Livigno: where skiing, scenery, and la dolce vita come together
If you are passionate about winter sports and want a complete mountain vacation, Livigno is the perfect place for you! This Italian resort in the Alps offers vast slopes, fairytale landscapes, and a relaxed atmosphere, perfect for both skiing and snowboarding, as well as for relaxing after a full day in the snow. And you've come to the perfect place to discover this resort before booking your stay there.
Why should you choose Livigno?
Located approximately at 1800m altitude, Livigno stretches across both sides of the valley, offering an impressive ski area of 115km of slopes for all levels — from beginners to advanced. In fact, Livigno is located in the Italian Alps, which is why it is at such a high altitude. The ski season usually lasts from November to April, so you have a long period for snow holidays. In January, you have a great chance of experiencing snowfall just like in your childhood and milder temperatures, ranging from -5 degrees to 2 degrees.
How do you get to Livigno?
We left Bucharest and chose to fly with WizzAir to Bergamo — a comfortable and very affordable route. Especially if you are flexible with your dates, you can find flights for as little as €80/2 people/round trip. From the airport, we rented a car using the platform DiscoverCars at about 15 euros/day, and it took us about 4 hours to get to Livigno. The car was from ItalyCarRent and you need a credit card to rent it.
The road goes directly on the highway near Lake Como, but we drove along the lake and stopped in Varenna for a quick coffee and breakfast and to see what Lake Como is like in January. But if you want to see what you can do there in June and how green and colorful everything looks, click on this link, which will take you to the article about that fabulous city break.
Where to stay in Livigno?
We've been there twice, so I have two recommendations for you, one on each side of the resort. As a general rule, almost all accommodations include breakfast, some also include a delicious dinner, ski storage, and a spa area.
For the first time, we choose Hotel del Bosco (in January 2024, the price was €190/double room) with half board and spa included, the pool being outside in a fairytale setting. Dinner was just what we needed after a day on the slopes, with three courses and dessert in such an intimate atmosphere. The room was spacious and decorated in a rustic, alpine style with lots of wood. The hotel is located a 5-minute walk from the Teola chairlift, so it's 5 minutes away from the shuttle bus stop that takes you around the resort for free. If you rent skis from the place recommended by the hotel staff, you can get a discount on the rental. We loved it so much that we will definitely be back here in future winters!
Although we would have liked to stay at the same hotel the second time around, it was no longer available when we booked our tickets, so we opted for the other side, still a 5-minute walk from the main gondola, Carosello 3000. We booked our trip at Green Rose only with breakfast included and spa included (the price was 160 euros/person/double room in January 2025). For dinner, we went to restaurants recommended by the hotel staff because we also had a small discount: Ristorante Pizzeria Amerikan, Ristorante Pizzeria San Giovanni, and Alegra Ristorante – Pizzeria.
We liked it here too because you can ski right up to the hotel when there is plenty of snow, but the only downside was that the water in the outdoor jacuzzi was extremely cold, even though it wasn't the end of the spa program and we were the only ones using the spa. Other than that, the rooms were more modern and the breakfast was great, and you can reach the resort center in less than 5 minutes.
The ski area in detail
The ski area in Livigno is surprisingly varied:
Recommendations
If you still have energy in the evening, I recommend taking a walk around the resort because it is very beautiful and charming. You can even cross the bridge from one side to the other, but keep in mind that the bus stops running around 8 p.m.
Another useful recommendation would be to purchase your ski pass online at least 2-3 days before your trip to benefit from 5% discount. On the the website you can find all the price options depending on the season, as well as prices for half-day ski passes or for the Saturday special, which already has a small discount compared to other days.
For us, Livigno is the ski resort that has it all: superb slopes, an extremely long season, perfect snow, easy access from Bergamo, good prices and Italian food, relaxation at the spa or fun at the après-ski, and BONUS... in an hour you can reach St. Moritz from Switzerland (if the tunnel connecting the two countries is open). And because it is so close to the border, Livigno is a duty-free zone, so prices in stores are more affordable than elsewhere.
We definitely want to come back for another skiing holiday and also in the summer because I think it's full of spectacular trails and campsites with views of the alpine mountain peaks. Have I convinced you to put Livigno on your list of ski resorts? Follow me for more great stories from our travels, but also on instagram where I am posting in real time.
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