Misurina Ski Guide

Where does Misurina sit and how is the skiing?

Misurina is a small, high hamlet at around 1,750 meters set on the shore of its namesake lake in the eastern Dolomites, directly beneath the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Its own skiing is the modest Col de Varda area, reached by a chairlift from the lakeside, which offers a handful of runs from easy to challenging with some of the finest mountain views in the Alps but only a small amount of terrain. Treat Col de Varda as a charming local hill, not a full ski area.

The real skiing is nearby rather than on the doorstep. Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of the great names of the Dolomites, sits only about twenty minutes to the west and gives you a large, varied area on the Dolomiti Superski pass, while Alta Pusteria and its Tre Cime slopes lie over the other side of the massif. Misurina works as a tranquil lakeside base from which you drive out to bigger mountains, with a gentle home hill for easy days and beginners.

That makes Misurina a clear fit for some skiers and a poor one for others. If you want long high mileage days on varied terrain you will spend a lot of time in the car and would be better off in Cortina. If you want a quiet, scenic base with an uncrowded beginner hill and the option of bigger days out, Misurina is hard to match for setting.

What is Misurina like as a place to stay?

Misurina is a tiny, peaceful hamlet rather than a resort village, and the evenings are very quiet. A small cluster of hotels and guesthouses sits around the frozen lake, the air is famously clean and the setting under the Cadini and the Tre Cime is genuinely spectacular, but there is almost no nightlife, only a handful of places to eat, and little to do after dark beyond a good dinner and the stars.

For the right traveler that silence is the whole appeal. Couples after a romantic, scenic escape and families with young children who want calm and safety will love it. Anyone who wants apres ski bars, shopping or a lively evening crowd will find it too sleepy and should look to Cortina, which has the restaurants, bars and shops that Misurina deliberately lacks.

In winter the lake freezes and the hamlet settles into a deep quiet that is the point of coming here, with snowshoe and winter walks around the shoreline and along the forest tracks toward the Tre Cime. Misurina has long been known for its exceptionally clean, dry mountain air, a reputation that historically drew health visitors, and that crisp high altitude setting is still a large part of why people choose this lake over a livelier resort base.

Where should you stay in Misurina?

Stay lakeside in Misurina for the views and the calm, and accept that choice is limited to a small number of hotels and guesthouses around the water. The hamlet is so compact that location within it barely matters, so choose on comfort, board basis and whether the hotel runs its own shuttle, since a car is genuinely useful here for reaching Cortina and the wider slopes.

Expect a week here, with lift passes, transfers and meals, to fall broadly in the $2,000 to $4,000 per person band, with Cortina day trips and the Dolomiti Superski pass the main variables. Half board at one of the lake hotels is the natural fit given how few separate restaurants there are, and it keeps the quiet evenings simple.

How do you get to Misurina?

Misurina is most easily reached from the Venice area airports, Venice Marco Polo and Treviso, each roughly two to two and a half hours away by road through the Cadore valleys. Cortina d'Ampezzo, only about twenty minutes away, is the regional hub for transfers and the point most services route through, so getting to Misurina usually means getting to Cortina and continuing the short distance up to the lake.

A car is the practical choice here. Public transport into a hamlet this small is sparse, and having your own vehicle makes the daily run to Cortina and the bigger slopes far easier, as well as opening up the surrounding Dolomites. If you would rather not drive, choose a hotel that operates a guest shuttle and plan to use Cortina as your base for any bigger days out.

Is Misurina right for your trip?

Skiing near Misurina

These resorts are within reach of Misurina, each with our full review:

• Cortina d'Ampezzo. The large, glamorous Dolomites resort about twenty minutes away that supplies the varied terrain Misurina lacks.
• Alta Pusteria. The Tre Cime slopes on the other side of the massif, a strong day out for families and intermediates.

Common questions