From Milan to Cortina, A Glance At The 2026 Winter Olympics Venues

With 100 days to go, northern Italy is gearing up to host the Milan-Cortina Olympics, the most spread-out Winter Games in history.

The two main clusters of the Games are Milan — the beating heart of Italy’s industrial north — and Cortina d’Ampezzo, an upscale winter resort in the Dolomites mountain range. Visitors should expect a full day of travel between the two locations, which are more than 400 kilometers (250) miles apart by road.

In addition, athletes will compete in three other mountain clusters, while the closing ceremony will be held in Verona, the largest city in the northeastern Veneto region.

The games will mostly make use of existing infrastructure, though some venues are being renovated or built from scratch. Here’s a closer look at the venues:

Milan

SAN SIRO STADIUM: The opening ceremony will be held in Milan’s iconic 80,000-seat San Siro stadium, home of the city’s two famous soccer teams — AC Milan and Inter Milan. It will be a last hurrah for the historic venue, which is set to be demolished and replaced by a new teams-owned stadium after the games.

Rain falls on San Siro Stadium, venue for the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

SANTAGIULIA ICE HOCKEY ARENA: The timeline is tight for the new 16,000-seat arena that will serve as the main hockey venue for the games. A test event scheduled for December had to be moved, but organisers are confident that it will be completed by the end of the year. New test events have been set for Jan. 9-11 — less than a month before the first puck is dropped at the Olympics. The multipurpose facility, which is being built by private investors, is slated to become Italy’s largest indoor arena and is a majestic sight to those arriving into the southeastern periphery of Milan.

An outside view of the Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena, in Milan, which will host Ice Hockey at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

ICE PARK: While the ice hockey finals will be held in the Santagiulia Arena, some matches will take place in the Fiera Milano exhibition venue, which will also host the speed skating. The trade fair complex, which opened in 2005 in the northwest of Milan, will use temporary structures for the games. The so-called Ice Park will occupy four pavilions of the huge exhibition center and comprise the Speed Skating Stadium and the Rho Ice Hockey Arena, which still needs to be completed. The Speed Skating Stadium was delivered in August and the work to lay down the ice was set to start on Wednesday.

A view of the main entrance of the Milano Ice Park, venue for the ice hockey and speed skating disciplines at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

ICE SKATING ARENA: Short-track speed skating and figure skating events will take place in the Forum di Milano, a multipurpose facility that is mainly used for basketball, ice hockey and tennis as well as live concerts. The 12,500-capacity venue in the southwestern outskirts of Milan was opened in 1990 and renovated in 2017, the year before it hosted the figure skating world championships.

A view of the Milano Ice Skating Arena where figure skating and short track speed skating disciplines will take place at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

Cortina

TOFANE ALPINE SKIING CENTER: Regularly referred to as the queen or the pearl of the Dolomites, Cortina hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956. The Olympia delle Tofane course will be the site of the women’s Alpine skiing next year. The iconic slope is a regular stop on the women’s World Cup circuit and also held the world championships in 2021.

A skier is framed by the Dolomites landscape as she speeds down the Tofane course during an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill training, venue for the alpine ski discipline at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati, File)

CURLING OLYMPIC STADIUM: Curling will take place in the Olympic Ice Stadium, one of the legacies of the 1956 Games, when it also hosted the opening ceremony. The arena — and Cortina in general — also served as a filming location for the 1981 James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only,” starring Roger Moore.

A view of the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, venue for the curling discipline at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta, File)

CORTINA SLIDING CENTER: The century-old sliding center in Cortina has been completely rebuilt for the 2026 Games at a cost of 118 million euros ($123 million) amid staunch opposition from the International Olympic Committee. The timeframe was so tight that it necessitated a Plan B option that would have required moving bobsled, luge and skeleton events all the way to Lake Placid, New York. However, it appears the gamble has paid off with the IOC even saying recently that the venue has “surpassed expectations.” The track secured preliminary certification in March and test events are taking place through November. Completion of the roofing and all the facilities next to the track is scheduled for Nov. 5.

Bormio

The men’s Alpine skiing will take place on the fearsome Stelvio course in Bormio, a renowned fixture on the World Cup circuit. Veteran Italian skier Christof Innerhofer told The Associated Press that he can’t remember a tougher course at the Olympics in the past 30 years. The Stelvio Ski Center will also be the venue for ski mountaineering, which will be making its Olympic debut. Bormio is about 200 kilometers (120 miles) northeast of Milan.

Livigno

Livigno, about an hour’s drive north of Bormio, will host the sports that are perhaps most popular among young people. Snowboarding and freestyle skiing will be held at Livigno Snow Park and Livigno Aerials and Moguls Park, with 26 medals awarded. The small town in Valtellina, near the border with Switzerland, proudly unveiled the Aerials and Moguls Park last December, boasting that it had delivered the first 2026 Olympic venue.

Predazzo

Surrounded by the peaks of the Dolomites, Predazzo will be a stunning setting for the ski jumping events. Predazzo, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Cortina, is the most populated municipality in Val di Fiemme, an area which has a rich history of hosting Nordic skiing world championships and World Cup races. The ski jumping facility spans an area of 3,000 square meters (32,000 square feet) and consists of two main ramps for international competitions as well as training ramps and other equipped spaces for athletes.

Tesero

Tesero, less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Predazzo, will host the cross-country skiing events. The cross-country skiing stadium was opened in 1990, the year before the area hosted the Nordic World Ski Championships for the first time.

Skiers are seen from above at the Cross Country skiing stadium which will be used at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

Anterselva

The biathlon competition will be held in Anterselva, nestled in the South Tyrol mountains and with 60 kilometers (40 miles) of tracks. The Anterselva Biathlon Arena has a rich history with the sport, having hosted the world championships multiple times since the 1970s. It also hosts World Cup races every year. The town itself, which is near the border with Austria, has a unique cultural heritage: more than 98% of the population speak German as their mother tongue.

A view of the Anterselva Biathlon Arena, venue for the biathlon discipline at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati, File)

Verona

The closing ceremony will take place at the historic Verona Arena, a large Roman amphitheater built almost 2,000 years ago that is mainly used to host large-scale opera performances. It is an imposing presence in the main piazza of Verona, which is a UNESCO world heritage city. Originally built to host 30,000 spectators in ancient Roman times, it currently has a capacity of around half that for its world-famous summer festival. About 15,000 spectators will be allowed for the closing ceremony on Feb. 22.

https://apnews.com/author/daniella-matar

Italy’s Lake Garda Shrinks To Near-Historic Low Amid Drought

Italy’s worst drought in decades has reduced Lake Garda, the country’s largest lake, to near its lowest level ever recorded, exposing swaths of previously underwater rocks and warming the water to temperatures that approach the average in the Caribbean Sea.

Tourists flocking to the popular northern lake Friday for the start of Italy’s key summer long weekend found a vastly different landscape than in past years. An expansive stretch of bleached rock extended far from the normal shoreline, ringing the southern Sirmione Peninsula with a yellow halo between the green hues of the water and the trees on the shore.

“We came last year, we liked it, and we came back this year,” tourist Beatrice Masi said as she sat on the rocks. “We found the landscape had changed a lot. We were a bit shocked when we arrived because we had our usual walk around, and the water wasn’t there.”

Northern Italy hasn’t seen significant rainfall for months, and snowfall this year was down 70%, drying up important rivers like the Po, which flows across Italy’s agricultural and industrial heartland. Many European countries, including Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, the Netherlands and Britain, are enduring droughts this summer that have hurt farmers and shippers and promoted authorities to restrict water use.

The parched condition of the Po, Italy’s longest river, has already caused billions of euros in losses to farmers who normally rely on it to irrigate fields and rice paddies.

To compensate, authorities allowed more water from Lake Garda to flow out to local rivers — 70 cubic meters (2,472 cubic feet) of water per second. But in late July, they reduced the amount to protect the lake and the financially important tourism tied to it.

With 45 cubic meters (1,589 cubic feet) of water per second being diverted to rivers, the lake on Friday was 32 centimeters (12.6 inches) above the water table, near the record lows in 2003 and 2007.

Garda Mayor Davide Bedinelli said he had to protect both farmers and the tourist industry. He insisted that the summer tourist season was going better than expected, despite cancellations, mostly from German tourists, during Italy’s latest heat wave in late July.

“Drought is a fact that we have to deal with this year, but the tourist season is in no danger,” Bendinelli wrote in a July 20 Facebook post.

He confirmed the lake was losing two centimeters (.78 inches) of water a day.

The lake’s temperature, meanwhile, has been above average for August, according to seatemperature.org. On Friday, the Garda’s water was nearly 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit), several degrees warmer than the average August temperature of 22 C (71.6 F) and nearing the Caribbean Sea’s average of around 27 C (80 F).

For Mario Treccani, who owns a lakefront concession of beach chairs and umbrellas, the lake’s expanded shoreline means fewer people are renting his chairs since there are now plenty of rocks on which to sunbathe.

“The lake is usually a meter or more than a meter higher,” he said from the rocks.

Pointing to a small wall that usually blocks the water from the beach chairs, he recalled that on windy days, sometimes waves from the lake would splash up onto the tourists.

Not anymore.

“It is a bit sad. Before, you could hear the noise of the waves breaking up here. Now, you don’t hear anything,” he said.

By ANDREA ROSA and LUIGI NAVARRA

Italy’s Active Travel Leader, Dolomite Mountains Ltd, Combines Michelin Stars With Stellar Scenery In Six-Day Hiking And Dining Adventures In Northern Italy

Instead of the planets, this time it’s the stars that are aligning over one of the world’s most coveted alpine regions, Italy’s Dolomites.   Italy’s active leader in guided and self-guided mountain travel, Dolomite Mountains Ltd., announces a six-day Stars of the Dolomites culinary holiday that combines haute cuisine, luxury hotels and biking (optional) and hiking a via ferrata in the narrow valleys of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Activities are concentrated around Alta Badia and Cortina d’Ampezzo rife with Michelin star-rated restaurants and with opportunities to hike along a via ferrata. These are mountain paths often traversed by avid mountain climbers; however chosen routes are accessible thanks to permanent installations of climbing aids so that even recreational walkers can seek the thrills of climbing to splendid views. Walkers are accompanied by a professionally certified mountain guide. Stars of the Dolomites can be arranged as a custom or private tour. This beyond-the-rainbow gourmet adventure is from €3540 (per person, minimum four), with a 5 percent high-season supplement from July 20-Aug. 31. Included are accommodations in two five-star hotels, daily breakfasts, a trip briefing and maps, guide services while hiking or biking, arrival and departure night dinners sandwiched between five-course gourmet dinners at three restaurants draped in Michelin stars, shuttle service and more. Gourmet meals, including breakfast, are created by expert chefs who prepare only the freshest ingredients, including some local produce and wild game found in the region. Accommodations on this itinerary include credential ranging from membership in the exclusive Relais & Chateaux to the Leading Hotels of the World. In addition to hiking along the via ferrata guests, may choose to hike for up to six hours within the Fanes-Sennes-Prags Nature Park, a high plateau in the South Tyrol’s Val de Fanes where Ladin is spoken. Here in a karstic limestone landscape are panoramas of the Marmolada Glacier and perhaps sightings of bear while hikers are enroute to lunch in a typical farm house and an evening at a peaceful rifugio (mountain lodge). This is also a popular area for mountain biking. The option to bike brings guests on the Sella Ronda, Cristallo Lookout, Dolomite passes and more. On one day guests may hike for up to five hours to Cortina d’Ampezzo to indulge shopping appetites and the hospitality of a five-star hotel here. This is a popular destination for the rich and famous. “With the rise of food and agritourism, this itinerary is satisfying the requests of many of our clients,” said Agustina Lagos-Marmol, founder of Dolomite Mountains Ltd. (http://www.dolomitemountains.com/en/home.htm). These hiking adventures begin and conclude at the Venice (VCE) or Innsbruck (INN) airport. For complete trip details and itinerary please see: http://www.dolomitemountains.com/en/other_trips/gourmet_trips393.htm For 2016 information and reservations for all of the adventures from Dolomite Mountains call 1 866 247 4860 (US) or log onto: http://dolomitemountains.com/en/home.htm About Dolomite Mountains srl (Dolomite Mountains Ltd.) Dolomite Mountains srl is a local company in the Dolomites specializing in and providing unique experiences in adventure travel within one of the most beautiful natural settings on Earth. Types of trips offered include Hike, Bike, Via Ferrata,Climb, Snowshoe, Photo Safari, Ski, Self Guided and Luxury Trips. For over 15 years they have been crafting Dolomite adventures, helping travelers uncover the region’s true spirit. Customized guided and self guided active trips and luxury and gourmet adventures take travelers off the beaten path for authentic experiences that reveal the real Dolomites.