Livigno: Feel the Alps

Last month was my fourth consecutive annual ski trip abroad (outside Greece). It’s become a best friend birthday tradition so to speak. And saying that, I admit that this year beat the previous three destinations hands down and so I would definitely recommend Livigno to skiers and snowboarders alike. Snowboarders would enjoy it more than skiers, simply because it features  the awesome Mottolino fun park filled with snow mounds and ramps, and smooth, sleek, steep, slides on which daredevil boarders perform jumps, 360s, 180s, spins and somersaults at will. The village is large, picturesque, on a stretch of a straight main road at the landing in between two beautiful Alp mountains, that looked picture perfect; like the Evian bottle landscape – but the real thing. We were lucky to find a beautiful and affordable chalet apartment for a party of 6 people. It was in a very central location, yet it was also quiet. It was very nicely designed and spacious. It was in three floors; the ground was storage area for skis and equipment, by an external staircase you got to the first floor and main entrance to the left of which that featured a good sized kitchen and living room area with dinner table and a very comfortable double sofa bed. There was an exit to a little quaint balcony from the living area. Further inside the main bathroom and a large room with three single beds and plenty of closet space. Across the main entrance a staircase to the third floor with a double room with kitchenette and en suite bathroom. Antonella our landlady provided a nice warm ambiance. Flying into Zurich and evening driving south west across the non border between Switzerland and Italy, took a good 5 hours including stops while also riding a train capsule for cars at Vereina. The next morning compensated in full. What a beautiful location, in the midst of the overwhelming Alps. Glorious views to wake up to at 7.30 am, the sun shining down on the glistening fresh snow, gently kissing the slopes that were about to get buzzing in a few hours.

Livigno sports two mountains to choose from, featuring numerous red and black pistes. The 7 day pass was 220 Euro that was a fair price to ask given the quality and enormity of the on piste routes, not even mentioning the off piste landscape and the aforementioned fun park. With 4 main pit stop chalets, Carosello 3000m, Costaccia 2360m on the one side, and on the other Camanel 2360m, and Mottolino 2402m. These were spread amidst a stifling 7462m vertical rise, with 75km² skiing area. We enjoyed lunch breaks at incredible altitudes which was an unforgettable experience especially as we were granted luscious sunny days. The chalets had everything from sandwiches with different cold meats (try the prosciutto crudo with any bread they have!) salads, delicious hot pasta dishes, various deep fried options, fruit salads and mouthwatering deserts. The average run took about 30-40 mins, depending on which route down you decided to take, or whether the lifts had queues, but that was not an issue, more of an infrequent instance. Livigno is well known for its wide red slopes with strips of black drops on some junctions; an intermediate’s paradise for working on your style on the red and then upping your game on the black.

The slopes are open from 9:00 – 17:00 which allows for plenty of runs and breaks! The snow is bound to be in good condition as the tractors keep the slopes slick by smoothing them down every night. Livigno town is renowned for its Duty Free shopping. It is filled with profumerie and cigarette shops that are approximately 30-35% cheaper than Italian prices. It has a multitude of sportswear and designer brand shops that had some real bargain shopping items if you had the patience to browse through them all before you buy at first sight. The opening hours are approximately 8:30 – 13:00 then 3:30 – 7:30 which made the town quite during these hours, with the crowds either being on the slopes or in the all-day bars; Bivio bar restaurant was a very a favourite of ours and a good example of a great ambiance, with rustic meets contemporary design décor with snacks happy hour all day long, serving drinks and kitchen service at all hours. It is also a hotel and features a night club in the basement, with dancers setting the mood for the guests. Price of a regular Havana & Coke there was 7 Euro. Alcohol is cheaper to buy from supermarkets, which is also duty free pricing, than to pay for it at venues that price it around the average Italian price. Other nightlife involves smaller venues at the foot of the slopes apres ski style serving mulled wine and beers primarily. This was particularly delightful after the ski instructors held a night event with synchronized skiing, jumps, mascots and characters on skis, carrying flaming torches followed by a show of fireworks. Livigno offers many apres-ski activities; apart from the typical boozing and eating, apres-ski should also involve some relaxation time! This is what we got for a mere 20 Euro per person at Hotel Spol’s spa area. After 4 days of friction on the slopes, we were really looking forward to some pampering time. Hotel Spol was one of the best value for money choices; it is a beautiful hotel with a separate spa section which is available for guests and non-guests. The 20 Euro non-guest entrance fee gave us access to all the spa areas, with free use of the facilities, for the entire day: indoor heated swimming pool, indoor Jacuzzi/whirlpool, sauna, hamam/Turkish bath, tropical shower, ice bucket shower, also access to special chillout rooms that were for deeper relaxation in which guests were not allowed to talk or make noise. For a full list of the pampering services that are available at extra cost such as, massage and other therapy treatments, check out Hotel Spol’s website. We only used the free access areas for a good two hours that provided us with an adequate revitalizing experience! A wide variety of herbal teas was available for each guest to make as they pleased, lockers were provided of course, as well as robes and flip flops; all we needed for a total spa experience was to be slightly organized with respects to bringing what each person needed with them, since we did not have the luxury of staying at the same hotel as the spa: remember to bring bathing suit (although naked is acceptable in some areas of the spa), shampoos, conditioners, shower gel as the shower rooms do not provide such amenities.

Eating in Livigno was a pizza and pasta guilt free heaven! The dough was light as air and you could easily finish one pizza on your own and not feel stuffed. We tried a different place almost every night. Pastorella, Mirage, La Baita, Concordia, we also tried Bait dal Ghet, but we were yelled at by the owner because we didn’t wait in the queue of his entrance that looked like a fast food waiting area, and entered in to have a look at the place and ask for a table. Owners who don’t respect the customers should get no sympathy; perhaps it was not polite of us to walk past the queue of the kitchen, and into the main restaurant, but we are not Italian and anything he said to us was not understood. Apparently we had disrespected his house of pizza when we walked in, not waiting in the queue which was now forming outside the entrance and onto the street. This place has a good reputation for its pizza, which we did not get a chance to taste, and a bad reputation in terms of customer service; we were not the first, and surely will not be the last to receive bad attitude and service. But overall, this did not bother more than simply wanting to share this lack of tact; the reason is that there are so many similar quality restaurants and trattorias that will be more than happy to accept the non-Italian speaking tourist with a smile. Wherever we ate, the food was top notch. One was a particularly interesting choice, 1816 Birrificio, which had a unique design primarily of wood: tables, stalls, chairs, and benches, all in tune with this English style pub in the heart of Livigno, with peanut shells all over the floor. The bring shovelfuls of shelled peanuts to munch on to accompany your beer while you wait for the grilled feast of mouth-watering dishes to come.

I would recommend Livigno for an overall unforgettable ski experience, which is affordable if you can afford to plan in advance for it. Personally, I would not go to any other ski resort in Italy having sampled Madonna di Campiglio last year, which was a watered down version of Livigno. As a skier the wide slopes gave me different sense of freedom, and as a tourist the town had all I could want at my feet. There are a couple of other attractions that we regretfully didn’t get round to, like the Husky Village where you must book in advance for a day of sleigh riding and frolic with the playful wolf dogs! Prestigious St. Moritz is nearby if you want to take a day to venture around, then be sure to also check out the hot springs in Bormio.

Feb 2015