Alta Badia
Val Badia, Trentino-Alto Adige — in the Ladin heart of the UNESCO Dolomites
Photo © Giuseppe Baldassarri — Destination & Export Digital Marketing Manager · reviews
The Ladin heart of the Dolomites
Alta Badia is the upper part of the Val Badia valley, in the autonomous province of Bolzano: a plateau set among the dolomitic peaks of the Sella group, the Sassongher and the Sasso della Croce, where Ladin — the ancient Neo-Latin language of the Dolomite valleys — has been spoken for centuries.
The area includes the villages of Corvara, Colfosco, La Villa, San Cassiano, Badia and La Val: six settlements which, although administratively part of just three municipalities (Corvara in Badia, Badia and La Valle), share the same tourist area and the same Ladin identity.
Südtirolerland — Alta Badia Skiing Area
The Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
On 26 June 2009 UNESCO inscribed the Dolomites on the World Heritage List as a serial natural site of exceptional geological and scenic value: the property comprises nine distinct areas, including the Puez-Odle and Fanes-Senes-Braies groups that frame Alta Badia itself.
Regione Veneto — Dolomites UNESCO Heritage
Thanks to its geographical position, Alta Badia is called the “heart of the Dolomites”: the peaks of the Sella massif, the Sassongher, the Sasso della Croce, the Lavarella and the Conturines dominate the landscape in every season, together with the Puez-Odle and Fanes-Senes-Braies nature parks.
Why Alta Badia is unique
🏔️ The heart of the Sellaronda
Alta Badia gives direct access to the Sellaronda, the famous ski circuit that links, on slopes and lifts, the Ladin valleys of Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Arabba and Val di Fassa around the Sella massif, for a total of roughly 500 km of slopes reachable with the same Dolomiti Superski pass.
🎿 The Gran Risa and the Ski World Cup
The Gran Risa in La Villa is one of the historic Alpine Ski World Cup slopes: from Alberto Tomba to Bode Miller and Marcel Hirscher, the greatest champions of the “white circus” have raced down its nearly 500 metres of vertical drop.
🍽️ Fine mountain dining
Ladin cuisine, born from a “poor” farming tradition of dumplings, barley soups and alpine-hut cheeses, today coexists with one of the highest densities of Michelin-starred restaurants and gourmet mountain huts in Italy — a contrast that has made Alta Badia a recognised food destination.
The villages and nature of Alta Badia
Corvara in Badia
The largest and highest settlement in the Val Badia, at the foot of the Sassongher, the tourist heart of the area.
Colfosco
A hamlet of the municipality of Corvara, in the Val Stella Alpina, a starting point towards the Gardena Pass.
La Villa (La Ila)
Located at the junction between Corvara and San Cassiano, at the foot of the Sasso di Santa Croce group; home to Colz Castle.
San Cassiano
Crossed by the Rio di San Cassiano, it is the gateway to the Valparola Pass and, further down, to Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Badia (Pedraces)
A municipality that also includes San Cassiano and La Villa; the Pedraces and San Leonardo hamlet is its administrative centre.
La Val (La Valle)
Located in the lower part of the Val Badia, it belongs to the Alta Badia tourist consortium despite having no ski lifts of its own.
Puez-Odle
One of the nine dolomitic mountain systems inscribed by UNESCO in 2009, it borders Alta Badia on the north-west side.
Fanes-Senes-Braies
The second UNESCO system embracing Alta Badia; in 2015 a panoramic platform was opened on Monte Specie, at 2,307 m.
Sasso della Croce (Sasso di Santa Croce)
Towers over the villages of La Villa and San Cassiano; the Cima Nove and Cima Dieci peaks are among the most imposing in the area.
Sella Group
The central massif of the Dolomites on which the Sellaronda runs; the top skiable altitude in Alta Badia reaches 2,550 m on the Sella.
A culinary journey through Ladin cuisine
Ladin cuisine is not simply mountain food: it is the culinary tradition of alpine communities that for centuries lived isolated among the pastures and forests of the Dolomites, turning humble ingredients — stale bread, flour, alpine-hut dairy — into dishes that define their identity.
CiboToday — History and recipe of turtres
🍝 Dishes not to miss
Canederli (Bales)
Bread dumplings, the signature dish of the Ladin table, often served with speck or cheese.
Turtres
Savoury fritters filled with ricotta, spinach or sauerkraut; today also a typical Alta Badia street food.
Panicia
The traditional barley soup with speck, carrots, leek and potatoes, eaten throughout South Tyrol.
Cajincí
Tyrolean half-moon dumplings filled with spinach and ricotta, a classic main course of the Ladin table.
Furtaies
Spiral-shaped fried pastries, the traditional dessert that closes Ladin meals in Val Badia.
The Alta Badia events calendar
🎿 Audi FIS Ski World Cup — Gran Risa, 20-21 December 2026
The legendary Gran Risa in La Villa hosts the men’s giant slalom and slalom World Cup races, with an opening party on 19 December.
🚴 Sellaronda Bike Day — 6 June and 12 September 2026
The Dolomite passes of the Sella circuit are closed to motorised traffic and reserved for a whole day to cyclists on road bikes, mountain bikes and vintage bicycles, with no need to register.
🚵 Maratona dles Dolomites — 5 July 2026
The famous road race on traffic-free roads offers three courses, from the full 138 km route with 4,230 m of elevation gain to the shorter 55 km Sellaronda loop.
Getting there and when to go
✈️ By plane and by train
The closest airport is Bolzano, with regular flights from Brussels, Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin and London; alternatively you can fly into Innsbruck, Verona, Milan, Venice, Treviso or Bergamo, all reachable from there by car or shuttle.
By train, the most convenient station for public-transport connections to Alta Badia is Brunico, about 37 km away; Bressanone and Bolzano are other reference stations.
Dolomiti.it — Getting to Alta Badia
📅 When to go: the ski season
In winter 2025/26 the Alta Badia lifts opened on 4 December 2025 and remained operational until 7 April 2026: a typical seasonal window for the area, weather permitting.
South Tyrol’s excellence products
🥓 Speck Alto Adige PGI
A boneless cured ham, lightly smoked and air-cured in the mountain air: it combines the smoking technique typical of Northern Europe with the air-curing method typical of the South, and has held PGI status since 1996.
🧀 Stelvio PDO cheese
The only South Tyrolean cheese with Protected Designation of Origin status (since 2007): soft, creamy texture with a yellow-orange rind, made with milk from alpine pastures.
Three days in Alta Badia
One possible way to spend three days among the villages and natural sites described above, designed for first-time visitors to Alta Badia.
Corvara and the Sassongher
Stroll through the centre of Corvara, the highest and largest village in the Val Badia, at the foot of the Sassongher.
La Villa and the Gran Risa
From La Villa you can see the Gran Risa slope, the stage for the Ski World Cup, at the foot of the Sasso di Santa Croce.
San Cassiano towards the Valparola Pass
From San Cassiano the road climbs towards the Valparola Pass, with the option to continue down to Cortina d’Ampezzo.
FAQ — Alta Badia
Corvara, Colfosco, La Villa, San Cassiano, Badia and La Val, spread across three municipalities: Corvara in Badia, Badia and La Valle.
The historic language is Ladin, spoken alongside Italian and German; Alta Badia is among the Ladin municipalities of the province of Bolzano.
130 km of slopes and 53 lifts, integrated into the Dolomiti Superski circuit (1,200 km in total across 12 ski areas) and the Sellaronda loop.
A ski-in ski-out circular route around the Sella group linking Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Arabba and Val di Fassa, for about 500 km of slopes overall with the same ski pass.
Yes: since 26 June 2009 the Dolomites have been a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site; the Puez-Odle and Fanes-Senes-Braies parks, among the nine inscribed areas, frame Alta Badia.
On 20 and 21 December 2026, with an opening party on 19 December, on the Gran Risa slope in La Villa.
Embracing Ladin culture in Alta Badia
Between World Cup ski runs, UNESCO nature parks and a cuisine that has kept farming recipes alive from generation to generation, Alta Badia remains one of the few alpine destinations where sport, nature and Ladin linguistic identity coexist seamlessly.
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Giuseppe Baldassarri
Sales & Account Manager · Destination & Export Digital Marketing Manager · Travel Designer · TTO
Website: ItalyTrade.org — Travel & Business | Italy: Made in Italy
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