Livigno is a high altitude resort in northern Italy, close to the Swiss border in the north. The Dolomite Mountains lie in the south and the Alps mountain ranges lie in the north. Livigno has fast evolved from a small, isolated settlement into one of the best-known skiing resorts in Alpine Europe. The high altitude ensuring snow throughout the year and the relatively isolated location which made it difficult for the tax inspectors to reach here in earlier days helped it to emerge a top skiing destination.

Livigno:

Livigno is a town in the Sondrio Province in Lombardy Region in the Alpine area of northern Italy. It is situated at an elevation of 1,816 metres above the sea level. Livigno’s main river is Aqua Granda or Spöl. Livigno is one of those Italian villages located in the Black Sea basin. The Trepalle village here is said to be located at the highest altitude in Europe. Total area of Livigno is 211 square kilometres.

Skiing at livigno:

Livigno’s skiing field is bifurcated by the valley road along which the resort stretches. Both halves can be accessed by high-capacity, high-speed gondolas (Mottolino or the two-stage Carosello 3000) as well as by the growing network of high-speed chairlifts.

The ski area features a series of nursery slopes on the meadows adjacent to the resort followed by a long and fast open ‘motorway’ that runs above and a few steep blacks below the area’s highest skiing spot at Mt Della Neve.

Livigno offers superb snow for skiing as well as excellent, low-priced après ski. Livigno got its first ski lift arrived in 1958. Livigno has 115 km long piste. There is also a ski-school at the centre of Livigno.

Season:

Skiing season at Livigno extends from end-November till early May.

Activities other than skiing:

• Swimming in hotel pools
• Gym
• Indoor sports like bowling, badminton, billiards and chess (the local chess club meets at Bar Caravasc).
• Outdoor activities like dog sledging, ice driving (ice-driving courses are offered on a 1.2km long course on Livigno’s frozen lake (see www.ghiacciodromo.com), ice skating, snowmobiling, quad biking and paragliding.
• Eating out:
  Pizza and Spaghetti Bolognese at affordable prices. Ristorante la Pòsa is one of the best pizzerias here while Ristorante il Cantucciois known for its pastas.
• Pre-ski-school nurseries for children like Kinderheim Kinder Club Dau
• Shopping
• Après ski:
  Livigno is the ski resort with the maximum number of bars (137) like Gulliver Pub, Echo Pub, Jpioca and others. Echo Pub serves microbrewery beer while Jpioca is a good cocktail bar.

Reaching Livigno:

• By air:
  Zurich (in Switzerland) at about 250 km and Milan (Italy) at about 220 km are the nearest airports to Livigno. It takes 4-5 hours from these airports to reach Livigno.
• By road:
  Three roads lead to Livigno town, two from Switzerland, through the Forcola di Livigno (2,315 metres high) and Munt La Schera tunnel, and one from Italy passing through the Foscagno Pass (2,291 metres high).
• Getting around:
  Livigno resort is about 8 km long. Free ski bus service is available along the length of the resort and the adjoining villages. A pass for visiting resorts located in the surrounding Alta Valtellina region of the resort, like Bormio and Santa Caterina as well as over the border in St Moritz can be procured (minimum duration is six days).

Accommodation:

There are over 100 hotels in Livigno.

• Hotel American
• Hotel Centro
• Hotel Sporting
• Hotel Spöl
• Hotel Helvetia
• Hotel Krone SNC
• Hotel Margherita
• Hotel Intermonti
• Apartment Ivan
• Apartment Damiano
• Apartment Graziana
• Apartment Lucia V
• Apartment Lucia Nuovo
• Apartment Andrea
• Apartment Augusta