The beautiful Val Gardena valley comprises the famous holiday resorts Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva Gardena.

The valley has been inhabited for over 2.000 years, as inaccessible high valley it escaped the Germanizing, therefore today 90% of the population speak Ladin.

The valley belongs to the Ladin cultural area in which customs, traditions and sagas of the Ladin population have their origin.
The traditional costumes of Val Gardena are characteristic for the traditions of the valley.
The Gherlanda Spiza for example is only worn by virgins and the wedding procession is one of the most spectacular in the whole Alpine region.

The wood carving craftwork has been practiced for over 400 years in the Val Gardena valley.
Originally the  wood carvers made simple articles of daily use in the long winter months.
Nowadays the figures of saints and crucifixes made of the wood of the Swiss stone pine are famous in the whole world.

In the art gallery Unika unique pieces of local sculptors are exhibited.
The permanent exhibition named Art 52 in the congress house of Oritsei shows hand-carved sculptures and art paintings of the valley.

Val Gardena also has a famous mountaineer, director and actor, namely Luis Trenker. His tomb is in Ortisei and is visited by thousands of people each year.
Val Gardena became a legend in sports after the Skiing World Championships in 1970.

From that time onwards modern ski lifts were built that made the valley to one of the most important winter sporting resorts of the Alps.
The Men’s Ski World Cup on the Saslong slope is very famous and hosts spectacular ski races.

Val Gardena is connected to the Dolomiti Superski, the biggest skiing area compound in the world, the sunny Alpe di Siusi plateau is also close by, therefore Val Gardena is a real skiing paradise.

A special skiing adventure is the tour around the Sella massif, the famous 26 km long Sella Round.
Apart from wonderful ski slopes, the Alpe di Siusi plateau for example or the ski lift Raschötz in Ortisei offer sledging/tobogganing runs for the whole family.

Skating possibilities are offered on the natural ice rink of the Passo Pinei pass ice rink Pranives in Selva Gardena.
You can relax in the modern adventure indoor swimming pool Mardolomit and relax in the sauna after an exciting day.
For golfers Selva Gardena offers a 9 hole golf course in an impressive landscape at the foot of the Sella massif.

A large part of the unique mountain landscape forms the nature park Sciliar, a protective biotope with many rare plant species.
Here some plants could survive the last ice age in protected cliff niches in the lime and Dolomite faces.

In summer numerous walking paths and hiking trails lead you through the unique nature where you can eat, drink and relax in one of the many original refuges.