For this second installment of Tripping With Phil I’m going list-style, allowing you to build your own adventure. I’m always happy with feedback, so if you prefer a day-by-day itinerary format, let me know and I’ll favor those in the future.

A few notes before diving in:

The easiest airport to fly into is Venice. I would recommend booking a couple nights there beforehand as the ski season is also one of the quieter times to visit (though beware of the week surrounding Carnivale!).
This is a region where you will definitely want to have your own car so rent one straight from the Venice airport and make sure it’s all-wheel drive (and automatic if you don’t drive stick!).
One of the best meals you’ll have is minutes away from the airport. Make sure to score a table at Trattoria Al Passo. Off the side of the freeway and with a website that links to a dead Facebook page, it may not seem like much, but it’s a locals secret that is exceptional.
There are two towns in the area that we love equally for different reasons. Cortina has better food but the hotel and variety of slopes in San Cassiano is unbeatable. The two towns are about 30-40 minutes from each other, so perhaps stay in each for 4-5 days.
You can get your ski passes that cover both domains in advance here. Kids under 8 ski free!
All of the restaurants listed here require reservations. The best thing to do is a month before the trip tell the concierge of your hotel(s) which tables you want when and they will sort it all out. Seriously, it’s crazy how it gets, the first trip out I couldn’t even score a Snickers bar on the mountain the first day. But it’s all worth it for the meals you’ll enjoy. Also, make sure to be precise that you want to eat outdoors otherwise they’ll sit you inside like a chump.

SAN CASSIANO

THE SLEEPING

Our favorite hotel here, The Rosa Alpina, has recently become part of the Aman collection, and while its scale is much quainter than the brand’s other offerings, it is still a really nice spot to spend a few days. It is currently under renovation (the bathrooms could use some Aman-ification), with plans to open for the 2024-25 season.

If you’re trying to get here sooner, the only other spot in this tiny town would be the well-located but more pedestrian Hotel Armentarola, whose outdoor deck is one of the best spots to grab lunch between runs. Finally, the adjoining town of Corvara is really charming and shares many of the San Cassiano slopes. I haven’t been to the Hotel Sassongher there but it seems okay if a bit dated.

THE SKIING

There are a few different zones around to choose from, most accessible straight from the hotel, with the third (that you must visit) an hour’s drive away.

Cassiano/Corvara/Colfosco/Sellaronda

This is the main area right out the door. A great variety of slope—though none too challenging—all linked together from the Piz Sorega lift in town. You can easily spend 2-3 days here, hardly repeating a slope.

Lagazuoi

This is just awesome. A proper- half day adventure. You’ll need to take a taxi or shuttle to get to the start (you’ll end up back at the hotel so taking your car doesn’t make much sense), which is a gondola right out of a Wes Anderson film. From here, ski down to THE GREATEST MEAL OF YOUR LIFE at Scotoni.

One of the few places to not accept reservations, you’ll want to get here on the earlier side. On a nice day, score a table outside and bask in the sun, on a cold one cosy up to the monster grill inside. Either way, make sure to get a big-ass steak and a heaping portion of Kaisherschmarnn, a scrambled pancake soufflé that is an Austrian speciality.

From here, follow the crowds down the mountain until you find yourself in line to take the most unique chairlift in Europe: a horse-drawn carriage with a big piece of rope trailing behind it that skiers just latch onto and are pulled all the way back to Armenterola where you can connect with the bulk of the slopes that will eventually get you back to San Cassiano. Note: this ride costs a couple euros, paid in cash to the sleigh driver, so make sure to have some spare coins on you!

Kronplatz-Plan de Corones

About an hour’s drive from San Cassiano, this huge resort is always deserted when we go despite having tons to offer. We really don’t get it, but you should hop in your car and drive here for the day.

Beyond empty slopes (some of the steepest in the region) and plenty of state-of-the-art lifts to get you around, the real draw is what awaits at the top of the mountain. First, the Messner Mountain Museum, a stunning contemporary bunker designed by Zaha Hadid. The space is small and will only take you about fifteen minutes to walk through (20 if you’re in your ski boots), but the views and the architecture are a marvel.

Second is the equally impressive Alpinn restaurant, an all-glass structure cantilevered over the top of the mountain, suspending you into sweeping views of the entire Dolemite region. The kitchen is run by Norbert Niederkofler, the three-star chef of the Alpina Rosa Hotel and now the Aman in Venice. When you’re done with your meal walk across the hall and take a quick tour of the second museum on the mountain (bonkers to think that there are TWO separate museums on the top of this peak!!), the Lumen Center for Mountain Photography. Two of their permanent installations are really impressive, especially the huge circular window that opens and closes like a camera lens’s aperture.

THE EATING

Scotoni - see above. Really only feasible for lunch due to its sole accessibility via the slopes.

Alpinn - see above. Ditto about it being only a lunch spot. If they have the onion and trout roe pasta, GET IT!

Hotel Armentarola. The outdoor deck is perfect for a schnitzel and a beer, I can’t vouch for the dinners but considering the lack of options around, if you stay here you may be eating here at night as well. Not the end of the world, it’s tasty.

Bioch On the San Cassiano/Corvara slopes, they have two menus, including one with recipes from the region’s best restaurants. Order a speciality pasta from this menu!!! From the restaurant ski down slope 7 to La Bata, then take the lift up to Pralongia and explore slopes 28 and 25.

Col Alt Also on the Corvara side of the slopes. Make sure to get the pasta with sausage and perhaps a cured meat plate. Skip the carbonara and the desserts.

Punta Trieste. Get the ribs here and ONLY the ribs.

DO NOT GO TO THE FOLLOWING RESTAURANTS: L’Fana Grill, Edelweiss, Las Vegas. Finally, there is a super-fancy restaurant in the Hotel La Perla called Stua de Michele. Imagine if the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo tried to charge you $250 for a tasting menu. If you want to revel in the kitsch, go for it, otherwise skip it.

CORTINA

THE SLEEPING

The obvious choice here is the Cristallo, a grand old palace hotel located high above the town with sweeping views of the mountain. Speaking of, make sure to get a room with views of the mountain!!! Also, make sure you book the hotel via this link, because there’s a shitty hotel a half hour away with almost the same name that a bunch of our friends got stuck in. This one’s wood-paneled rooms and suites are all named after the great luminaries who stayed here over the years. A warning though: many of the rooms—and even suites—are tiny. We were in the Nabokov suite the first year, but between its view of the parking lot, the sound of the recycled glassware being smashed at 5am, and the tiny size of the bedroom that made it impossible to open the closets due to their proximity to the bed, it felt more like the Kafka suite.

That said, I see it is also being renovated and turned into a Mandarin Oriental. (Do you sense a pattern here of everyone catching on to how great this region is??). Either hold off a year or reserve the more modern, beautifully understated Hotel De Len. The only tradeoff can also be a bonus: you’ll be right in the heart of town. There are no views to speak of and not much natural light, but you will be one door down from the best winebar in town, a block away from the best spot for hot chocolate, and five minutes closer to the slopes. Not a bad tradeoff, especially as you’ll be out all day anyways.

None of the hotels in Cortina offer ski in-out and the parking lots are a nuisance so rely instead on the complimentary shuttles the hotels run throughout the day.

THE SKIING

Like San Cassiano, there are three different regions here (Socrepes being the most central, Faloria the most overlooked, and Cinque Torri the most far-flung), but unlike San Cassiano, all of them are interconnected via gondolas. In anticipation of the Olympics they have been adding new lifts every year and it is IMPRESSIVE, even as the snow continues to disappear.

As I mentioned earlier, the slopes here are all on the easier side, nothing too challenging. After all, you can’t hit the bumps too hard after a three-course lunch. So instead of breaking down the three areas by terrain, I’ll just launch into the meals. Because this is where Cortina shines and blows away every other resort in the world.

One quick note: the best ski school for the kids (and adults!) with both private and group lessons is Scuola Sci Cortina. Again, book far in advance…

THE EATING

On the slopes…

At Socrepes

Baita Pi Tofana. I actually know someone who’s been coming to Cortina for over twenty years and when he discovered one year that it was being renovated, he canceled his trip. It’s insane. Even if you don’t ski, it’s worth the trip just for this place and San Brite. It’s absolutely tiny, and the deck isn’t that spectacular as you really just look out onto a parking lot. After the renovation the interior was glammed up a bit which takes you out of the romantic charm of the region, but by the time the antipasti arrive, you will be on another planet anyways.

El Camineto This is the ultimate deck to bask in the sun, enjoy a bottle of wine, savor exceptional pasta. It is suuuuch a scene yet happens to have amazing food to boot. This is also one of the toughest tickets in town to score so make sure to book early. As I went to pay inside once I overheard a regular talking up the owner and caught her name. I tried go in two days later without a reservation and said “Maria?”, absurdly hoping to trick her into thinking I too was a regular she simply hadn’t seen in awhile. I don’t speak much Italian, but I think her answer loosely translated to “and who the fuck are you?”

Also, a little pro tip: there are some great lunch spots off the slopes. The only way to get to them is to have a car. As I mentioned, parking in the lots is impossible BUT, there is a secret lot adjacent to the one for El Camineto so come here with your skis in your trunk, hit the slopes, and then jump back in your car for lunch at Lago Ghedina or El Brite.

La Loconda di Cantoniere Culinarily, this is the least interesting of the bunch but the most fun to get to. It is only accessible from the mountain by taking a secret little turn off a slope and gliding stealthily through the woods for ten minutes (there’s very little off-piste in the region so this is the one time you can glide between the trees). It’s a blast. If memory serves, take the first chairlift up, then the second one (The Shark), then the third. At the third, exit left and then stay on the right on Slope 38. Half way down on the right be on the lookout for a tiiiiiny little sign with the restaurant’s name and follow the signs for the next ten minutes. it’s so much fun!!!

At Faloria

Rio Ghere It might not look like much but back in the 50s-70s, this spot was the jam. It’s in the less-populated region of Faloria. I would recommend shuttling (or taxiing) to the restaurant in the morning and skiing the slopes on that side of the road (Son Forca), grabbing lunch, and then spending the afternoon on the Col De Varda side, before taking the Faloria gondola right back to the center of Cortina (where your hotel can pick you up). There’s a great local dish you get here and many other spots that consists of homefries, crispy proscuitto, and sunny-side up eggs. It’s incredible.

At Cinque Torri

Refuggio Averau. This one is a winner day or night. In the daytime you are on the top of the mountain, overlooking the alps, eating a plate of homemade tagliatelle soaked in butter and littered with white truffle, and at night a chairlift takes you half way up while a demented posse of outlaw snowmobilers take you the rest of the way. It’s absolutely terrifying, thoroughly thrilling, and you will either die or claim it was the greatest thing you’ve ever done. Either way, you’ll have a great great meal and a story to share.

Off the Slopes…

Two of the best restaurants in the region are partners, San Brite and El Brite de Larieto. El Brite is the less formal of the two, housed on a working farm that still smells like manure, but the food is out of this world. San Brite meanwhile is worthy of Top 50 in the World status. I don’t want to say anything more than this, but just know that both are some of the most specials meals I’ve ever had.

Lago Gehdina Tucked away in the woods by a frozen pond this place is magical and always abandoned. I can’t figure out why. The food’s great, the setting is fairy-tale-like, everything about it is wonderful. Oh well, guess it’s our secret.

Hotel de la Poste. While I wouldn’t stay here for the night, I would stay here all day on the terrace to soak in the rays and be served a perfect meal by waitstaff in classic white tuxedos. Doesn’t get more iconic Euro than this. Also great for an Spritz after ski.

Enoteca A great winebar in the heart of Cortina, this is the perfect spot to go around 6 or 7pm and order some small paninis before they all sell out, alongside a killer bottle of vino.

Lovat For the best hot chocolate and a delicious bombolini, this iconic pastry shop never fails to disappoint after a tough day on the slopes.

Stay Away from…Al Camin, super disappointing and over-hyped. Magla Federa is another spot where you will be ferried to dinner via snowmobile but Avereau is wayyyy better. Tivoli is fine but I’d sooner go to any of the other spots twice.

Finally, make sure to run through La Cooperativa for all your shopping essentials: food/home/everything, and bring back one of the iconic 70s style shopping bags.

Okay, that’s it. You’re sorted. Yummiest ski trip ever. Have a blast.