Exploring Milan & Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics Travel Guide: What to See Beyond the Games

Exploring Milan & Cortina for 2026: A Travel Guide to Italy’s Winter Olympics Host Cities

The dates, the bases, the Dolomites logistics, and how to turn the Games into an unforgettable Italy trip

The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics run from 6 February to 22 February 2026, with competition starting two days earlier on 4 February. The Opening Ceremony is at Milan’s San Siro stadium on 6 February, and the Closing Ceremony is on 22 February in Verona at the Arena di Verona. If you want the most reliable day-by-day plan, use the official Milano Cortina 2026 calendar as your master reference and then build your travel days around it.

Olympic schedule: what’s actually happening (and when)

Events begin on 4 February (before the Opening Ceremony), so arriving “opening day” often means missing early rounds in sports that start immediately. The Games are unusually spread out across northern Italy, with venues across Lombardy (including Milan), Veneto (including Cortina d’Ampezzo), and Trentino-Alto Adige, so your schedule will work best if you pick a base and follow a venue cluster instead of chasing everything. Milan anchors major indoor events and big-city Olympic energy, while the Dolomites clusters deliver the classic Winter Games feeling of mountains, snow, and ski-town crowds.

Where to stay: Milan vs Cortina (and the best Cortina areas)

If your priority is ceremonies, city nightlife, and the “Olympics in a fashion capital” vibe, stay in Milan and treat the mountains as a targeted side trip for the specific events you care about. If your priority is alpine events and skiing, base yourself in Cortina d’Ampezzo—often called the “Queen of the Dolomites”—and accept that you’re choosing mountain immersion over urban convenience. In Cortina, the simplest choice for first-timers is the town center (maximum walkability to Corso Italia shops, restaurants, and transport), while areas like Pocol and Zuel di Sopra tend to trade a quieter, more resort-like feel for short drives or shuttles.

Milan to the Dolomites by train (the Cortina route that works)

There’s no train station in Cortina because the historic Dolomites rail service was discontinued in 1964, so the classic “train-to-the-mountains” move is really train plus bus. A widely used route from Milan is to go via Venice Mestre, then take a regional train to Calalzo di Cadore, and from Calalzo continue by bus to Cortina using services such as Cortina Link or Dolomitibus. From Calalzo di Cadore station to Cortina, the Dolomiti Bus line runs about hourly, takes around 1 hour, and costs roughly €3–€5.

Milan moments between events: Duomo, fashion, and “Olympics energy”

In Milan, give yourself at least one daylight block for the Duomo complex, and if you want the full “this is Milan” feeling, book rooftop terraces in advance and choose lift vs stairs based on your time and legs. The terraces are the star experience, and some tickets explicitly let you decide between stairs and elevator access for the rooftop. For the fashion layer that makes these Games uniquely Milanese, walk the Quadrilatero della Moda—centered on Via Montenapoleone—and treat it like a free museum of Italian luxury design even if you buy nothing.

Olympic venues: how to think in clusters (so you don’t waste a day)

In Milan, key competition sites include the Santagiulia Arena (ice hockey finals), the Fiera Milano complex for speed skating and some ice hockey, and the Forum di Milano for short-track speed skating and figure skating. In the Cortina cluster, venues include the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre for women’s alpine, the Cortina Olympic Stadium for curling, and the Cortina Sliding Centre for sliding sports, while biathlon is at Anterselva/Antholz. This “city ice + mountain snow” split is the central design of Milano Cortina 2026, and planning around one cluster per day is the difference between a trip that feels elegant and one that feels like transit.

Tickets and booking: don’t wing this part

For tickets, use only the official Milano Cortina ticketing site and avoid third-party resale platforms, because unauthorized tickets can mean being refused entry at venues. The IOC has also promoted ticket-inclusive hospitality options via the official hospitality provider (On Location), and early-access/structured sales windows have been part of the official approach for these Games. For Cortina accommodation, lock your lodging as early as possible—Cortina is small, demand spikes hard around event days, and the “nice, walkable, central” options disappear first.
If you tell me your exact dates in Italy and whether you want more Milan time or more skiing time, I’ll map it into a tight 3-day, 5-day, or 7-day itinerary that matches one venue cluster per day.