The predominant American image of Italy is that of a warm, Mediterranean climate—the visual brought west by generations of immigrants from Southern Italy, and subsequently mined for mass media by artists Italian and non-Italian alike.
If that is the type of scenery you’re looking for, these will not be the Olympics for you. The 2026 Winter Olympics—set for division between Milan, the resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, and several other Northern Italian cities—will be a snow show, bearing more in common with Austrian and Swiss weather than Greek and Spanish conditions.
