Zermatt and Cervinia 2021-2022

A snowHead

I second Chalet Etoile, but you will need to book. Although it’s great value as the quality is excellent it’s not cheap.

If you skiing progresses well, then we’re big fans of Pousset, their pizzas are excellent. But it is on a long red run, which although not the most difficult can be challenging if conditions are not great.

We have also found Hotel Ristorante Baita Cretaz on blue 5 just above the resort to be good, specifically their restaurant not bar/self serve.

Cervinia is a great resort, and I’m sure you will have a lovely time.

A snowHead

@Debbie0312, it’s cheap if you are coming over from Zematt Toofy Grin

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Hi all,
Is anyone able to confirm if the link from Zermatt to Cervinia is currently open?

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Certainly not today, as the weather is pretty foul in the NW Alps, but it will open again whenever the wind dies down.

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A nice bit of snow overnight and continuing on and off during the day. Not quite the mega dump we need but has improved things nicely. With the good weather for the rest of the week it will be very pleasant piste skiing. Probably still not enough to transform the off piste but there might be a chance that they can get the itineraries off Furggsattel up (67 and 6 Cool

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With the wind and the poor light it was certainly a challenging day’s skiing (but very enjoyable). Coming down piste 28 from Hohtälli to Gant was more like doing an off piste run - plus I only encountered one other person until the point it joins up with the people coming down from the Gornegrat side.

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Hi arrived in Cervinia yesterday. Me n my friends try to use our phone to make a call hotel. None of us phone are working . We all with Vodafone , we can sent text , use internet but can’t make a local call or call back to UK. Anyone has some problems or is Vodafone down yesterday thanks

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Yes we r UK number, thx for the info Razz

@Handy Turnip,

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Are you able to ski in Cervinia from Zermatt or do the entrance requirements for Italy then apply?

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@Ts26, hi welcome to snowheads. My current understanding is that if in Cervinia you can ski in Zermatt with no issue. I’m sure reciprocal arrangements are in place. Others actually there may be able to confirm or a quick email to Zermatt tourist office wil get a quick reply

I'm off to Cervinia on Saturday and have bought the international pass so I better be able to get over to Zermatt! Yes, no issues (except for the weather) for skiing over in Zermatt and vice versa

You know it makes sense.

@Handy Turnip, have a good time. Be good to know how all the covid stuff goes. I’ve bought some Pf2 masks but that’s all so far.

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A snowHead

Just wanted to give a quick update after my holiday in Cervinia last week.
We travelled with Crystal Ski, our first ever TO ski holiday, but the price was competitive and with the uncertainty we felt that this was a good option for this year. Transfer was a little tiresome, as we were at least a couple of hours before we left the airport, but in all other ways no problems at all. Dependent on price might do it again, but do like independent travel as at least then you’re in charge.
We stayed at Hotel Excelsior Planet. This is a lovely family run hotel, very close to the slopes, in particular the Cretaz lifts. The food here is excellent, with four courses each evening with the possibility of salad and cheese buffet as well!
Snow was okay, we’ve definitely experienced better in Cervinia but we were skiing and therefore no real complaints. Weather as you can expect in early January was windy on occasion and therefore the Zermatt link was mostly shut.
We enjoyed lunch at several different restaurants, Chalet Etoile is well know and must be booked.
For the first time we tried Foyer des Guides in Valtourneche. This was the only one where we could sit outside as it was warm enough on the Thursday. Lovely place to have lunch, great service.
Others I would also recommend, Pousset for great pizza, Igloo for great grills and finally Restorante Baita Cretaz for being close to home on a very windy day!
As you might have gathered we like to enjoy our skiing, stop for lunch and have a lovely relaxing holiday and Cervinia is a great ski resort for all of those things.

A snowHead

@Debbie0312, thanks for the update, really useful.

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All things snow related are I suspect very subjective and to be clear although we have had better it wasn’t bad.

To try and explain why I think it wasn’t fantastic, it had been busy the previous week - NY hols, and very warm so in places it was hard packed, it was also windy so what softness there might have been was being blown off the slopes. As we left Sunday morning it was snowing, probably 15-20cm of fresh snow, which with a quieter week will probably freshen the pistes beautifully.

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Thanks @Debbie0312 - makes sense!

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We're due to arrive in Zermatt tomorrow via GVA and then train, I must admit to being a little excited now however there is still a nagging doubt something will happen and scupper things.

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@Mr_frosty, never mind Zermatt which if you haven’t been is fantastic, the train journey is by a long way the best I have ever been on. Enjoy snowHead

We're going tomorrow as well and will be on the 1219 train from GVA all being well. Never been before and CANNOT WAIT after two years off skis.

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I’ve been to Zermatt 3 times over the last 25 years, never disappoints, but never done the train transfer so will look forward to that bit. Hopefully the scenery will get my daughter to glance up from the ipad/switch every now and then.

@stuck in Miami,I think you’ll be about an hour ahead of us. Like you, cannot wait and also 2yrs, I still can’t believe we’re actually going to get there

@ed123, we’d slow you up as we’re doing some ski tuition for our 9yr old so easy runs only for most of the week.

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Hi ALL - does anyone know of a UK tour operator that does packages to Cervinia with self catering option? There's one on Inghams but the website keeps glitching! Can't find anything else on the main operators but wondering if there are some smaller operators who do this? Thanks in advance.

Glorious first day in Cervinia - FFP2 masks definitely needed. 80% of the time you can get on the bubbles/cable cars with just a snood pulled up - but every so often a liftie will pick someone out for not having an FFP2 mask. We saw a couple of people get thrown off the cable car for not having one. So even if you're not wearing one, make sure you have one in your pocket. And you'll need them for the bars and restaurants

You know it makes sense.

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A snowHead

Spent a week in cervinia. jan 8-15 2022.

FFP2 in IT side is a must in closed gondolas. Not asked in open chairlifts. However, on the bottom lift in the morning local police are working and asking to wear a nose/mouth covering mask, randomly checking documents. On swiss side they are more relaxed, skiing mask is ok, even "airhole" one.
Snow is hard on pistes, crusty off piste, nothing to do offpiste to be honest.

Very little people. That means no waiting at the lift, also half empty restaurants in the evening. Easy to get a table without reservation.

Ski shuttle is very irregular, they even asked money for a ride on the last day (friday).

Piste from salette to valtournanche is covered with artificial snow and unpleasant to ride, very icy and plenty of stone chips visible on piste.

Windy. connection with zermatt was closed 2 days of 6.

if going to zermatt - carry all the speed you can, to avoid puching yourselve with ski poles or walking, if you ride a snowboard. Myself had 85 km/h top speed and still barely made it (snowboard), 95% of population does not make it without pushing with ski poles or walking.

A snowHead

Cheers Kosmoz. A lot more snow needed it appears. Klein Matterhorn to Valtournenche if one of my favourite runs.

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@Handy Turnip, how’s the hotel Europa? Obviously in an idle moment when not otherwise having a good time Cool

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@twoodwar, it's pretty nice actually. Good little swimming pool and sauna to ease those aching muscles. Ski locker room is good too. Only a few minutes walk to the lifts, perfect location. I'd avoid renting any gear from the hotel ski shop though as it's very expensive.

We've eaten out every night so can't comment on evening food, although breakfasts are pretty good.

Had a great day ski over the Swiss side and will probably do the same tomorrow - before the wind kicks in on Thursday and Friday, and probably shuts the link

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@Handy Turnip, what I was hoping to hear. Many thanks and enjoy the rest of the holiday

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Can anyone in Zermatt now or recently give any feedback on crowding/covid behaviour, for example on the electro buses, the morning queue for the Matterhorn Express or Sunnegga lifts etc?

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....and the evening scramble in the Co-op on changeover day...?

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At last an itinerary open! That is really late. The itinerary is the yellow line on the photo. It is actually a much longer run than it looks like on the diagram. However there should be two running sort of parallel so not good they could only open one in a north facing area that sits just under the ridge so gets dumped on. Really, really need some big snows.

This is useful - covid testing requirement for entry into Switzerland is waived for the vaccinated:

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/switzerland-eases-covid-entry-rules

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I went to Cervinia on the 8th of January, returning on the 15th. We stayed at the Apartments Bucaneve in a two bedroom we booked on AirBnB, which are in the building adjacent to the Hotel Bucaneve. The hotel takes care of the apartments, so checking in was via the hotel reception.

Green pass was required and checked via scanning of the QR code in all bars and restaurants we went into in town. No one asked for the restaurants on the slopes, presumably because you need the green pass to book a lift pass. As others have noted, that week was quite quiet (up until the Saturday 15th, when the weekend skiers descended into town). We usually could find somewhere to eat without problem, but did end up having to book Bistrot Convivial in advance to get a Fondue fix. In town, also had a lovely meal at the Art Hotel Grivola.

We arrived to snow on the 8th, and the 9th there was snow most the day. Visibility wasn't great, and it looked like only Cervinia and Valtournenche were open that day (though not the ability to ski between the resorts). We awoke on the 10th to a beautiful, sunny day (though still quite cold). The sun lasted the rest of the week. Piste skiing was great throughout the week on both the Italian and Swiss sides. We did some skiing between the pistes to take advantage of the fresh snow. It was good on the Italian side for two days, but by day three of sunshine, it had hardened up and was crusty. However, the Swiss side seemed to keep softness in the powder between the pistes throughout the week. Temperatures were rising throughout the week, and on the Saturday we left it was up in double digits. Hopefully they get some cold and snow, otherwise can imagine the snow starting to get worse.

For dining on-piste, we had two great meals at Chalet Etoile, and also a couple more casual meals at Rocce Nere.

Help!!

Zermatt and Cervinia 2021-2022

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