Italy

Italy is often overlooked as a skiing destination, but in fact it has great slopes, scenery, and some of the best lift systems in Europe; and of course you cannot forget about the great food and wine! It is normally the cheaper option in the Alps, but this does not mean that the country is inferior for skiing. All of the resorts have immaculate grooming, so there are loads of nice motorways to get some great turns in. Italian resorts are also renowned for having quiet slopes, this is due to locals using it at the weekends but not throughout the week, this is most noticeable in the luxury resorts including Courmayeur. The ski resorts of Italy are strewn across the Alps and the Dolomites, the Dolomites ski area offers hundreds of kilometres of pistes up to an altitude of 3200m, so it can be enjoyed even in late season, especially with the vast amount of snow cannons and man-made snow. The Dolomites is made up of the Dolomiti Superski and the Skiarama Dolomiti, the Dolomiti Superski has 12 ski resorts; the most popular being Val Gardena, which is great for intermediates and experts. The Skiarama Dolomiti is made up of 8 ski resorts including the most popular Madonna di Campiglio; the whole ski area boasts 360km of slopes and is great for all disciplines of skiing.

The Milky Way ski area has 400km of pistes and is connected by 93 lifts. The main ski resorts here are Claviere, Sestriere and Sauze d’Oulx; Sauze d’Oulx offers good intermediate runs and a lively après scene, Claviere is almost the opposite is an old small resort village that has plenty of charm still and also benefits having a link over to Montgenevre in France. The Milky Way is perfect for all skiers, so really anyone can enjoy the lovely runs! There is also a vast amount of cross-country skiing, a snow park as well as some off-piste in Sestriere to suit the advanced skiers. The Milky Way has an Olympic Bobsleigh run, so worth a try whilst you’re there and if you are looking for a good après scene whilst on your trip then best to go to Sestriere. The resorts in the Dolomites are easiest to get to by flying to Innsbruck airport, Turin is normally the best for the Milky Way resorts.

Another area to mention is the Aosta valley, which is in the north of Italy. This area holds a lot of charm still and has some great tree-line skiing, so is popular with families. This is where the glamourous Courmayeur is based where skiing is possible all year round, from here you are close to Chamonix for a possible day trip and in late season you can do some white water rafting with all the snowmelt making it an invigorating experience.

There are great mountain restaurants in all of the resorts in Italy, so it is important to get booked in as they do get really busy. The Italians often like to have a long, lazy lunch with some great wines and pastas so many tourists choose to do the same. In resorts, such as Cervinia you can also ski over to the Swiss resort of Zermatt, allowing you to indulge in some Swiss cuisine as well.

If this all sounds like your kind of skiing holiday, then it is probably worth trying somewhere new and going to Italy!