Cervinia
Ski Resort

Cervinia, or Breuil Cervinia to give it its full name, is based on an old Alpine village, originally famous as the starting point for climbing nearby Monte Cervino, a mountain more widely known by its Swiss name – The Matterhorn. And traces of Cervinia’s history remain: there are some cobbled streets and a picturesque riverside but there are also a lot of large modern buildings, and some of the accommodation is in suburbs like Cielo Alto which are entirely purpose-built. And whilst Cervinia is not a hardcore party resort, it’s not a quaint and quiet one either: there is plenty of nightlife, especially at weekends, because Cervinia is easy to get to. (Airport transfers from Turin take under two hours.)

The international ski area shared with Valtournenche and Zermatt is large and snowsure. The top lift reaches an incredible 3883m, providing access to the highest piste skiing in Europe. The 350kms of slopes are split into 150 different runs, some of which are very long, such as the Ventina piste that descends all the way down to Cervinia. (The even longer Reine Blanche descent down to Valtournenche, with a 2300m vertical, is technically a series of different pistes)

So there is a huge amount of skiing here and yet really keen strong skiers often get bored with Cervinia. The problem is not with the quantity of runs, but with their lack of variety, at least on the Italian side. Cervinia is the home of easy motorway skiing, on long wide gentle pistes. These are perfect for less dedicated intermediates to cruise around on, taking plenty of breaks in the various mountain restaurants and bars. And Cervinia is definitely one of the world’s best resorts for beginners with excellent nursery slopes, good ski schools and plenty of easy runs to progress onto further up the mountain. But there are slim pickings for advanced skiers who want a challenge. In theory they can access Zermatt’s excellent black runs and freeride areas, but most of these are a long way from Cervinia and the connecting lifts can suddenly close in high winds. Of course there is some off-piste on the Italian side as well, including good heliskiing (covered in our advanced skiing section), but in general tough skiing enthusiasts should leave Cervinia’s long gentle slopes to more relaxed skiers and boarders who will actually appreciate them.

Cervinia Pros & Cons

+ High, snowsure, scenic slopes
+ Excellent choice for beginners
+ Good easy cruising blues and reds
+ Large ski area shared with Zermatt

– No challenging pistes near Cervinia
– Zermatt’s steeper runs are far away
– Combined Zermatt-Cervinia ski pass is expensive