The Best Italian Ski Resorts for Christmas

The short answer

For Christmas in Italy, Cervinia is the snow-sure choice, with its village at 2,050 metres and glacier terrain above. For atmosphere, Cortina d'Ampezzo and Val Gardena are outstanding, with the Dolomites around them, though lower and more reliant on snowmaking. Italy also has a longer holiday: Santo Stefano on 26 December and Epiphany on 6 January.

What makes an Italian Christmas different

A longer holiday

Italy celebrates over more days than its neighbours. Christmas Eve is the Vigilia, Christmas Day is for family at home, and 26 December, Santo Stefano, is a national public holiday, a day for going out, visiting family and seeing nativity scenes. The season closes with Epiphany on 6 January, another national holiday, when La Befana brings gifts to children the night before.

For a ski holiday, that means the Italian resorts have a festive feel well beyond Christmas week, and that Italian families are on holiday into January.

Food and scenery

The Dolomites in late December are pale limestone peaks above snowy valleys, and a long lunch at a mountain hut is part of the skiing rather than a break from it.

Snowmaking

The Dolomite resorts sit lower than the French high resorts, but they have invested heavily in snowmaking. Dolomiti Superski, which covers 12 resorts and 1,246 km of slopes, reports snowmaking on about 97% of its pistes. Snowmaking needs cold, roughly −2.5°C wet-bulb for most systems, so a cold December with little snow can still give good piste skiing here.

The resorts

Cervinia

Cervinia has the highest village and the highest lifts of the Italian resorts we cover: village at 2,050 metres, lifts to 3,500 metres and a Snow Score of 74, the highest of the Italian resorts we cover. Its lifts climb to the Plateau Rosa glacier and link to Zermatt in Switzerland. Since 2023 the Matterhorn Alpine Crossing has let people cross without skis too. Christmas is pleasant rather than magical, but it leads the Italian resorts on snow.

Cortina d'Ampezzo

Cortina at Christmas is the passeggiata on the Corso Italia, furs, pastry shops, and the Dolomites turning pink behind it all. It co-hosted the 2026 Winter Olympics with Milan, having first hosted in 1956. With its village at 1,224 metres and a Snow Score of 62, it is a place to choose for the Christmas and the scenery, with snowmaking carrying the pistes in a lean year.

Val Gardena

Val Gardena is a Ladin valley where Ladin, German and Italian are all spoken, with a woodcarving tradition you will see in its carved nativity scenes. Christmas here is neither Italian nor Austrian but its own. The valley has direct access to the Sellaronda, the circuit linking the four Ladin valleys of Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Arabba and Val di Fassa around the Sella massif.

Alta Badia and Madonna di Campiglio

Corvara, La Villa and San Cassiano in Alta Badia are also on the Sellaronda, with villages between 1,315 and 1,568 metres. Madonna di Campiglio, at 1,553 metres, is another Dolomite option for a Christmas week.

Italian resorts compared

Resort	Village	Highest lift	Snow Score	Christmas atmosphere
Cervinia	2,050 m	3,500 m	74	3/5
Madonna di Campiglio	1,553 m	2,500 m	67	pending
Corvara	1,568 m	2,550 m	59	pending
Cortina d'Ampezzo	1,224 m	2,930 m	62	5/5
San Cassiano	1,315 m	2,550 m	56	pending
Val Gardena	1,563 m	pending	50	5/5

How Christmas week runs in an Italian resort

The changeover

For Christmas 2026, Christmas Day is a Friday, so the Christmas week runs from Saturday 19 to Saturday 26 December. Leaving on 26 December means travelling on Santo Stefano, a national holiday, so check transfer and local transport timetables in advance.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

The 24th is the Vigilia, and by tradition its dinner contains no meat. Christmas Day is for a long family lunch. The lifts run on the 25th and many ski schools still teach, and the slopes are often quiet in the morning.

Santo Stefano

On the 26th Italians go out: to visit family, to walk through town and to see the nativity scenes. In Cortina and Val Gardena the evening passeggiata on the 26th is a highlight of the week.

New Year and Epiphany

New Year week is generally busier than Christmas week across the Alps, and in Italy the holiday runs on to Epiphany on 6 January. If you are going for New Year, book restaurants for the 31st early.

Choosing in Italy

• Snow first: Cervinia.
• For Christmas scenery: Cortina or Val Gardena.
• Touring the Dolomites on skis: a Sellaronda village in Val Gardena or Alta Badia.

For comparisons with other countries, see France, Austria and Switzerland.

Sources

• en.wikipedia.org — St Stephen's Day, 26 December, is a national public holiday in Italy, a day for visiting family and nativity scenes
• publicholidays.it — Santo Stefano (26 December) is a public holiday in Italy
• italia.it — Epiphany on 6 January is a national holiday in Italy; La Befana brings gifts on the night of 5 January
• en.wikipedia.org — Dolomiti Superski: 12 resorts, 1,246 km of slopes; about 1,160 km (97%) covered by snowmaking; Sella Ronda within the area
• val-gardena.com — The Sellaronda links the four Ladin valleys of Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Arabba and Val di Fassa around the Sella massif
• en.wikipedia.org — Val Gardena is a Ladin valley with Ladin, German and Italian spoken; woodcarving tradition
• en.wikipedia.org — Cortina d'Ampezzo co-hosted the 2026 Winter Olympics with Milan; Cortina hosted in 1956
• cervinia.it — Matterhorn Alpine Crossing linking Cervinia and Zermatt opened 1 July 2023, usable without skis; winter closure 7 January to 26 February 2027; Plateau Rosa station 3,458 m
• lovevda.it — Cable cars from Cervinia to Plateau Rosa and on to Zermatt
• timeanddate.com — Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday; Saturdays are 19 and 26 December 2026
• snowmagazine.com — Lifts turn on Christmas Day and many ski schools still offer lessons; high-altitude resorts tend to have more early-season snow
• alpineelements.co.uk — New Year week is very busy and becoming busier than Christmas week
• en.wikipedia.org — Snowmaking needs a wet-bulb temperature of about −2.5°C, fan guns as high as −1°C; machine snow density 400–500 kg/m3; melts two to three weeks later than natural snow