If you love skiing and/or snowboarding, now is likely to be one of your favourite times of the year. With Europe’s ski resorts now starting to receive the first snowfall of the season, you should definitely look into booking a winter sports holiday. Although there’s no shortage of wonderful skiing areas throughout Europe, some of the very best are to be found in Italy.
Whether you’re an ardent snowboarding fan and want to work on your skills somewhere new or have always wanted to learn how to ski but never got round to it, I don’t think you’ll struggle to find a resort in the country that’s right for you. Indeed, the vast majority of ski centres incorporate runs suitable for beginners and experts alike, as well as featuring schools staffed by expert instructors who will to help you to work on your techniques. To learn more about a few of Italy’s best winter resorts, read on.
Livigno
Given its location in the heart of the Alps, I think it should be little surprise that Livigno is commonly regarded as being one of the most snowsure resorts in the country.
With it consisting some 115 km of ski runs, I’m pretty certain you’ll find plenty of space to show your skills. Of course, if you’re still picking up the ropes of skiing and/or snowboarding you should stick to the beginner runs that have a blue grade difficulty rating.
Don’t worry if you want to take a brief break from the slopes, as there are still plenty of other sports and outdoor activities to choose from. These include sleigh rides, ice climbing, tobogganing and snowshoe excursions.
Passo Tonale
Passo Tonale is another wonderful ski destination, not least of all because its location between the Adamello-Presanella and Ortles-Cevedale mountain ranges means it receives snow much earlier than other resorts in the Alps.
Come here and you’ll find a roughly even split between blue and red grade runs, so there’s plenty of scope for those who are relatively new to winter sports to work on their techniques in a safe environment.
If, however, you’re a highly-experienced skier and really want to push your skills forward, than I think you’ll probably want to check out the pair of black grade slopes here, known as Paradiso and Cady Carosello.
Take care of the essentials
No matter where you go on a winter sport holiday in Italy, I can’t stress enough the importance of spending a little time taking care of the essentials first. Among the things that ought to be done before you go are taking out an adequate level of travel insurance and arranging how you will get from the airport to the resort and back.
If you’ve been on skiing breaks in the past, you’ve probably experienced the difficulty of trying to get your equipment on to a bus or train. Instead of constantly putting up with this, I think it’s best to book a private airport taxi to take you to the resort. That way, you’ll have plenty of space for your entire luggage and won’t have to share crowded public transport with other holidaymakers.
I’ve talked about just a few of Italy’s best winter sport resorts, but if you can think of any more please leave a comment and let us know!
