Apartment/ flat - Cervinia

Thanks for a good trip

Our first trip to Cervinia, chosen for the promise of early season snow and sure enough we were blessed with perfect skiing conditions and 6 days of bright sunshine. Cervinia is a fantastic resort for beginners and intermediates who want long, wide pistes which were ridiculously empty given the time of year. In reality it is a network of blue pistes, even the reds are not at all difficult and we didn't find a black all week. Plenty for snowboarders too with lovely soft powder just beside the main pistes. The appartment owner, Roberto is a great guy. He lives next door and he will answer any queries and sort any problems straight away. The appartment has everything you need but don't expect luxury or modern refinement. We had 10 adults in our party and it was a squeeze but we were expecting that and coped accordingly. Unfortunately the only negative is the location of the appartment. It is at the lift station Cielo Alto which is between Cervinia and Valtournenche. There are 2 restaurants there which are both good and friendly and not over pricey. They also sell basic provisions and pastries etc for breakfast but when you need to do a big shop you will need to go down to Cervinia which is where the problems start. Cervinia is a 20 minute walk down narrow, twisty, icy roads. You can get the bus but unlike French resorts where you can jump on buses free of charge and they run regularly, the buses in Cervinia are maybe 1 an hour and you will pay €1 for the pleasure. That is clearly not expensive but on top of a £250 lift pass it seems a bit unneccessary. Also you have to pay the driver as you get on so you can imagine 50 people with shopping or skis pushing and shoving to get on a bus takes a fair bit of time!! The other issue is that although you can ski door to door, the lift at Cielo Alto doesn't link to the main lift system in Cervinia. So in the morning you can ski down to Cervinia but you will have to stop, take skis off and walk a fair distance to get to a lift. It's all fine from there but not the perfect start to your day. All in all I would thoroughly recommend Cervinia. There are plenty of great bars and restaurants in the main town but I would encourage staying in accomodation in the main town to avoid annoying trips up and down in the morning and the evening.

Roberto was very helpful and great to work with, he answers very quick and gives relevant information. The standard of the apartment was as expected except for lack of dishwasher. The beds are not the newest ones and the cleaning had missed some spots. Except for that we where very pleased. The apartment is really close to the ski lift and you have your own home slope. The area was very quiet when we were there during Easter. The apparent works well for two families that can live together in a smaller space. The apartment is three stars and Roberto five.

We were 9 adult friends living in the apartment. The best part about the apartment is that it is located right beside the piste. In the morning you have to ski down to the central lift (the easiest way is in the middle of the way down to ski through the wood (there is the pass)) - if you ski all the way down, than you have to walk upwards ~100m. Right beside the apartment/piste is a very nice bar (and restaurant) with colorful owners, ski rental (can also buy ski pases) and a little market (cheaper/bigger option is in the centre of the city). There isn't much to do in the centre of the Cervinia, but if you want to go down it takes about 10-15 minutes. Coming back is a little bit harder because the road is quite steep but if you are in Ok condition it's pretty easy. The last ski bus from town comes back at 20:30. The apartment is well suited for 8 people (2 rooms with double beds and 1 room with 4 bunkbeds). There are 2 sofa beds in the living room but if you sleep there then it's quite noisy if someone goes to the bathroom at night. The kitchen is very well equiped minus the dishwasher (maybe a little bit outdated). There are 2 bathrooms (one with the shower, one with the bathtub) and a big room for your ski equipment. If your main focus is on the skiing then this apartment (price/performance) is just for you because all the little things outside the mountain isn't important. We had a good time and the pistes were excelent.