From the Arctic Circle to Slovenia’s Julian Alps, we pick scenic and soothing retreats to don snowshoes, ski empty pistes and tune into winter

Marketing slogans usually leave me cold, but even I can’t argue with “Queen of the Dolomites”, the sobriquet given to Cortina d’Ampezzo. There’s a regal air about this venerable ski resort in the Veneto region’s north-west, epitomised by its classy Corso Italia, a pedestrianised thoroughfare and favourite passeggiata meeting place.