2026 Winter Olympics

Trip Background and Planning

From the heartbreak of Crosby's Golden Goal in Vancouver in 2010 to waking up at 6:00 am to watch T.J. Oshie dominate a shootout in Sochi in 2014, we have long been fans of the Olympic Winter Games and Olympic Ice Hockey, and dreamed of attending them in person.  When it was announced that NHL players would be returning to the games in Milano-Cortina, we thought it would be awesome to attend.  However, we had no idea where to begin in terms of acquiring tickets, finding places to stay, or the cost associated with attending the Olympics.

On a whim, Justin signed up for the ticket lottery in late 2024, not knowing if getting tickets were even feasible.  Fast-forward to Super Bowl Sunday in February 2025.  Out of the blue, Justin got an email saying "Your timeslot to purchase tickets is Tomorrow at 10:00 am CET."  We briefly discussed it during the Super Bowl and set alarms for 4:00am EST to see what was available and determine if the trip was possible.

We FaceTimed half-asleep at 3:50am and logged to see a mix of random tickets available for purchase.  There wasn't a lot to choose from, but it was enough to get started, and the website promised later drops of tickets and a resale marketplace to be launched in December.  We pulled the trigger and purchased tickets to two Snowboarding events and hospitality tickets to the Women's Gold Medal Hockey game.  These tickets gave us not only a reason to look into flights and hotels, but a skeleton (no pun intended) of a plan for where we would travel between the locations hosting different events.

The 2026 Winter Games were unique in that they were the most spread-out Olympics in history.  In past games in Paris, Sochi, London, and Vancouver, the majority of the events were hosted within a short drive or train ride from the city center, making it easy to stay in one hotel and see lots of different events.  However, in an effort to reduce the environmental impact of the games, keep costs down for building new venues, and avoid abandoned venues after the Olympics conclude, the 2026 organizers decided to spread the games out across Northern Italy and try to use/retrofit existing infrastructure as much as possible.  The only new infrastructure built totally from scratch was the Milano Ice Hockey Arena and Milano Athlete Village, which both have concrete plans for re-use after the games are over, as the city's main concert venue and student housing, respectively.

After a few more months of random ticket drops and early-morning calls, we had a solid schedule of tickets and knew where we would need to be on what dates, allowing us to book flights, accommodations, and a rental car.  We filled in the gaps with the remaining tickets during later drops and with the ticket marketplace.

Trip Map

1. Munich 🇩🇪

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2. Liechtenstein and Davos 🇱🇮🇨🇭

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3. Celerina and Livigno 🇨🇭🇮🇹

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4. Cortina d'Ampezzo 🇮🇹

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5. Milano 🇮🇹

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Exploring the City of Milano

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Hockey Games and Arena

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Double Gold 🥇🥇

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Final Thoughts and Recommendations

Culture Shocks

• Finding food often required making reservations and sitting down for a 2 hour semi-formal meal

• No free refills, tap water, or public restrooms

Frequently Asked Questions

• How much did tickets cost for the Olympic Events?

  • Ticket cost varied widely.

• Did you have any passport scares on this trip?

  • No, thankfully

• Are you planning on going to Los Angeles in 2028 or the French Alps in 2030?

  • Too soon to tell, stay tuned!