Off to Livigno on a cheapy - 22 March

Just booked a cheap deal for the family with Inghams. Acomm on Arrival. Now
is not the time for me to hear any horror stories about Inghams, though at
the price, I don't much care anyway :)

Haven't been back to Italy for several years, though spent my very first
week in the Dolomites. Never been to Livigno, though very much looking
forward to the trip as this was going to be my first missed season for
several years.

From what I've read, advanced skiing opportunities are limited, though it's
a nice intermediate resort. That sounds fine, as I'll be with Wife and
kids, and it sounds like a good confidence and skills building resort; I
could be fitter at the moment too :-)

Anyone come back recently? Any pointers/tips on ski hire there - just for
the kids (14, and 11), we've got our own kit. Recommendations appreciated.
Also for good family friendly restaurants/bars etc. What is the standard
of ski instruction there? And again, any personal recommendations would be
useful. I'm a reasonable standard of skier, Wife and Daughter are
competent, though a little under-confident. 11 year old son is a reckless
intermediate :)

Any views on the resort appreciated.

Simon

We stayed in the Alpenroyal self-catering apartments, about 100m from
the Galli supermarket and bus stop. It's on a one-way system, so
although it's easy to get up to the lifts, getting back was a bit of a
trek with kit unless we stayed on the bus while it went all the way
around the resort (about half an hour).

Our rental stuff came from Ski Klinik 2 (near lifts 17a and 17b). It
took about ten minutes to get it sorted out (pre-booked), and we could
change over to blades or change skies at anytime if necessary. We all
ended up with pretty good carvers (one VIP set, three superior) from
Fischer or Salomon.

The beginner's area that our two had most of their lessons was away from
the main slopes on the resort, so there were few intermediate nutters
hammering past them at "high speed". The reds off the Carasello 3000 (a
six seater gondola) are, IMO, excellent for improvers and those who want
a bit of a thrill. They're HUGE - nice and wide, steep in places with a
few rollers to jump off for the brave. Once you're up there you could
ski/chair it all the way a long the valley.

Because of the aspect of the resort we tended to ski the Carosello side
until about 1pm and then get the bus or a taxi to the Mottolino side in
the afternoon so that we were always in the sun. The Motollino gondola
was a pain in the rump - one of those in which you sort of stand while
leaning against something that pathetically tries to pass for a seat.

We ate out in the Steinbock (pizza & pasta: 60 Euro for four two course
meals and drinks with excellent service), Hotel Nevada (more of an a la
carte menu for about 20 Euro each inc. drinks), Mario's (it was packed
and we waited for half an hour for a table, then another 20 minutes to
order, and another 20 minutes for the drinks to arrive - we should have
left). La Scala was also execellent (both food and service, including
the Italian brummie - go there and you'll understand).

For food at lunchtime we went to La Montanella at the bottom of 17a/b -
great pizza, burgers, and a few local dishes for a couple of pounds
each. It's a very friendly pub/cafe and the owners (he looks like a
slim Pavarotti and she is gorgeous) certainly make children feel
welcome. The Stalet at the bottom of the Carosello 3000 gondola is also
good, and their chocolate cake is amazingly unhealthy.

Restaurant Astoria near Carosello 3000 is also very good. We tried our
best to handle the evening in Italian only to find out that our waitress
is Portugeuse!

If you can ditch the kids for an evening, try Daphne's Pub
(http://www.daphnespub.com/). It's dark, plays loudish music from MTV,
shows Eurosport and has themost hi-tech bog I've seen - you have to take
a lift down to it! Oh yes, a pint of Guiness there is about Ł2.70.

Our two beginners booked 6x2 hours in ski school before we went and
improved greatly. They said that their isntructor (Romano) was
excellent, giving them more confidence every day. His humourous
approach helped, and his English was very good. They had 6 others in
their group.

Myself and CODO book two one hour private sessions on different days.
We booked through the Inghams rep (Mat) and ended up with Fulvio. I was
happy because he liked to ski fast, and CODO was happy because he was
"good looking". The first lesson was brilliant - I felt that I improved
greatly. Although I can do close stance, short radius turns quite
happily, Fulvio got me into carving within the hour. CODO had him all
to herself the following day and did her first ever black run while I
was wandering around with my arm in a sling (see later). The private
lessons are soooooo cheap. For example, one hour for two people at
Snowdome in Tamworth is Ł100. Two one hour lessons for two people in
Livigno is 68 Euro (Ł48).

The weather was superb - blue skies and excellent snow all week, though
very little (< 0.5cm) all week. It was very cold for a couple of days,
and was showing as -21C on two mornings.

I had a nasty crash in the Mottolino and ended up in the Trauma Clinic
for two hours getting put back together. The treatment was excellent,
even though it was quite busy.

I bought a litre of 8 year old Bacardi at Gatwick for Ł19. I then
bought the same in resort fo Ł9. Archer's Peach Schnapps can be had by
the litre for Ł5; 1.75 litres of Jack Daniel's for Ł13.

The list system is handled by a magnetic card that you can keep in an
inside pocket. It's probably best to have it in a chest pocket because
the sensors are at different levels on each lift, and it's easier to
bend down that it is to grow 10 inches.

We were there during half-term and the pistes were empty. We didn't
have to queue for any lifts, and I reckon there were less than 50 people
on even the biggest pistes.

Drop me an 'e' and I'll post a piste map to you. The resort is quite
sprawling but the buses are frequent. A taxi from anywhere to anywhere
within Livigno is only 6 euro for up to four people + kit. It's then 1
euro 50 for each additional body.

Bad points - the fact that we were on a one way system and had to trek
from the bus stop home; my crash; my Italian; idiot snowboarders and
skiers that park on corners; having to cancel the skidoo-ing excursion
because of my injury.

I went on a cheap deal with Inghams to Meribel a couple of years back.
It was awful. We were forced to stay in a 5 star chalet and each four
course a la carte meals every night. Add the free-flowing high quality
wine to that and it really was terrible. Really. Honest, it was.

Our transfer rep. out was Michelle (lovely), and our resort rep was a
Kiwi, Mat. He was really good, having spent three or four seasons in
Livigno learning Italian from bus drivers.

Oh yes, try snow blades - they really are good fun. Slower than skis,
but still a laugh.

I'm sure you'll have a great time.

--
Hywel Never knowingly understood
http://hyweljenkins.co.uk/
http://hyweljenkins.co.uk/mfaq.php

<Much much brilliant information snipped>

Thank you very much for your exceptionally useful post Hywel. Thoroughly
appreciate the time you spent putting that together. I have already printed
it off to digest at leisure. It sounds an ideal all-round destination for a
family group. When we've gone before as a family, we've never normally
taken any tuition, as that tends to fall to me. However, SWMBO rarely
listens to me, and could do with some private time with an Italian Ski
Instructor (Can't beleive I just said that). My Son and Daughter would also
benefit from being given some instruction from other than Dad, as I've
taught them all I know. Which is relatively little in the grand scheme of
skiing things!

I hadn't thought of pre-booking kit/instruction etc given that it was a
lastminute.com special. Did you do that through Inghams, or via the net?

I've cc'd this via email too - a copy of the Piste map would be great.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

Simon

There are loads of places from where you can hire stuff. I reckon there
were ten places within 5 minutes' walk of our accommodation.

I forgot to mention the apartment we got. Two double rooms, plus a
large living area/kitched with cooker and dishwasher. We ate out every
night, but it would have been fairly comfortable to cook for four,
especially as there was such a variety of local produce at the various
mini-markets in the resort.

Cheers - handy to know. We arrive around 11AM local at Bergamo, but I
understand there is a fairly horrendous 4-5hour transfer to resort, so it
will be late Saturday afternoon by the time we get there. Still, should
have time to get the kid's hire gear sorted and lift ticks etc.

From what I've been able to gather from yourself and on the net, it's a
pretty economical place to eat out, so I expect we'll make the most of that,
and use the apartment for b'fast and lunch (depending on where it is and
where we are) and eat out in the evenings.. It's encouraging to hear such
good things about the accommodation. We're allocated on arrival, but sound
like it might be an OK company to do that with.

Thanks again for your help,

Simon

I wasn't happy with the ski they provided though.. if you are hiring, I
wouldn't hire through them.. like Hywel suggested, you get them from one of
the Ski Klink shops, and their "VIP" ski's are certainly not VIP.. I got
Salomon Verse's (which are an entry level ski) and they looked like about
the best ones there..

There is enough terrain to keep you occupied for a week.. and I was quite
impressed by the resort.. it is quite a budget resort, but I rekon the
lifts, on the whole, where better than those at Klosters (which isn't a
budget resort at all).. it was also really dead.. hardly any people at all..
and thats over Christmas, so I think you'll have a good time..

I have pics and some more description of the place at
http://www.andrewhutchinson.net/Livigno.php

Have a good time..

"Simon Watkins" <siwa...@iee.org> wrote in message
news:b3gs7i$1m6ck7$1...@ID-172388.news.dfncis.de...

Thanks for the endoresement. We're only paying £149 per person for
Flts/Txfer/Accom so my expectations are fairly low, and unlikely to be
dashed :-) I normally DIY, but at those prices for a non self-drive
destination, I couldn't touch it.

Thanks. My wife has a pair of Verse's that I bought for her new in France.
Quite a nice polyvalent beginner's ski. It's only the kid's skis that we
need to hire, though my daughter is classed as an adult now. They were both
spoiled on our last trip to Stowe, as they both had Atomic carvers..

I'm hoping so - the only negatives I'm getting about the resort is that it's
a bit limited for advanced skiers, though I don't have a problem with that,
as it's a family trip. I'm happy enough blasting around on motorway pistes
anyway :) The transfer from Bergamo sounds depressing, though everyone
seems to think it's worth it. The fact that it's a budget resort is good
too :-) In fact, all in all, it sounds a perfect family resort and I'm
really looking forward to it.

It's funny - I was searching the net yesterday, and have already come across
your Livigno page, prior to your post :-) What was your ultimate verdict
on St Moritz? Worth a visit, or don't bother?

Thanks,

Simon

The transfer is not so bad actually... it went very quick for me, and I had
a 7 hour delay on the flight! Good views on the way up.. it'll be a good
trip..

news:b3lmp3$1nnfd1$1...@ID-172388.news.dfncis.de...

I'm with InMyTee re. the transfer. We slept much of the way there and
back. We set off from home at 3AM on the way out, and got on the coach
at 4:30AM on the way back, so it was easy to sleep (even with Snoring
Man in the row behind). The scenery along Lake Como is spectacular, so
that helps. The longest part seemed to be the 45 minutes from Bormio to
Livigno!

There was a couple with a small baby (about small enough to fit in hand
luggage), and she hardly made a peep in either direction, so the
transfer couldn't have been that traumatic.

On our way there we stopped at a little road-side cafe (in Sondrio I
think). Make sure you know what type of coffee you're ordering
(espresso, macchiato, etc), and make a bit of effort with a little
Italian, and you'll be rewarded with little "apres cafe" chocolates for
you and your family!

Personally have found Inghams to be a decent company to travel with (been
with them 2 out of past 3 years to Livigno and this year to Flaine).
Livigno is a decent enough resort (and cheap!) the only problem you may
encounter is that the village is very long, so getting from one end to the
other can be a pain, but there is a free ski bus every 10 mins or so.

And don't be put off by the so-called long transfer, it takes about 4 hours
but you stop about half way for a coffee/snack etc and it soon goes in.

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Think yourself lucky!!

Access to the Motollino used to be a poma drag lift that took about 20 minutes
to get up on. This got the thighs burning first thing in the morning I can tell
you..............

Clive