which have spas with saunas, steam rooms, hay baths and indoor pools in the Alpine style, along with massages after a day on the slopes. The other draw is pace. In June, September and quieter winter weeks the valley is calm, the air is clear, and an afternoon on a hut terrace is restful in itself. In the peak weeks, with traffic and crowds, it feels far less calm.