Like Bad Gastein, but in Italy: another old spa town, set higher

If the spa is the reason you book, start here. Our one line on Bormio is a historic spa town with a famous top to bottom run, it is historic and relaxed by our read, and a thermal spa is on its list of what it does best, with long runs and racing. We class it as traditional, as we do Bad Gastein, and quiet.

The gain is height. The town sits at 1,225 metres, 225 above Bad Gastein, and the skiing reaches 3,001 metres, measured, 357 higher than yours. Seventy-six percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against your half, so Bormio is snow sure on our measure where Bad Gastein just misses.

Much of the steep comes with you. Thirty-two percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 37, the joint third largest share of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. The reds are kinder, averaging 21.7 percent against 25.0, but the blacks average 35.7, the sixth steepest of the 55 we cover, against your 32.6. And there are 4 kilometres of marked itinerary against your 1.5, a single line that drops 1,051 metres.

The trade is size and the easy end. Bormio's own mountain is 50 kilometres across 12 lifts, against your own 83, and its pass covers four separate valleys reached by transport, a shape you already know from the Gastein valley. We measure 52.5 kilometres around the town, against 106.6 around Bad Gastein. And there are 12.1 kilometres of blue and easier, the least of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 41.3.

Cortina is the pick for the part of Bad Gastein that is about the setting. Dolomites scenery is first on its list of what it does best, with style and long lunches, and it is stylish and scenic by our read. Our guide describes a historic town rather than a purpose built resort, with a pedestrian main street, a bell tower and a spa culture, and it hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and the Games again in 2026. Its local areas are not all linked either, so a bus or a car is part of the day, as it is down the Gastein valley.

The snow test goes Cortina's way. Sixty-seven percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, so it is snow sure on our measure. Its lifts reach 3,028 metres, but that is a lift top: the highest piste we measure is at 2,724, 80 above Bad Gastein's top. The town is at 1,224 metres, 224 above yours.

The skiing is gentler, but not soft at the top end. Twenty-five percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 37, and the reds average 21.9 percent. The blacks average 32.5 percent, all but level with your 32.6, and there are 9.2 kilometres of marked itinerary, the second most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. We measure 85.5 kilometres around the town, with 38.2 of blue and easier. The trade is the faded grandeur: Cortina is stylish and upmarket, and we do not class it as traditional.

If the steep is what you love, Kronplatz goes further. Forty-three percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the joint second largest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 37. Even the blues bite: they average 20.2 percent, the steepest of the 55 we cover, against your 14.9, and only 16 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, the smallest share of the 55 we cover. There are 14.1 kilometres of black against your 8.2.

It gives up the height and the place. The skiing stops at 2,266 metres, measured, 378 below yours and the lowest of the 10 Italian resorts we cover, though 51 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800, close to your half. We measure 76.8 kilometres around the village. And it is modern and efficient by our read, a groomed dome with museums on its list, not a spa town.