Family is such a huge part of Italian culture that wherever you go, children are welcomed with open arms and made a real fuss of. Family also goes beyond blood with the focus being on extended family and frequent gatherings with friends rather than just mum, dad and the kids.
All of this makes for a very welcoming environment to take your family skiing or snowboarding. In fact, you should takeyour close friends along too. As the saying goes ‘When in Rome…’
The classic image of an entire family sitting around a huge table with mountains of food isn’t a Hollywood stereotype. It’s well known that Italians love their food so you should never be afraid to ask if you have a fussy eater in the family as pretty much any request is met with a smile.
Italian menus have a great appeal for kids too. You can’t go wrong with an authentic pizza or spag bol, particularly if it’s a family recipe handed down from Nonna’s kitchen. There’s always the incentive of an Italian gelato for pudding if the plate is clean!
As many families have school aged kids, the chances are you’ll be looking to go during school holidays. This is a good thing in Italy as ski resorts pull out all the stops fortourists.
At Christmas time, you’ll find lots of Christmas markets, appearances from Santa Clausand, being a predominantly Catholic country, there will be plenty of nativity scenes too.
If you head to Livigno just after New Year, it’s King's Day and there’s an old traditional event called Bondigabanet. Local children go from house to house, collecting sweets and toys on their home-made sledges.
It’s Carnevale time in February with many resorts featuring fancy dress processions and floats through the streets with lots of special, family-friendly events going on.
Most hotels have contacts for babysitters if you ever fancy bit of a break or a night out, but a couple of resorts have particularly good facilities for bambinos.
Sauze d’Oulx has had the reputation as a party town, and still does to an extent, but it’s now way more family friendly. A few years ago, one of the most popular hotels, the Stella Alpina (by the Clotes chairlift), opened up its ‘baby parking’ crèche facility, La Libellula.
It’s a great addition to the resort taking children from 13 months up to 6 years old. Open daily from 8.30am until 5.00pm, little ones will be well looked after by English speaking staff. They can also provide lunch and a babysitting service for added convenience.
Livigno is ideal if you have skiing kids who are still a bit too small to be carrying their own kit. The village runs along the valley floor so it’s quite flat and easy to navigate. There’s also a free ski bus which runs from 8am to 8pm every day. It takes buggies too.
There’s a ski kindergarten with lunch available for kids aged three to 12 years old. It has around 24 hours of care over six days giving parents plenty of time to have a bit of a ski and somerelaxed lunches too.There’s also a great drop in centre on Mottolino mountain where you can leave the kids for free whilst you go off and enjoy a few more runs. They even have family-only slopes and a kids' terrain park with mini jumps, gullies and even an obstacle course!
Livigno has plenty of family and child-friendly activities off the slopes too. The popular Aquagranda water and spa complex has slides and pools, plus everyone with a lift pass gets an hour free of charge. You also have tobogganing, husky dog rides, horse riding, ice skating, bowling, cinema, climbing walls and drift karting to keep the kids amused. You won’t hear ‘I’m bored’ all week!
At the heart of the Dolomites in the Val di Fassa is Penia di Canazei; an impossibly pretty village with postcard-like views. This is an ideal choice for families with older kids that can ski with (and often lead) parents around the slopes. You’ll be spoiled by the sheer amount of pistes on your doorstep (1200km). Enjoy a full day ski tour with the 40km Sella Ronda route and take in the 3342m Marmolada glacier on the way too.
Off the slopes it’s relatively quiet. There’s enough to keep your teens entertained but not so much that you have to worry. The Dalaondes water and spa centre in Canazei (about 3km away) is a great way to relax off the slopes and has facilities for all ages. Or why not watch an ice hockey match at the nearby Alba ice rink.
Time to find your Italian family ski holiday.
A skiing holiday in Italy has it all; a diverse range of resorts with terrain for all abilities, a relaxed and fun ambience, good food, legendary hospitality and some of the best après-ski in the mountains.
Organising a family ski holiday can be tricky, but you can take some of the stress out of the planning stage with our 7 handytips.
Its wide, confidencebuilding slopes, excellent ski and board tuition, superb nightlife and tax-free status cement Livigno as the right choice for beginner skiers and boarders.
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