Where to Ski And Snowboard -

Review of Madonna di Campiglio

14th March 2006 by alison gilbert 

Having just visited Madonna (first week March)I felt I just had to write this review. Madonna is an easy 2 hour trip from Bergamo airport which is served by cheap flights. We flew from Stansted and hired a car which was easy with many car hire firms based in the airport. Europacar was the cheapest when we booked. We visited for 4 full days skiing: flying in on a Wednesday evening skied all day Sunday and caught a late flight home Sunday evening. Madonna village is akin to St Anton for fur coats and designer shops not cheap! But has a nice car free centre. We stayed in Pinzolo just 10kms down the road ten minutes by car to Madonna and with its own ski area which makes a great day’s skiing, is quiet with some great cruising and a couple of steeper runs too. Plenty of parking and the main parks only charged 3 euros to park all day and within metres of the lift! So no long carrying of skis. (free parking in Pinzolo)

Pinzolo is much cheaper than MDC with some great restaurants; we ate out every night and each night with 3 or 4 courses a person wine and drinks could not spend more than 100 euros in total for 4 poeple. The hotel Flece in Pinzolo is to be recommended; great breakfast and great accommodation and small bar. We paid 600 euros for two ensuite rooms with breakfast for 4 nights a bargain! Extremly clean with a high standard of furnishings with an Austrian influence - in fact the Austrain influnece can be felt throughout the resort.

MDC has plenty of sking to keep everyone happy, (we are 2 advanced intermediate and 2 expert skiers and we did not get bored) great cruising runs (great for improving technique) which would please even the most timid with some steeper runs to be found in the Folgarida and Marilleva areas (you need a full area pass to ski these areas worth the extra 9 euros) The black runs 25 & 26 are great fun and with a great little restaurant half way down. Ristorante Cascina Zeledria is also worthy of a mention great for lunch just off blue 7 but a real treat is being towed back up to the piste by snow cat on your skis!

PLenty of off piste opportunities all over the resort in both bowls and through the trees.

There are still a few older chairs to contend with but a lot of investment has been put into replacing chairs with high speed versions and this seems to continue there is already evidence of the commitment to join Pinzolo to the main circuit.

The resort definitely gets busier at the weekends with weekend skiers but we never queued. Just had a little further to walk from the car about 100m instead of 50!

The snow was fantastic when we visited and extremly well pisted and maintained. There is also extensive snow cannon coverage if required.
The scenery is awesome everyday it took our breath way its huge and magnificent, hard to beat and some of the best we have seen and we have skied all over the world.

Nightlife is low key and you need to make your own entertainment but Italian dinners are long and relaxing and the food and wines are to die for!

MDC and Pinzolo are hidden gems and I really should be keeping them a secret! Would we go back, yes, definitely!

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