Buying a ticket to watch the Olympics in person may be the ultimate Black Friday splurge, and like any obliging vendor, the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games welcomes all comers with open arms.
If you think an Olympics may be in your future, here’s a quick guide on how to turn your desire to be in the stands in Milan (or up in the mountains in Cortina d’Ampezzo!) into a reality.
The Olympic rings sit in front of the Olympia delle Tofane ski run in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The 2026 Games are set to welcome spectators by the thousand in Milan and Cortina. (Photo by Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images)
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Step 1: Go to the source.
There is really only one verified way to buy tickets to the Games: go to the official Milano-Cortina website — tickets.milanocortina2026.org and create your ticket-buying profile by clicking on the link in the top right corner and filling in the requisite information. (A phone number is required, and a verification code will be sent to your phone and will need to be entered before you can proceed.)
Step 2: Choose your own adventure.
After you’ve completed your registration, you’ll be redirected to the ticket-buying homepage, where you can browse through ticket options for the 16 sports that will be contested from February 6-22, 2026. You can also buy up to four tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies from the same account.
Step 3 (optional): Go big with an Olympics hospitality package.
There is one caveat to the only-buy-from-the-official-site rule, and that’s if you want to purchase a package that includes, say, tickets to certain events plus a hotel stay in Milan or Cortina. That’s a different official website for that — https://hospitality.milanocortina2026.org/ – but the procedure (register, select your choices, buy) is essentially the same. The site builds your package around the events that you want to see.
Hospitality packages tend to be more expensive, though they do come with cool extras like Olympic lounge access, commemorative gifts and invitations to exclusive apres-skis and such. If you want to simplify your accommodations, be ushered around the venue, or maximize your chances of running into Snoop Dogg, this might be the best way to do it. Plus, there’s a Black Friday sale on that can save you a significant amount.
Can you buy an unlimited number of tickets? Well, no. Tickets are limited in that you can only purchase 25 tickets per account, and 10 tickets per session, according to the official website. For certain high-demand sports (hello figure skating!) and the ever-popular ceremonies, each account is limited to four tickets.
American Mikaela Shiffrin is poised to be one of the big names of the women’s alpine skiing events at the Olympics, but getting tickets to see her compete may be more difficult than expected. (Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
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Are you guaranteed tickets? That’s hard to say. Certain events may be so popular that their sessions are now sold out. On the other hand, plenty of things are still available, with ticket prices generally starting at around 50 euros. Those who want to see the skiing events in Cortina should probably buy sooner rather than later, as transportation issues have caused organizers to reduce the number of tickets available for the women’s alpine events. The issue has to do with getting people from Cortina d’Ampezzo up to the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center. A cable car project is in the works that should be able to take 2,400 people an hour up the mountain, but delays have caused worry about whether it will be ready in time.
Lastly, if you’re planning to make someone’s holiday season by gifting them tickets to their favorite Olympics event, make sure that you enter the name of the person who will be attending the event on the ticket when you buy it. This comes with some flexibility, as names can be changed for free, though everything should be set in place well before the event begins.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/blythelawrence/2025/11/29/how-to-buy-tickets-for-the-2026-winter-olympics-in-italy/
