Practical information for visiting Cortina d'Ampezzo

Coverage is good in the basin and along the main roads, and unreliable on the high routes and in the side valleys. Treat it as absent above the cable-car stations.

EU visitors roam on their own plans; others can buy a prepaid SIM in town. Wi-Fi is standard in hotels and cafés and generally absent in refuges, which is part of the appeal.

Cortina is a safe town. The risks are alpine, and people underestimate them because the cable cars make the high mountains so easy to reach.

• A cable car puts you in serious terrain in ten minutes. The ground above the top stations is exposed, weather changes fast, and afternoon storms are routine in summer. Start early and turn back early.
• Via ferrate need equipment and knowledge -- a harness, a proper ferrata set and the ability to use them. They are not walking routes with handrails.
• Snow lingers into July on north faces and in gullies, and an innocuous-looking patch above a drop is where accidents happen.
• Winter driving requires winter tyres or chains by law, and the passes close in bad weather.
• Mountain rescue is not always free -- check your insurance before you go up.

Cortina has the Ospedale Codivilla-Putti, a small hospital with an emergency department; serious cases go to Belluno, about an hour and a half away. In winter and at peak season the local service is heavily loaded with skiing injuries.

EU visitors with a valid EHIC are treated on the same terms as residents. Non-EU visitors need travel health insurance, and everyone walking or skiing should confirm that it covers mountain rescue and helicopter evacuation, which are frequently excluded and are expensive here.

Altitude is mild at town level but real above 2,500 m. Sun exposure on snow and rock is severe, and dehydration is easier than the cool air suggests.

Single emergency number: 112, free from any phone, covering police, fire, ambulance and mountain rescue.

Mountain rescue: through 112. Give a path number, a refuge name or a lift station -- a precise reference is worth far more than a description of the view.

Hospital: Ospedale Codivilla-Putti in Cortina for emergencies; major cases transfer to Belluno.

Police: the Carabinieri station in town handles most matters; a formal denuncia is needed for insurance claims.

Lost passport: contact your own country's embassy or consulate, most of which are in Rome or Milan.