 Poster: A snowHead
|
Hi,
i am looking for some advice in choosing between these resorts: Livigno (i`ve been there 2 years ago and really liked it) Sauze D`oulx, Bardonecchia, Cervinia or Corvara. We are going for a family holiday, my self my husband and 9 yr old daughter, we are in our late 20`s, we like Livigno for the nightlife and livelyness and also thought it was very beautiful resort. We are beginner skiers, we only skied once in Austria 3 years ago. We are planning on going during Carnevale but are staying 12- 14 days. We would like to go back to Livigno sometime, but would like to maybe try a different resort if it has similar nightlife and daytime activities apart from skiing, and also somewhere that is scenic, not highrise buildings ect. I tried looking for apartments in Sauze D`oulx but found only very few and quite expensive, the journey though seems to be a lot easier than other resorts. I`m really not sure what to do!!! i wrote a forum on tripadvisor but didn`t get any replies. Can anyone please advise me? Thank you
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
briciolina29, Welcome to  's!
I have been to all of the resorts mentioned and Livigno has to be my least favourite! Corvara would be my choice out of the list, that said if you want a decent nightlife (by Livigno's standard) you will be dissapointed! It does however make up for it with the views! I am well past my late 20's so the late night sessions are a thing of distant memories! Sauze would be nearer to Livigno! Better skiing, and IMO better hell raising! It would be easier to get to also! The local Tourist Office should give you a list to work from in regards to accomodation!
No doubt others will be along soon and try and steer you right! After Livigno you will find most places far better for skiing! Glad you got bitten by the bug and you will find most here quite helpful!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
hi agree Livigno is nice i was there 2008, why not try Montgenevre the apts there are very resonable and quite new, also they are ski from door and the ski school has kids classes no bigger than 6 in a group. the skiing is extensive with lots of new lifts, in our week there we never went on a tow, and queues were non existant.
ok night life not quite as good, more teatime apres ski than late night fun, but there are some good eating places too
as a resort it is only 10 minutes further than Sauze, and has a better snow record as 400 higher at resort level, and you can ski back into Italy for a pizza pasta lunch
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Hi, thank you both for your replies! I¬m not sure what Livigno is like for skiing because when we went 2 years ago we didn`t ski at all, well at least not the proper way! We hired skis for 2 days but because we were broke and couldn`t afford lessons ect (and were afraid to ski without them) we decided to ski on the crosscountry runs hahahahahah it was terrible!!! Anyway, this year we will definately get lessons again and learn properly.
We go on the winter holidays though mainly because we love the montains and the snow. The reason i`m being a bit choosey this year is because last winter we had a disaster of a holiday, we went to Ortisei and didn`t enjoy it at all, the scenery and village were beautiful, but we were unlucky with snow and apartment which was 2km from the village so we ended up spending a fortune on taxis ect. The snow ufortunately was all melted even though it was January and we found the town itself quite boring, nightlife was non existent, so we had to go to Selva nearly evrey night. So this time i hope i get it right! I emailed as suggested the Tourist office in Sauze but i still haven`t received a reply. There doesn`t seem to be a lot of choice in partments, that`s why i was reconsidering Livigno because i`m after receiving a few apartment offers. The only thing that is putting me off is the journey and price of it. The last time we went there we travelled from Zurich by train and it was perfect even if expensive, but now aer lingus are after changing flight times so to the train costs we would also have to add the extra cost of taxi, because we wouldn`t make the last bus! Hopefully the Tourist office in Sauze will write back with apartment suggestions!
Thank you for your help! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
briciolina29, The exception to my rule that Livigno is a brutal resort is that if you are a complete beginner it is perfect, for two reasons! (1) The nursery slopes are behind the hotels and it not too far a schlep to them! (2) The nightlife is good, so even as a beginner you do not take to the sliding side of the holiday you can liven things up in the bars till the wee small hours!
What week were you thinking of going as this may help re costs! That said ski hire, tuition and lift pass will remain the same and not be cheap!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Roy Hockley, we are thinking of going for the 11 Feb to 25th Feb. I have a choice of 3 apartments, but they are all getting booked out fast, the problem at the moment if we choose Livigno is getting there. I`d rather fly to Zurich, because most of the journey is by train and the road from Zernez is not bad at all, the road from Bormio is scary i think! Aerlingus has changed the flight times so is a bit of a problem, but i`ll try and find a solution. I got an email from a few places in Sauze D`oulx but the apartments were terrible, very old and way more expensive than Livigno, so i suppose i`ll have to rule than one out. I`m only after thinking now, what about Limone Piemonte? i have family in Liguria and when i lived there all my classmates used to ski there but that`s when i was small so i don`t know if it has changed or is still the same. I wouldn`t mind that just for visiting my family, but i think if it was no fun we`d be too bored.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
briciolina29, I've skied in most of these resorts (Not Cervinia or Corvara) and of the others I'd suggest Bardonecchia for virtual beginners as the nursery slopes are easy to get to, plus, right in front of them is a new-ish apartment building at Campo Smith (base station). Nightlife is fairly quiet but if you are there with a 9 year old, perhaps not likely to be a problem? There are a couple of decent bars for an apres ski drink though. If you are in proper lessons, the instructors will know where to find the best snow for your abillities - I have skied there with complete beginners and part way through the week, their instructor took them over to the other side of the village - couple of minutes on the ski bus and the conditions were fab! Come to think of it, that was the case the 2nd time I went too!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sauze isn't ideal for beginners I seem to remember - you have to haul yourself up to the Sportinia sector where the nursery is.
Sauze is a bit of a dive generally as well. Knackered old apartments sounds about right, that's my experience of it as well. Although if Vince still has his restaurant (Del Falco) there, you'll certainly eat well
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
ok it was years back but in 1985 i had a disaster in Sauze, the snow was only on the upper slopes and the runs to resort were closed
a lot of stopping about in boots queuing for the main lift
put me off for life
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
briciolina29, Do you have to go at the Irish half term? Flights are quadruple for that first week! Only last night I was looking for a sneaky week in Feb, and have postponed it until after the half term period! The cost of the flights would eat up a tight budget! The reason I asked is that if you are not too concerned where to go you would get more bang for your buck by doing a late booking!
paulio, yes Vince is still there and a bit of a big shot (deputy mayor) in the town. Del Falco is ok, but you would have thought it was michelin starred when you are talking to Vince! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Yes with our daughter we obviously can`t go too mad but we like to have a few drinks in the pub, definately not looking for nightclubs, but a few lively pubs with music and and lots of people for good atmosphere, my daughter enjoys this too, she likes karaoke as well, just something for us as a family to have fun! I think we have decided to not bother with Sauze, especially if the new part of the village is not that attractive, and is not good for beginner skiers, and the few apartments i`m after getting offers on do look old and knackered like you mentioned Paulio, that`s the kind of feeling i`m getting off all the photos i`ve seen. I think i`ve finally found a solution for Livigno though, i got a good offer for a Garni in mid week, which means i will save a lot on flights and so will make the train trip and taxi more affordable i hope!!! Thank you evreyone for your help, i`m happy i wrote on this forum, on the other ones i wasn`t getting any replies at all! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
|
Yeah i`d really like to go for half term because of Carnevale, i`ve been telling my daughter about it for years and now she has the chance she would like to go to it, i hope though its the same as i remember, i used to love it when i was small, so i hope it will be worth spending the extra money!!! and then because we are trying to take her out of school a bit less we already took her to spain at the beginning of school, i don`t think the teachers will be too happy
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I would suggest you look at some Austrian resorts, for example, Saalbach or Obertauern or dozens of others which from what you have posted will meet all your requirements.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
my only dissappointment with livigno was the draught beer was all swiss, i want peroni!!!!!
if you want a budget half board holiday try the hotel Ros Mages in Montgenevre, it has a live apres ski bar run by English staff and the hotel is situated right across from the main village lift and ski school meeting place.
not stopped there but went most teatimes for a pint or 2 and plate of cheesy chips
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
Thanks, i`ll check out the hotel you suggested in Montgenevre. I received a good offer from a Garni in Livigno, for midweek, that already with save us a bit of money on flights. I`m still not a 100% sure though, i really hope the Aerlingus sales go down further, there are the worst sales ever, evrey year we manage to book flights for 3 of us for under 300 euro but this time the cheapest are 450 before tax
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
I had a week skiing in Feb last year at Sauze d'Oulx. We were a group of 12 blokes of varying abilities staying in three different hotels. The town was disappointing for us and the apres almost non existent. There is nowhere to sit outside down in Sauze with a view of the slopes enjoying good apres and crazy euro pop music like you get in Austria for example. I think some of the problem was the recession last year as many apartments were empty and it simply lacked atmosphere.
I agree with previous poster that for complete beginners it may be awkward as the nusery area and easy blues are at least half way up the hill at Sportinia and there are no gondolas just chair lifts so its not like you can ride back down into resort at the end of a hard day as the blue back into Sauze at the bottom of Clotes lift is pretty awkward for beginners.
One other noteworthy mention is that we found many of the tracks which are marked as blues joining more major pistes were relatively gentle slopes but are very narrow and tight which in itself can be more problematic for beginners than a steeper blue or red with loads of width. Some of these very tight blues did on occasion cause a problem when traffic got a little bussier.
Thats the negatives.........
The positives for us though was the snow was incredible ( I'd go to mars or the moon with no atmosphere whatsover for snow like that!) and the pistes were bashed and groomed fantastically. We covered an enormous area of the Via Lattea including over the top into Sestriere which does have some reasonable green slopes but you may struggle doing the distance as a beginner easily. There is a gondola down into Sestriere and back up but thats after a fair bit of skiing to get that far. Up high there are loads of superb blues and even reds that are nice and wide and very suitable for beginners. The skiing for us was absolutely first class and the experts enjoyed loads of off piste in amongst the trees, it was beautiful.
I would go back there no worries with an intermediate group of blokes but would not take my kids or wife (complete newbies) until they had at least a couple of seasons under their belts as I just don't think they would benefit from it.
Sauze as a town I could take or leave, easy transfer from Turin, on the face of it looks alpine and pretty but in truth lacked that certain something that you may be looking for from reading your brief.
All the best in finding the right resort, but for me give Sauze a pass this time round.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Oh one other thing just in case this hasn't made up your mind, one of our group broke his collar bone on day two and he found very little else to do of a non skiiing nature around Sauze and said the public transport links were poor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
We went to Cervinia for our second ever ski holiday and it was good for us. Plenty of easy enough slopes with harder ones to progress to. And great scenery, food, etc. Nighltife was OK - though not wild Austrian style apres ski.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Thank you all so much for your replies, these are definately the kind of answers i was looking for to help me make up my mind! I have decided i won`t go to Sauze at all, i think i wouldn`t like it if i went there, so now i have to just work out what i`m going to do about Livigno. I`m still open to more suggestions though! I would like a resort to be in Italy because i like to go home sometimes and also because i promised my daughter i will bring her for Carnevale. I know the ski resorts probably don`t celebrate Carnevale maybe as well as in some of the Italian cities, but they probably have some nice traditional costumes and parades i hope?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
briciolina29, I thought you must be Italian, from your forum name. Ciao! I found this thread because I did a forum search for Bardonecchia. We drove up from Genoa last week, through the Fréjus tunnel and I hadn't realised how close it was to the Italian end of the tunnel. We are likely to be doing a few trips down to Genoa this coming winter, to see our son who works down there, and I wondered about doing a few short stop in Bardonecchia. It's a lot less hassle from here to use Fréjus than Mont Blanc, even though the mileage is identical.
Does anyone have anything more to add about Bardonecchia? we wouldn't be looking for very extensive skiing, just for a day or two, or much apres. Nice scenery, some decent snow and some nice cruisey runs would be on the list though.
And I could practice my Italian!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
having looked at a few reviews, sounds like ideal for a mid-week visit, to avoid the crowds driving up from Torino.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bardonecchia is nothing like Sauze or Livigno or Cervinia
night life Sauze or Livingno
Sounds like you should think about tha aosta valley
la thuile has nice cruzy runs night life is quite quiet though
Cervinia again lots of nice long cruises night life bit better than La thuile not as good as the first two
Courmayeur all good except the big gondola to get you to the slopes
Champoluc lovley resort good skiing but night life quiet
all the above are better IMHO than bardonecchia (I diddnt like the B place)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
