We made preparations for Kitzbuhel and Salzburg, but we went to Italy, Cortina D’Ampezzo, for skiing! : ) The reason is that there is no snow in Kitzbuhel, and even if they make artificial snow, the air temperature is around 10 degrees! However, there was so much snow in the Southern Alps, in Italy, that in the town we went to, they were transporting the excess snow to other places with trucks! As a result, since we had previously purchased our flight tickets from Ankara to Munich, we took the same flight again and arranged our transfer for the town to Cortina instead of Kitzbuhel. It took us 4.5-5 hours to reach the town. If there had been no change in plans at the last minute, it would have made more sense to fly to Venice, but this time we would have had to make 2 flights with connections in Istanbul. Our flight would have cost more in terms of price and duration, but this time the transfer would have been shorter and cheaper. Unlike our previous ski holidays, since we were only two families this time, the town transfer cost a little more than usual. The last week before the trip, I did intensive research on the town, restaurants and ski schools. There are several ski schools in Cortina. As a result of my research, I learned that one of them (Happy Ski School) is specialized and assertive in teaching skiing especially to young children. They were doing lessons with balloons and stuff, and they had techniques they developed specifically for young children. Before we left, I booked private lessons for Little Traveler, now 4, and his 5-year-old friend for the morning of our first day. Little Traveler went on a ski holiday to Kitzbuhel in Austria when he was 1 year old (text here) and to Val Gardena in Italy when he was 2 years old (text here), but of course he couldn’t ski at that time. So this trip was the first real ski holiday! The ski school suggested that we take private lessons at the beginning, especially for the little ones who are just learning like us, and that we take private lessons individually. This seemed logical to us and in the following days we saw that we made the right decision. In the first lessons, teachers held the children with ropes or small hoops, and the speed of the children’s progress was very different. At this point, it was very advantageous that private lessons in Cortina were cheaper than, for example, private lessons in Austria. Little Traveler started skiing completely alone only on the 5th day due to the language problem (our friends’ daughter spoke English) and the age difference. On the first day, they took only 1 hour of lessons, again with the recommendation of the school. Little Traveler started to cry just as he was about to put on his skis and hit the track, but when we did not make any concessions, he went with his teacher [he had to go :)]. In the end, he returned very happy. We all watched the first lesson with great excitement, we wanted so much that Little Traveler would love skiing like us and start skiing as soon as possible! At the end of the lesson, one of our friends stayed with the children in the children’s playground right next to the children’s track, so we explored the tracks in this area called Miestre. The tracks were easy and literally empty! When the weather was sunny, skiing was very enjoyable, but since Miestre was a bit isolated, the infrastructure was not very developed. The lifts were slow in a way we don’t often see abroad. We spent the rest of our first day having lunch, learning about the town, and figuring out how to get to the lifts. Transportation was such a problem for the first time after our other ski holidays because taxis were very expensive; Since the ski areas were disconnected from each other, there was no option to leave the skis in one of them, and we could not find a ski depot anyway. There were no ski buses going to the Miestre area where the ski school was; There were no frequent buses to the places he went. In short, this place was designed for Italians who came on holiday with their cars. As a result, with the help of our hotel, we arranged for someone who deals with transfers, and we arranged our transportation within the town by calling him 2-3 times a day. It was much cheaper than a taxi, but it was still an extra expense. Since we gave priority to the children learning to ski, we went to the ski school in Miestre in the morning on the remaining days, the children took lessons for 1.5-2 hours, and we skied in Miestre while they were in the lesson. Then, if the weather was too snowy, we either returned to town or went to other ski areas such as Socrapes and Faloria, first had lunch and then skied, taking turns standing next to the children. Even though it was a complete blizzard for 2 days and the children had a fever, we never took a break from the children’s lessons. Tracks… As I said; Cortina consists of several ski areas, some disconnected from each other and some connected to each other: Mietres, Cristallo, Faloria, Cinque Torri, Tofana, Col Druscie and Socrapes. There is a connection between Cristtallo and Faloria. I couldn’t ski here, but my wife and our friend liked the tracks here very much. The hotel had already recommended this place highly. Tofana, Col Druscie and Socrapes are like a separate region connected to each other. In addition to very long and beautiful tracks of various difficulty levels, there is also a baby track in Socrapes. Unfortunately, since we did not have the opportunity to ski in Cinque Torri on this trip, I cannot comment on this place. The last region is Miestres, which I mentioned before, where the children have schools. If you ask me, if you’re not going to Happy Ski School, I’d say it’s not worth your time. You can access the track map by clicking here. Our hotel… I realized that after writing this much, I still haven’t mentioned our hotel! Our hotel, Hotel Regina, was a very comfortable hotel with an excellent location in the town, not luxurious but decorated in an Alpine style, with every comfort considered. Our rooms were quite large suites. A large room is really an important need on a ski holiday with children and ski equipment. Also, the hotel staff were incredibly helpful and attentive. They made an effort to find solutions to all our problems. The town… The center of Cortina D’Ampezzo consists of a main street closed to traffic and small streets connected to it. The borders of this region, which forms a rectangle on the map, are determined by 4 streets with one-way traffic. Restaurants and stylish shops adorn the main street of this pedestrian area, which makes the town more enjoyable. The town is generally very cute, a typical Alpine town. Notes to parents of “Little Travelers”: – Starting from the age of 4, there is no need to bring a stroller in small ski towns. – If you are of skiing age, be sure to determine the location of the ski school in advance and research transportation options between the hotel and the school. – Since renting skis is very economical, you do not need to carry skis. – If your child is young, it makes sense to have private lessons. Mavimore Turizm is a travel agency registered with TÜRSAB. Document number: A-8307