Pretty Ski Resorts in Italy

Enthroned in UNESCO-listed landscape, the ‘Queen of the Dolomites’ certainly looks the part of Alpine royalty. Streets wind off the cobbled Corso Italia, a trove of galleries, fashion houses and local artisans (the pharmacy wouldn’t look out of place in a classical art gallery). There's heritage here in droves - buildings, like the 12th century church, palatial Town Hall and elegant Victorian villas are very easy on the eye - but it's the landscape that'll really make your jaw drop. Spanning Cristallo, Sorapis and the Cinque Torri, the hills here have been the inspiration of artists like Filippo de Pisis. If you’ve left the pastels at home, embrace a favourite Italian past time: sip aperitivi and watch the distant peaks glow Aperol orange with the setting sun…

Under the magnificent Monte Rosa (the second highest peak in the Alps) sit a trio of little villages: La-Trinité acts as the main skiing hub - with a 17th century parish church, and a handful of cafes and shops in old stone and white-washed buildings. Then there’s lovely Stafal - a simple scattering of Tyrolean chalets, blanketed in white and oozing far-away calm. St Jean’s a knock out - home to the fairy-tale Savoy Castle (the aerial view is something else if you’re heli-skiing). You’ll also find ancient barns from its days as a Walser settlement: The courthouse from 1547 is the oldest house standing and the natural ice rink completes the wintery scene.

Back in 1882, Franz Joseph Oesterreicher transformed the town into a glamorous resort for the European rich and royal. Still fit for a king, Piazza Righi’s the central hub, where 19th century buildings house ritzy bars, restaurants and shops. Curiously (and not something we say a lot) the supermarket’s one of the most beautiful buildings, with fabulous murals of flowers, mountains and animals. A medieval church is just around the corner, with the town’s first hotel - Lo Stabilimento Alpine (now Relais des Alpes) next to it. See if you can visit the legendary Salone Hofer inside; an Art Nouveau ballroom that wouldn’t look out of place in Cinderella. Stray just a little out of town and you’re met with another kind of wonderland - ‘malghe’ shepherds’ huts, alpine lakes, and thick woodlands filled with roaming deer.

Long live Livinallongo - this diddy Dolomite village has stayed true to its Ladin roots, and we can’t get enough of it. En route, the Strada Statale winds down the valley, revealing the resort in the foothills of the Sella Massif – it looks worlds away from city life. A 17th century church is the focal point, surrounded by lodges of the same stone and rustic wooden huts that dot along the valley floor. To the north-west, the craggy peaks of the Sella Massif stand high – best seen from the top of Porta Vescovo at a heady 2478m.

Not only is Pozza a spa town AND ski resort; it’s also rather like an art gallery. The best viewings are along Strada de Meida, where typical Fassa buildings are decorated in Battenberg-yellow-and-pink, with classic murals plastered inside and out. A local painter, Claus Soraperra, decked a number of walls in the valley with fabulous pastoral, historical and religious scenes - Hotel Aurora is covered head to toe in his spectacular illustrations. The Hotel Rizzi is one of the oldest establishments in town, and has some striking religious paintings splashed across the front. Mother Nature’s thrown in her own masterpieces, too: The Cima Undici and Cima Dodici mountain range hang in the background, with Vajolet Towers and Marmolada glacier within sight.

In glorious Aosta – a valley of Roman, Renaissance and Baroque influence - sunny Courmayeur’s a right old head turner. Formed over centuries around two churches (the muse of many artists, including the great Turner and Ruskin), this Italian spa town has character brimming from every stone wall and wooden balcony. Pedestrianised Via Roma is the central hub, where posh boutiques, piano bars and gourmet restaurants are housed in hundred year old buildings. Sit and watch the world go by, lose yourself in narrow alleyways or spend all day skiing, but whatever you do, don’t forget to look up: the sights of Mont Blanc are pretty sensational.

Ortisei’s long been a world-leader for its wood carving trade. And it shows: just like life-sized dolls houses, buildings are painted in pastel tones - blues, yellows, lilacs – and they have some fabulously ornate windowsills, porches and roofs. Other buildings are deliciously Tyrolean: Pure white like the landscape with classic wooden shutters and balconies. Two huge bull statues look down the main shopping route, a car-free Zona Pedonale where you’ll often see locals in traditional dress. The main square’s home to the renaissance St. Antonio chapel which is one of many religious buildings in the area - St Anne’s chapel (by the cemetery) and the striking St. Jakob and Saint Giacomo (above the town) are well worth a detour.

Miniature Campitello looks even tinier when you take in the Sassolungo and Col Rodella mountains overhead. This was the first Fassa village in the area to pull in visitors from the outside world – and it won’t take long to see the draw. Once dedicated entirely to dairy farming, its buildings are a mix of dark timber chalets, ram-shackled barns and cowsheds. Il Vechhio Mulino (The Old Mill) and the clock tower of the Parish Church are two of our favourite features. They’re pretty much all lined with tiny lights as soon as winter arrives, with a handful of lodges glowing up on the hills as night-time draws in.

In dreamy Val d’Ayas, Champoluc is surrounded by a dense forest of pines and larches, dwarfed by the 4000m peaks that teeter overhead (on a clear day, look out for Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn). The meltwater of the Torrente Evançon River flows straight through the centre, parallel to the main thoroughfare – off which, narrow, winding streets are lined with Narnia-like lampposts. The Parish Church of San Martino sits slap bang in the centre - its bell tower watching over the sloping slate roofs of timber and stone buildings as it has for hundreds of years.

Cute Corvara dates back to the 12th century and saw the start of winter tourism in Alta Badia (Italy’s first chairlift was built here after WWI). Its traditional architecture has been kept in cracking condition over the years: Wood-clad chalets line the streets, with spired churches peering over them. The street winding through the heart of town is filled with eye-catching boutiques, but one of the prettiest buildings by far is the Mountain Guides base, painted with swans, stars and lotus flowers. Another sight to see is the Santa Croce church – it’s named after the mountains behind it, which glow a glorious red as the sun sets for a postcard-worthy photo. Tree-covered hills surround, with the iconic north face of the Sassongher above – something to seriously ogle over.