From the stunning mountain scenery in Italy to the stylish city hub of Milan, the contrast from the COVID-affected Winter Olympics in Beijing could hardly be more stark.
The Milan-Cortina Games mark a return to the European alps for the first time in 20 years, since Italy coincidentally hosted the previous Olympics in the region of Torino in 2006.
After the tight restrictions of the Chinese COVID bubble, which one athlete then described as a "sports prison", the IOC are counting on Italy bringing the "joy" back, just as Paris did for the Summer Olympics.
Australia's flag bearer, moguls ace Matt Graham, said the appeal of Milan-Cortina contributed to his decision to continue his career after competing in Sochi, PyeongChang and then Beijing.
While Milan and Cortina are the main hubs, there is competition on Predazzo and Livigno in the most spread-out Olympics in history as organisers take the 16 sports and 116 gold medals to iconic Italian locations.
Livigno, in the Italian alps near the Swiss border, will host the freestyle skiing events and the snowboarding.
"Livigno, it's pretty spectacular landscape. It's one of the most beautiful places we get to come and compete in and we see a lot of mountains," 31-year-old Graham said.
"It's also very exciting to be in Italy for the Winter Olympics in particular with sport such a big part of the culture in Italy and it's been really cool to see everyone being so excited and getting behind it.
"In PyeongChang and in Beijing, snow sports is relatively new in those countries so there's not quite the major following and passion about it as there is in countries like Italy so I think we're all really looking forward to that.
"There's also not a whole lot of natural snow in those locations that you're sort of accustomed to here in Italy so it's cool to be back in a European Winter Olympics."
As well as the natural beauty, there's some "Hollywood" sparkle with Olympics ambassador Snoop Dogg carrying the torch, Mariah Carey performing at the opening ceremony while YouTube star-turned-boxer Jake Paul is expected to be rink-side to watch his Dutch fiancee Jutta Leerdam chase another speed-skating medal.
Athletes are also bringing their own cache with NHL players returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, with Canada's two-time gold medallist and Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby among the stars.
Making a comeback after nearly six years away from the sport, Lindsey Vonn wrecked her ACL in her last event before the Games but the 41-year-old alpine great is determined she can still ski in the women's downhill.
America still has another ski legend in Mikaela Shiffrin, who'll go for three golds, while snowboard superstar Chloe Kim is chasing a golden three-peat and figure skater Ilia Malinin - nicknamed the "Quad God" for landing the quadruple axel - is expected to dominate on the ice.
Freeskier Eileen Gu, who won two gold and a silver in Beijing, has the weight of China behind her while legendary German bobsleigh pilot Francesco Friedrich is aiming to become the first man do the treble-double - winning two and four-man gold for the third Games in a row.
Norwegian-born skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen could make history in Italy by winning a first Winter Olympics medal for a South American country after he switched allegiance to compete for his mother's home country of Brazil.
There are also around 20 Russian or Belarusian athletes competing under a neutral flag among the 2900 athletes from more than 90 countries.
Embracing the IOC's reform plan of using existing venues has created logistical challenges for Milan-Cortina, both for fans and athletes.
With a footprint covering an area of more than 22,000 square kilometres, it has the potential to feel like a number of mini Olympics rather than one unified Games.
New IOC president Kirsty Coventry admitted it had created "additional complexities".
"I do believe that we took the right decision in having a more dispersed games," Coventry said.
"But it has - and I think we can all say very openly and honestly - it has added additional complexities."
Set to line up for her fifth Games, Vonn has mixed feelings about the new age of Olympics.
"I'm in Cortina, so there's really nothing to complain about - it's one of the most beautiful places in the world but it is sad to not be closer to more of your teammates, not just in ski racing, but in any sport," she said.
"This is quite different - a lot of the girls were talking about wanting to watch hockey, but it's difficult.
"Obviously you can't choose that geography and where the mountains are, but I think it would have been more fun if we were all closer."
