The 2026 Winter Olympics, co-hosted by Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, are the most geographically widespread Games to date, with events scattered across nearly 8,500 square miles.
For travelers, this means there are more ways than ever to enjoy the Winter Games. Those who choose Milan as their home base, for example, will have an entirely different Olympics experience than those heading to the Dolomites.
The dispersed hosting model—which will be used going forward during the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps and the 2034 edition in Salt Lake City, Utah—is in line with the Olympic Committee’s suggestions for host cities to use existing venues to reduce costs and prioritize sustainability. "The signal we’re giving to hosts is to use what already exists, where people have the know-how and where they’re equipped,” says Christophe Dubi, Olympic Games executive director for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
For the 2026 Games, Milan will host the opening ceremony on February 6 at San Siro Stadium, in addition to the ice sport events: figure skating, short track, speed skating and ice hockey. Meanwhile, Livigno and Bormio in the Lombard Alps, as well as Cortina d’Ampezzo and Val di Fiemme in the Dolomites, will provide the backdrop for Alpine competitions. The closing ceremony will be held in Verona, a Northern Italian city located between the two co-hosts.
Milan alone is gearing up to welcome an estimated 1.6 million spectators over the course of two weeks, leaving locals wondering what the impact on their city will be. Around town, a tentative optimism seems to prevail. Ask a barista, restaurant server or dry cleaner if they’re excited for the Olympics, and you’ll often get a noncommittal, “sì” delivered with shrugged shoulders and a quick, tilted double head nod. Others, like Lucrezia Bosone, who runs a branding agency and grew up in Milan, remain skeptical. “I just don’t know if the city will be able to handle it,” she says, comparing the upheaval with that of Milan Design Week that causes traffic snarls and crowds across the city.
Hotel room rates for January are already showing a sizeable increase, too. At the Excelsior Hotel Gallia, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Milan, rates are comparable to Milan’s peak periods—Design Week in April and the spring and fall editions of Fashion Week—with several rooms booked months in advance. In the weeks immediately preceding and following the Games, rates remain above average.
Marco Terzi, CEO and founder of Xenia, a short-term rental company that manages over 130 Milan properties, cites a similar pattern, noting that rates during the opening ceremony, the first weekend and major finals are 70 to 120% higher than a typical February, with “prime location” apartments costing nearly 150% more. He has noticed clear peak periods around the days leading up to the opening ceremony and the first weekend, as well as a steadier but still higher middle stretch, and only a slight easing after the closing ceremony. Stays range from quick two- or three-night “hit and run” visits, timed to a single event, to longer seven- to 14-night bookings from staff and media.
Increased connectivity
To manage spectator flow in a manner that minimizes neighborhood disruption and avoids wide-scale neighborhood shutdowns and heavy traffic congestion, organizers have developed a transportation strategy. Lombardy secured a considerable portion of the Games' 3.5 billion euro ($4 billion) budget to improve the host region's transport and infrastructure. This covers shuttle services from pick-up points in Milan to Alpine competition sites, 46 new electric metro trains, and added rail connections for the Dobbiaco and Ponte nelle Alpi stations in South Tyrol, two of Cortina d’Ampezzo’s main access points. Lombardy’s regional TreNord service has added 120 additional daily train services for nearly 2,500 daily runs between Milan and the Valtellina area.
For the Milano–Tirano line, the frequency will increase from 15 trains a day to 2 trains per hour for a nearly 24-hour period; shuttle buses will carry passengers the remainder of the way to Livigno. In addition, park-and-ride car lots will help keep traffic out of the mountains, and Uber has signed on as a Games sponsor, with 5,000 local drivers and designated pick-up/drop-off zones to ease congestion in both Milan and the mountain towns.
Infrastructure upgrades and improvements
For host cities, “the Olympics are more than just about sports," says Barbara Bersini, a real estate agent who works in Milan regularly and lives just outside of the city. “The improvements, infrastructure, and services will endure, which makes the city more appealing to anyone who wants to move or invest here.”
Sustainability underpins nearly every aspect of the Games, right down to the torches, which run on low-carbon bio-LPG and can withstand up to ten refills. All competition venues will be powered by 100% renewable energy, and 11 of the 13 sites are existing or temporary structures. Following the Games, the newly constructed Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena will become a sports and entertainment venue. Similarly, the 140 million euro Olympic Village designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has a twofold role: the 500,000-square-foot complex will house 1,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes before it’s converted into housing for students of eight local universities.
The Olympic Village occupies a section of the Porta Romana Scalo, a derelict rail yard in southeast Milan, skirting the Fondazione Prada. It’s a key component of the Scali Milano, an ambitious project to redevelop over 10 million square feet of disused land across seven railway yards. Consisting of public green spaces, two repurposed historic structures, and six new residential buildings, the Village’s design incorporates prefabricated façade panels that accelerate construction while minimizing waste alongside passive cooling, solar panels, rooftop gardens, and rainwater harvesting.
The Olympics' long-term legacy in host cities like Milan is "about how effectively the Games respond to the host’s social, environmental, and economic needs,” says Marie Sallois, director of sustainability for the IOC. “That responsiveness is what makes the Olympic model work and what ensures its long-term success.”
Accessibility and inclusion
The Paralympics, taking place from March 6 to 15, have prompted city-wide accessibility upgrades in Milan. Malpensa Airport is undergoing a 30 million euro (approximately $35 million) overhaul that includes a revamp of Terminal 1’s external arrival and departure areas to remove architectural barriers so that reduced-mobility passengers can move with complete autonomy.
This commitment to accessibility is also evident in the city center. The M4 and M5 metro lines are barrier-free, elevator-equipped, and connected to points of interest such as Linate Airport and San Siro Stadium. Beyond that, the M1, M2, and M3 metro lines are being retrofitted with elevators and escalators, and public buildings, such as Palazzo Reale in Piazza del Duomo, are being adapted to modern accessibility standards.
In May, the Comune of Milan, the city’s municipal government, launched two initiatives to counteract the growing youth sport dropout rate: Generazione Sport and Fuori Campo. The former provides 11- to 30-year-olds with vouchers for sports programs and training opportunities, while the latter transforms public spaces into open-air arenas open to anyone regardless of age and ability. Martina Riva, the councillor for sport, tourism and youth policy, shares that Generazione Sport now involves hundreds of young people aged between 14 and 30.
But those aren’t the only local legacy programs fostering movement. In 2023, the Italian National Olympic Committee partnered with Milano Cortina 2026 to launch Gen26, which turns city streets, parks and sports halls into communal student spaces for exercise, teamwork, and wellness. That same year, the IOC collaborated with the World Health Organization for Let’s Move, a campaign that promotes accessible physical activity in playgrounds and open-air fitness spaces.
The 2026 Games aren’t just one facet of Milan’s ongoing evolution. As Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala tells Condé Nast Traveler, the Olympics stand to be both “a splendid showcase” and “a significant step forward for the city.” The sustainability and inclusion measures, long-haul upgrades, and notable firsts aren’t just for show—they’re a testament to how, as Sala says, Milan can compete on an equal footing with other major world cities.
This story was originally published on Condé Nast Traveller UK.
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