This is a guide to the best places to run in the Alpine venues for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy. The venues are spread out. The curling & alpine events are being held in three clusters: Cortina d’Ampezzo, Valtellina, and Val di Fiemme. Milan is host to the Opening Ceremonies, and hockey, figure skating, and speed skating competitions. The Olympic Village is in the Parco Romana area. The closing ceremonies are being held in the iconic outdoor amphitheater in the Arena di Vernona in Verona.
You can see the venues for the three alpine clusters on the accompanying overview map. We have also researched the best places to run in these areas. For the most part, these are mountain destinations, so it’s trail running heaven during the non-winter months. But each area has some easier, scenic running spots appropriate for the everyday runner. We point out which of these are maintained in winter. Still, best to bring your grippers!
Cortina d’Ampezzo
Cortina d’Ampezzo is the ‘heart’ of the mountain areas for the 2026 Winter Games. Cortina hosted the 1956 Winter Games (fun fact: the figure skating was held outdoors!). For 2026, Cortina is hosting the curling, women’s downhill, bobsled/luge, and biathlon events. Best running options are the Lunga Via delle Dolimiti Multi-Use Trail that runs for 50 km between Cimbanche and Pieve di Cadore, passing through Cortina. And in Fiames, located 5 km north of Cortina, the Pian de Ra Spines is a pleasant 7 km loop around the Boite Stream.
Valtellina Cluster
Valtellina is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Olympic events are being held in Bormio and Livigno, which are an hour apart. Bormio is host to the Men’s Downhill at the Pista Stelvio. Best running spot is the multi-use path along the Adda River. In Livigno, there’s wonderful running on the Via Restel path along the Lago di Livigno reservoir and also the Via Biondi trail along the Spöl River, which runs through town.
Val Di Fiemme Cluster
The Fiemme Valley is a valley in the Trentino province in northern Italy, located in the Dolomites mountain region. The ski jumping & nordic combined events are being held in Predazzo. The other nordic skiing events are being held in Tesero, which is 10 km to the west. The best running spot in the area is the Val di Fiemme Multi-Use Path, which runs for 19 km between Predazzo and Molina di Fiemme, passing through Tesero.
Milan and Verona
In Milan, most of the Olympics venues are outside the historic center. We developed a new route in the Olympic Village area, which is in the Porta Romana area. In Verona, our ‘runseeing‘ tour passes by the Arena di Verona.
