Anywhere Italy
Stemma di Corvara in Badia

Trentino-South Tyrol · Bolzano

Corvara in Badia

The Ladin centre of Alta Badia at 1,568 metres, at the foot of the Sassongher, on the four-pass Sellaronda ski circuit.

1568m

Elevation

62 km / 39 mi

Nearest hub (Bolzano)

1,396

Population

Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

Best time to visit

Why come

Corvara sits at 1,568 metres in a wide basin at the head of the Val Badia, below the rock spire of the Sassongher and inside the Dolomites UNESCO area. Ladin is the everyday language: in the 2024 census 87 percent of residents named it as their first tongue, with Italian and German distant second and third. The settlement was a scattered group of farms until tourism arrived in the early twentieth century, and Corvara is considered the birthplace of organised Alpine tourism in the Val Badia. The village is one of four bases on the Sellaronda, the forty-kilometre ski circuit that loops the Sella massif through Corvara, Arabba, Canazei and Selva di Val Gardena on a single lift pass. Above the village, the Pralongià plateau opens a long view to the Marmolada glacier. The Gran Risa piste at the next hamlet of La Villa hosts the men's giant slalom on the World Cup tour each December.

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Gallery

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Known for

  • Chiesa di Santa Caterina

    Late Gothic church first documented in 1347 and consecrated to Saint Catherine in 1452, holding the only well-preserved winged altar in Val Badia, dated 1520.

  • Sassongher

    Rock peak at 2,665 metres above the village, the signature silhouette of Corvara and a classic via ferrata climb on the eastern flank.

  • Altopiano di Pralongià

    Grassy plateau above the village reached by cable car, with open views to the Marmolada glacier and the surrounding Dolomite groups.

  • Sellaronda

    Forty-kilometre ski circuit around the Sella massif linking Corvara, Arabba, Canazei and Selva di Val Gardena on a single lift pass.

  • Parco Naturale Puez-Odle

    Protected Dolomite area at the northern edge of the commune, inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list with the wider Dolomites group in 2009.

When to visit

Best months · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

December through March is the ski season, the village at full capacity around the Sellaronda lifts, with the men's World Cup giant slalom on the Gran Risa each December at La Villa next door. June through September is the summer Dolomite season, cool even in July at 1,568 metres, with hiking, via ferrata and gravel cycling across the Pralongià plateau and the Puez-Odle park. April and May are quiet shoulder months, snow gone from the village but lifts mostly closed and hotels shut between seasons. October and November are the deepest off-season, with most accommodation closed until the December reopening.

How to get there

From Bolzano, Corvara in Badia is roughly 62 km by road. Allow about 53–74 minutes depending on traffic and route choice (autostrada vs scenic).

Drive time to the nearest gateway airports

  • Venice2h 28m
  • Verona2h 56m
  • Milan3h 40m

Elevation 1568 m

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