La Villa Ski Resort Guide & Reviews Alta Badia Ski Area, Apres-Ski, Accommodation, Other Activities
Resort Reviews
Being in the South Tyrol, the first language in the Val Badia valley is Ladin closely followed by Italian and German.
Ladin is a Neolatin language that is also spoken in other valleys surrounding the Sella Massif ( Val Gardena, Livinallongo, Val di Fassa and Ampezzo).
Après-ski
Alta Badia is a paradise for those who love their food. Their are 4 Michelin-starred restaurants and the dishes combine South Tyrolean and Italian cuisine with local Ladin specialities. Compared to Corvara and Colfosco which are the liveliest villages in Alta Badia, La Villa offers a more quite and sophisticated après-ski. Having said that, La Bercia (bar and pizzeria) gets packed at night with the club staying open until the early hours.
Children
As is typical throughout Italy, kids are worshipped and La Villa is no exception with miniclubs and daycare centres for the younger ones up to the age of 11.
| Key information (local area) | |
|---|---|
| Altitude | 1433m |
| Top lift | 2778m |
| Family | |
| Beginner | |
| Intermediate | |
| Expert | |
| Piste (km) | 130 |
| Longest run | 8 km |
| Off piste | |
| Cross country | 38 km |
| Season | Dec - April |
| Snowboard parks | 2 |
| Heli Skiing | ✔ |
| Summer skiing | ✘ |
| Glacier skiing | ✘ |
| Babysitting | ✔ |
| Creche | ✔ |
| Apres ski | Relaxed & Informal |
La Villa & Alta Badia ski area guide
This skiing area is known throughout the world, not only due to the unique landscape in which it is part of, but also due to the state-of-the-art lift facilites.
In the valley of Badia there are 51 ski lifts, 130km of pistes and 38km of cross country slopes. The famous Gran Risa ski run can be found in La Villa, well known for its World Cup Slalom race. The lovely Valley of the Stella Alpine can be reached from the village of Colfosco and you can admire the breathtaking view of the Valley of Mezdi. From here you can start a magnificent all day ski tour to Lagazuoi. The Sella Ronda also takes you to Corvara and Colfosco and you can easily reach the adjacent valleys.
The local ski area around Alta Badia gives plenty of opportunities for beginners and early intermediates to improve their technique before heading out into the vast ski terrain covered by the Super Dolomiti pass delivering some 1220km of pistes (1100km have snow-making machines) of which 60% are classified as intermediate.
The Dolomiti Superski ski pass provides access to 460 lifts and 1,220 km of pistes in the following ski areas: Cortina d'Ampezzo<, Kronplatz, Alta Badia, Gröden, Seiseralm, Fassatal, Karerse, Marmolada, Hochpustertal, Fleimstal, Obereggen, San Martino di Castrozza-Rollepass, Eisacktal, Trevalli and Civetta.
Beginners
La Villa's nursery slopes are accessible from the town centre and after you have managed to get the snowplough turns perfected, there are lots of wide easy cruising blues in every direction to progress your technique.
Intermediate
For the intermediates, the local and entire Super Dolomiti area is heaven with literally miles and miles of piste at your finger tips. One of the best days out is to ski the Sella Ronda - it can take up to a full day depending on your ability, fitness and the number of pit-stops but definitely worth it.
Advanced
The local area is pretty limited for the serious skiers although there are some good off-piste runs under La Villa's Piz La Ila gondola and under the Vallon chairlift.
If you head over to Val Gardena in the direction of Ciampinoi / Sassolungo between Selva and S. Cristina, there are some challenging runs and certainly some of the best off-piste closest to La Villa, where we would recommend you take a guide to get the best out of what is available.
Other ski holiday activities
In addition to skiing, other things you can try include:
- Winter hiking trails
- Snowshoeing
- Parapenting
- Ice climbing
- Hand-gliding
Further afield, its definitely worth the trip to Arabba via the Podroi Pass. Arraba has the most blacks around the Sella Ronda circuit and from there, time permitting, Skiing on the Marmolda is not to be missed - from Arabba it takes around 40 mins skiing to the base cable car and then a further 2 cable cars to get to the top. The best known run is the Bellunese from Punta Rocca at 3300m down to Malga Ciapela, a vertical drop of 1800m and some 12km long - truly amazing and stunning scenery all the way.
Featured hotels and chalets
La Villa accommodation
The accommodation in and around La Villa is a collection of family run chalets, modern apartments and a variety of hotels. No matter what type of accommodation you choose, you can be sure that they are all extremely welcoming and friendly and if you are in catered accommodation, you are in for a treat as the food is out of this world.
Our view on ski holidays in La Villa
We think La Villa is one of those ski resorts that are starting to get the recognition amongst international travellers that it thoroughly deserves. A fantastic resort in the heart of the spectacular Dolomites - full of charm and character. With its direct link in to Corvara, ski holidays in La Villa present some serious touring options for all levels of skier. A few suggestions...
- A trip to the Hidden Valley with its frozen waterfall and horse pulled tow-ropes at the bottom to take you back to the ski lift
- A long ski from La Villa to the bottom of the Marmolada glacier takes you to the Sottaguda gorge - this is definitely worth the burning legs getting there but you definitely need to be on the first lift to make it!
- Pisciadù waterfalls is well worth a stroll to in the summer. It takes around an hour if you start from the centre of La Villa
- If you are staying towards the entrance of the town - around La Bercia restaurant, then we would recommend that you leave your skis at the cable car station in a locker as it's a good 10 minute walk from that part of town
If you like La Villa, you may also want to look at Les Carroz in the Grand Massif in France.
