Via Lattea

The Via Lattea (Milky Way) links the Italian ski resorts of Sauze d’Oulx, Sestriere, Claviere, Sansicario, Cesana and Pragelato with Montgenevre in France. The lift connections aren't perfect but it's one of Europe's more affordable large, high altitude ski areas.


The international Via Lattea (“Milky Way”) ski area links six resorts in the Piedmont region of Italy – Claviere (1760m), Pragelato (1518m), Sansicario / San Sicario (1700m), Sauze d’Oulx (1509m), Sestriere (2035m) and Cesana Torinese (1354m) – with Montgenevre (1850m) in the Hautes-Alpes department of France.  Regardless of whether you’re staying on the Italian or French side of the border, the nearest airport is Turin and transfers to the resorts are relatively short – around 90 minutes on average.

The Milky Way is a sizeable ski area: the claimed figure of 400km of piste might be a generous calculation as that would make it a third larger than the combined area for Val d’Isere and Tignes which is difficult to believe, but there are still over 70 ski lifts and 200 pistes if you include all the different variants, which makes it easily big enough for most skiers for a week. It’s also quite high, with pistes descending from 2800m to 1350m, and all the main villages are sited above 1500m. Although the skiing is mostly aimed at intermediates, there are some challenges for experts, decent nursery slopes for beginners and a choice of ski schools and guides for those who want to learn, improve or exploit the off-piste safely.

There’s also a good variety of places to stay: the main villages are all very different to one another, but across the Via Lattea as a whole, there is accommodation to suit all budgets, and nightlife to suit all tastes, especially in Sauze d’Oulx, where lively bars aimed at young British visitors share streets with upmarket restaurants catering for wealthy weekenders from Turin. (The other resorts are much quieter.) The Club Med at Pragelato is worth considering if you want an all-inclusive family holiday.

All the villages are connected to the ski area by lift, but some of the lifts are long and slow, so whilst you can get from Montgenevre to Pragelato on skis, it’s not an expedition you will want to do every day. So choose your base carefully, and be prepared to use buses to speed up the journey and skip out the boring bits. Or hire a car at the airport and use it not only to explore all of the Via Lattea but also to enjoy day trips to neighbouring ski areas like Serre Chevalier and Bardonecchia.

In a normal year, the Italian Milky Way resorts don’t receive a lot of natural snow. But usually their mountains are sufficiently high with enough North-facing slopes and artificial snow-making equipment to keep most of their pistes skiable from Christmas through to Easter. Sestriere often has both the best piste conditions (on Monte Motta) and the worst (at the bottom of Monte Fraiteve). If you want fresh powder, however, go to Montgenevre: it’s much more snowy and its off-piste is well worth exploring.

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Via Lattea Pros & Cons

+ Large, high mountain ski area
+ Mix of tree lined runs and open bowls
+ Good value
+ Interesting off-piste in Montgenevre
+ Italian resorts are easy to reach from Turin

– Italian resorts can have patchy snow
– Few challenging pistes
– Too many old slow lifts

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Turin is the nearest airport for the Via Lattea ski resorts of Montgenevre, Sauze d’Oulx, Sestriere, Claviere, Pragelato, San Sicario  and Cesana Torinese. Airport to resort transfers take about 90 minutes. The train station in Oulx offers a rail alternative for...

In general the Via Lattea resorts of Montgenevre, Sauze d’Oulx, Sestriere, Claviere, Pragelato, San Sicario and Cesana Torinese deserve their reputation for having good value accommodation compared to resorts in other high-altitude large ski areas. There is a wide range...

Book Ski Schools & Ski Lessons in Via Lattea Looking for private or group ski lessons in Via Lattea? Ultimate-Ski and partner CheckYeti work with leading ski schools and ski instructors in over 350 ski resorts throughout Austria, France, Germany,...

Via Lattea (Milky Way) Ski Area The extensive Via Lattea ("Milky Way") ski area lift system has both fast modern lifts and old slow ones, and the pistes run both above and below the treeline. Montgenevre in France can have...

Via Lattea (Milky Way) Ski Lifts & Lift Passes A full Via ski lift pass covers all 90 lifts in the Via Lattea resorts of Sestriere, Sansicario, Sauze d’Oulx, Pragelato, Cesana and Claviere, and also allows a day in the...

Via Lattea (Milky Way) Beginner Skiing Beginners in Via Lattea will be happiest in Sestriere where there is a large central beginner’s area with moving carpet lifts, lots of nursery slopes and some excellent longer blue runs including the pleasing...

Via Lattea (Milky Way) Intermediate Skiing Via Lattea is an intermediates paradise with a huge variety of long runs. Any of the Via Lattea ski resorts is suitable as a base, and intermediates will enjoy the easy cruising on open...

Via Lattea (Milky Way) Advanced Skiing Advanced skiing in the Via Lattea includes World Cup Circuit runs in Sestriere and off-piste itineraries in Montgenevre and Claviere which will challenge even the most advanced skiers and boarders. On a good fresh...

Via Lattea (Milky Way) Boarding & Freestyle Unfortunately the snow parks in the Via Lattea area are not well developed, though there are snow parks in Sauze, Claviere and Sestriere. The snow park in Claviere is well run but limited....

Via Lattea (Milky Way) Mountain Restaurants Via Lattea has plenty of good restaurants and bars on the piste, as you would expect in Italy. In Claviere, sit on a deck chair and admire the spectacular views from La Tana del...

Via Lattea (Milky Way) Villages Via Lattea has many ski resorts and villages, each with something different to offer. Some are historic, some were purpose built for winter sports, some charming and full of character, but in most cases there...

Via Lattea (Milky Way) - Apres Ski Bars & Restaurants All Via Lattea ski resorts offer a choice of several good bars and a selection of reasonably priced restaurants. In most villages apres ski is family friendly and relatively a...

Via Lattea (Milky Way) Other Activities Via Lattea ski resorts primarily cater for winter sports enthusiasts with only a limited choice of other activities and facilities for non-skiers, and few shops apart from those selling and renting ski clothing and...

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