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Home » Our Ski Resorts » Skiing in Italy » Courmayeur

A picturesque Italian village with its ski area across the valley, Courmayeur is famous for its fantastic restaurants. In fact, there are more restaurants at the resort than ski lifts! It sits in the Aosta Valley at the junction of France, Switzerland and Italy - and is a beautiful old village with charming cobbled streets and twelve giant peaks surrounding it. The resort has 100 km of pistes to explore, mainly suited to intermediate skiers and boarders.

Intermediates will be right at home here. You'll love the long cruising runs like the piste from Cresta Youla all the way down to Plan de la Gabba. There are also many semi-steep reds to help you progress. Experts will be able to ski much of the piste in a couple of days, but will find a lot to play with on the good, steep off-piste which is partially on Mont Blanc itself. If you are looking to branch out, the resorts of Cervinia and La Thuile (Italy), Chamonix (France) and Verbier (Switzerland) are all reachable.

With a charming, cosy ambience, après-ski here is lively (some of the best anywhere), and the quality of the restaurants is unbeatable. Roam the narrow streets and check out the old stone churches, bars, delicatessens, butchers and pastry shops. Try the fondue, truffle risotto, carbonade, fresh pasta, country soup, mocetta, home-made desserts and leg of chamois on a sunny outdoor terrace. A fashionable retreat, the shopping is also great, with major designer shops like Hermes and Cartier dotted around the village. Courmayeur is a fantastic destination if you like a well rounded holiday, fun après-ski and a beautiful romantic setting and if you are a hard-core skier you can definitely have some fun too.

Courmayeur Ski ratings: 

Beginner

Intermediate

Expert

Après Ski

Family Skiing

Ski Schools

Snow 

Extent (size)

italian resorts: 

  • Bardonecchia

    Bardonecchia Skiing Holidays

    A working Italian town, here you'll find excellent varied intermediate terrain and great terrain parks to ski and board

  • Cervinia

    Cervinia Skiing Holidays

    Expansive, never-ending gentle intermediate runs  make this ideal for advanced beginners and inters.  Snow sure too.

  • Cortina

    Cortina Skiing Holidays

    Italy's most fashionable resort, set in a staggering location with fantastic beginner skiing. A real Italian experience

  • Courmayeur

    Courmayeur Skiing Holidays

    A charming Italian village that offers good intermediate skiing, excellent snow and at night, a stylish restaurant and bar scene

  • La Thuile

    La Thuile Skiing Holidays

    For those after the run of the mountain, La Thuile has no queues and is ideal for beginners and intermediates

  • Livigno

    Livigno Skiing Holidays

    This hidden gem has some of the best recorded snow and sun in Italy, long, wide runs as well as its duty-free shopping!  

  • Passo Tonale

    Passo Tonale Skiing Holidays

    High up in the mountain range, this resort is not for those skiers afraid of heights but is perfect for beginners & familes

  • Sauze d'Oulx

    Sauze d'Oulx Skiing Holidays

    An intermediate skiers paradise, Sauze has extensive and uncrowded pistes. You'll also find a lively apres scene

  • Selva

    Selva Skiing Holidays

    Set in a stunning setting, Selva has excellent & extensive ski slopes, perfect for intermediate skiers with a tree lined piste

  • Sestriere

    Sestriere Skiing Holidays

    A quieter, purpose built resort that is part of the wider Milky Way ski region with Sauze d'Oulx. Good for intermediates

 

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More on Courmayeur: 

Courmayeur for Different Ski Abilities

Beginner skiers

Courmayeur has a really good nursery area at Tzaly, at a high enough altitude to keep good snow. However, for complete beginners, the resort is not really ideal. Much of the terrain you might find a little bit tough and there are not many super easy blues to help you progress.

Intermediate skiers

Nearly all of the terrain here is varying levels of intermediate. Try the red runs at Checrouit for differing challenges, and there are some tougher chutes through the trees, a good quiet run at Le Greye and the Vallée Blanche and the long Internazionale a must-ski. If you want to try some off-piste skiing for the first time - the forest area by the Gabba lift is great. If you run out of terrain - you also get a free day in Chamonix on a six-day ski pass.

Expert skiers

The pistes at Courmayeur aren't too exciting for an expert skier. There are some challenging reds and a handful of blacks, but you will get through these pretty quickly. The off-piste on the other hand, is great! Try dropping into Val Veny, or head up to Cresta d'Arp and take one of the excellent dedicated itineraries away from the pistes. The many different routes down Mont Blanc are also awesome in good conditions, especially the 12 km descent down the Toula Glacier.

Courmayeur Ski Schools

There are two ski schools in Courmayeur, the newer Courmayeur Ski & Snowboard School and the older, more established Mont Bianco Ski and Snowboard School. Between them they have over 100 instructors speaking English, French, Italian and German.

 Après Ski and Off the Mountain Activities

 Après Ski

They know how to do après ski in style at Courmayeur. The quality and quantity of restaurants, wine bars, pubs and clubs is great - this side of the holiday is just as important to visitors here. Many bars and restaurants offer free drinks and food to entice their customers, and old world charm and elegance is everywhere. Sink into a plush couch by the fireplace at Café della Posta, or try the lively atmosphere of the classic stone walled Bar Roma and the bar Americano in the middle of town. For late night partying head to the Jimmy Night Cafe, Poppy's Pub and Planet Disco Bar. There are so many excellent restaurants; it's hard to choose where to eat. Try the rustic Maison Vielle or the delicious Zerotta.

Off the mountain 

Courmayeur is a great spot for people watching, especially when the fashionable Milanese descend on the resort during the weekend. The shopping is extensive and covers the big name fashion designers as well as smaller outfits, and there are plenty of cafés to warm you up while you watch the passers by. Try the famous Courmayeur "tegole" in the local pastry shops, or relax to relax, head to the spa at Pré-St-Didier. You can visit the old Romanesque Church of Santi Pantaleone and Valentino, the Maluquin Tower, the remains of a fourteenth century fort and the Duca degli Abruzzi Alpine Museum. There may not be as many activities available as at some of the mega resorts in the Alps, but you can also try: skating, tennis courts, indoor swimming pools, boutiques, games arcades and cinemas.

How to get to Courmayeur

By air

Courmayeur works well as a weekend destination because it has a short transfer time - 90 minutes - from both Geneva (108 km) and Turin (150 km) airports. EasyJet flies from various regional airports and Swiss flies from Heathrow and London City. Milan Malpensa (212km) is also an option.

From Geneva airport, you can take a private shuttle service. Alternatively, there are buses to the resort from Turin (150km) and Milan Malpensa (212km) airports.

By train

The closest train station is Pré-St-Didier Station (6 km) which has a regular bus service.

By car

The Mont Blanc Valley is reachable by the national road 26 and the highway A5 Torino-Aosta-Courmayeur. If you are coming from France, Switzerland and North Europe, take the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the Gran San Bernardo Tunnel. During the summertime the Gran San Bernardo pass and the Piccolo San Bernardo pass are also open.