EN
EN
Classic mountain charm
Backcountry (off-trail) skiing
Stunning viewsClassic mountain charmBackcountry (off-trail) skiingStunning viewsClassic mountain charmBackcountry (off-trail) skiingStunning viewsClassic mountain charmBackcountry (off-trail) skiingStunning viewsMadesimo is a small, traditional ski village high in the far north of Italy. Lombardy is better known for its lakes than its skiing, but Madesimo is the exception, tucked into the Val Chiavenna, an alpine valley that runs up from the top of Lake Como to the Swiss border. It sits at around 1,550m, and the place has a real sense of character, with stone-and-slate houses, a quiet village feel, and a cooking style that blends Italian mountain food with influences from just over the border in Switzerland. Many of the hotels, in both Madesimo and Campodolcino down the valley, sit right by the slopes or the funicular up to them, so ski-in, ski-out access is common.
The skiing rises from the village to the summit of Pizzo Groppera at almost 3,000m, a vertical drop of well over a kilometre and among the biggest in the Italian Alps. It's a mountain that rewards intermediates most of all, with long, rolling red runs like the Vanoni and Interpista to cruise and gentler blues and nursery areas lower down for beginners to build up on. Strong skiers have the pull of the Canalone, a famous black descent that falls close to a kilometre off the top of Groppera. The lower runs thread down through larch forest, while the higher slopes open out above the treeline. High altitude, plenty of snowmaking, and slopes that face both north and south keep the snow in good shape through a long season, from late November into April.
There's plenty here beyond the skiing. On the snow, you can head out snowshoeing through the woods by day or on a guided night walk, go sledging, or try a snowmobile tour up towards the Spluga Pass, and there's cross-country skiing and a village ice rink too. Off the mountain, the valley rewards a look around. Chiavenna, the handsome old town below the resort, is known for its crotti (natural rock cellars) where local cheeses, cured meats, and wine have been stored and served for generations, and it's a fine place to try Valtellina cooking. Just below the village, the twin Acquafraggia waterfalls, which Leonardo da Vinci admired on his travels through the valley, make an easy and memorable stop. Between the skiing, the food, and the valley's history, Madesimo makes for a well-rounded trip.
Check out Madesimo ski deals to start planning your trip.
Madesimo is a small, traditional ski village high in the far north of Italy. Lombardy is better known for its lakes than its skiing, but Madesimo is the exception, tucked into the Val Chiavenna, an alpine valley that runs up from the top of Lake Como to the Swiss border. It sits at around 1,550m, and the place has a real sense of character, with stone-and-slate houses, a quiet village feel, and a cooking style that blends Italian mountain food with influences from just over the border in Switzerland. Many of the hotels, in both Madesimo and Campodolcino down the valley, sit right by the slopes or the funicular up to them, so ski-in, ski-out access is common.
The skiing rises from the village to the summit of Pizzo Groppera at almost 3,000m, a vertical drop of well over a kilometre and among the biggest in the Italian Alps. It's a mountain that rewards intermediates most of all, with long, rolling red runs like the Vanoni and Interpista to cruise and gentler blues and nursery areas lower down for beginners to build up on. Strong skiers have the pull of the Canalone, a famous black descent that falls close to a kilometre off the top of Groppera. The lower runs thread down through larch forest, while the higher slopes open out above the treeline. High altitude, plenty of snowmaking, and slopes that face both north and south keep the snow in good shape through a long season, from late November into April.
There's plenty here beyond the skiing. On the snow, you can head out snowshoeing through the woods by day or on a guided night walk, go sledging, or try a snowmobile tour up towards the Spluga Pass, and there's cross-country skiing and a village ice rink too. Off the mountain, the valley rewards a look around. Chiavenna, the handsome old town below the resort, is known for its crotti (natural rock cellars) where local cheeses, cured meats, and wine have been stored and served for generations, and it's a fine place to try Valtellina cooking. Just below the village, the twin Acquafraggia waterfalls, which Leonardo da Vinci admired on his travels through the valley, make an easy and memorable stop. Between the skiing, the food, and the valley's history, Madesimo makes for a well-rounded trip.
Check out Madesimo ski deals to start planning your trip.
The skiing at Madesimo climbs from the village through larch and spruce forest into wide, open high-alpine terrain, topping out on Pizzo Groppera at almost 3,000m, with long views across to the Bernina and Bregaglia peaks and the Swiss Engadine beyond. There's well over a kilometre of vertical from top to bottom, and the runs tend to be long and sustained rather than petering out between pitches. Most of the mountain suits intermediates, who get wide, rolling reds like the Vanoni and Interpista to open up on, with easier blues and gentle nursery areas lower down for beginners. Strong skiers and boarders have the Canalone, a celebrated black that drops close to a kilometre off the top of Groppera, along with plenty of off-piste and the terrain over in the Val di Lei. Snowboarders are well served too, with wide, carveable pistes and the MadePark snowpark.
Getting around is easy, and the lift system is modern, with no drag lifts anywhere. You reach the slopes straight from the village on the gondola and chairs, or, if you're staying down the valley in Campodolcino, on the Sky Express, a fast underground funicular that carries you up to Motta in a few minutes. From there, gondolas and high-speed chairs take you up the mountain, and a cable car climbs all the way to the summit of Pizzo Groppera. The layout is compact and the lifts are well placed, so you rarely spend long queuing and can cover the mountain without much traversing. Madesimo draws a mostly Milanese crowd, so it tends to be busier at weekends, while midweek is usually quieter.
One thing worth knowing if you're expecting green beginner runs: Italy grades its pistes blue, red, and black, with no green, so blue is the gentlest grade you'll find here.
Madesimo can be a rewarding place to learn, especially if you like the idea of a quiet, uncrowded mountain to find your way on. There's a nursery area at the edge of the village with a gentle slope and a surface lift for first-timers, and the Larici Baby Park at the top of the village gondola has a conveyor-belt lift and space to practise away from other skiers.
It's worth being honest that Madesimo leans towards intermediates and experts, with a fair step up in gradient from the nursery slopes to the marked runs, so it isn't the place for a huge, gentle beginner area. What it does give a keen beginner is somewhere quiet to progress quickly, well-groomed blues, and the reward of real high-mountain scenery from your very first runs, with plenty of proper terrain to grow into. Once you're comfortable, there's room to progress. Blue is the gentlest grade in Italy, so the blues are where you head next, and the gentle ones around Motta and the village make a natural step up. The Lago Azzurro is one of the longest and most forgiving, a good first proper run from higher up.
WeSki insider tip: Once you've got the basics, look for the Larici to Baita del Sole skiweg, a gentle path of about a kilometre that most beginners skate straight past. It's the ideal warm-up for the long, easy Lago Azzurro blue, and skiing the two together is the most satisfying way to build up to a full run down the mountain.
This is a mountain that suits confident intermediates beautifully. The blue runs are long and well groomed, and thanks to all that vertical they have real substance rather than fizzling out after a few turns. They also tend to be a touch steeper than the blues at gentler resorts, so you find yourself working and improving almost without trying, the 2.4km Lago Azzurro is a good one to lap while you get your legs. Spend a week here and you come away a better skier.
When you're ready for more, the natural move is onto the reds, and this is where Madesimo really opens up. The Vanoni and Interpista are both around 3km long, with sustained pitch and terrain that keeps changing as you go. The best of it is the long descent from the top of the mountain back down towards the village, which shifts in character as you drop, starting out on open, exposed alpine slopes up high and finishing on sheltered runs threading through the larch forest lower down.
WeSki insider tip: Take the reds over into the Val di Lei, the wide, sunny valley on the far side of Pizzo Groppera. It's a bit of an effort to get to, so most people never bother, which means you often get some of the best intermediate cruising on the mountain almost to yourself, in genuinely beautiful surroundings.
For strong skiers and boarders, Madesimo packs a lot of challenge into a compact area: a famous steep descent, plenty of testing pisted terrain, and easy access to off-piste, enough to fill a week without repeating yourself. Much of the mountain is graded red and black, so there's steep, sustained skiing all over. The one everyone comes for is the Canalone, one of Italy's most famous descents, a long, steep line dropping from near the 3,000m summit of Pizzo Groppera that has tested strong Milanese skiers for close to a century. It is steep enough to demand good technique and long enough to demand fitness, and it often bumps up into moguls, which only adds to the challenge.
There's good off-piste here too. Up high, above the treeline, open bowls and gullies hold their snow well after a storm, and the cold, north-facing slopes keep it in good condition, while the larch and spruce forest lower down gives sheltered, well-spaced tree skiing. Sitting close to the Swiss border, the mountain catches weather from more than one direction, which helps keep the snowpack topped up through the season. As always with off-piste, it pays to go out with a guide who knows where the snow is best and how the terrain skis.
WeSki insider tip: Everyone heads for the Canalone, but the Camosci itinerary drops from the same point at the top of Groppera and sees a fraction of the traffic. It's a similar sort of descent, so when the Canalone is tracking out, this is where to find quieter, cleaner snow. Take a guide if you don't know the line.
Snowboarding has a good footing at Madesimo, helped by a lift system of gondolas and chairs with no drag lifts to wrestle with. It's less suited to learning to ride, though, the gentle terrain is limited and a few of the linking paths run flat, so it's a better fit for boarders who can already link their turns. Freestyle riders head for the MadePark, up at around 1,800m, which has separate zones for different levels, from small kickers, boxes, and rails for progressing riders up to bigger jumps for the experienced. The wider mountain draws freeriders too, with the steep Canalone, high-altitude powder below Groppera, and natural hits along the piste edges through the trees.
There's a lot of off-piste to explore at Madesimo, and the high, snow-sure setting keeps it in good condition. Above the treeline, open bowls and couloirs hold cold, dry snow between storms, especially on the shaded north-facing slopes, while lower down you can link turns through nicely spaced larch forest. Beyond the lift-served terrain, this is a serious touring area, with established routes over the Spluga Pass, classic summits like Pizzo Stella to climb, and long descents such as the run down to the hamlet of Fraciscio. Sitting right on the Swiss border, the mountain catches weather from more than one direction, which helps keep everything topped up. It's proper mountain terrain with real avalanche risk, so head out with a local guide who knows the snowpack and the safest lines.
Madesimo's main ski school has been going since 1934, one of the oldest in Italy, and today fields around fifty instructors from a chalet in the centre of the village. Group and private lessons run for all ages and abilities, from children's classes and first-timers up to skiers polishing their technique. As well as standard alpine lessons, the instructors cover snowboarding, freeride, freestyle, and telemark, and there are adaptive lessons for skiers with disabilities. English-speaking instructors can be arranged, though the clientele is mostly Milanese and Italian, so a private lesson tends to be the surest way to get focused instruction in English.
Madesimo has one terrain park, the MadePark, set at around 1,800m and easy to reach from the village on the Larici gondola or the Montalto chair. It's laid out by level, so there's somewhere sensible to start whatever your experience. Progressing riders get small kickers, flat boxes, and rails to build confidence on, while stronger freestylers have bigger jumps and a run of rails and boxes to link together, and the set-up is changed through the winter to keep things fresh.
Madesimo makes an easy, good-value base for a family holiday. The village is small, safe, and walkable, so the logistics are simple, everything is close by, and many of the hotels sit right by the slopes. It has a warm, Italian feel, the restaurants are happy to see children, and because it rarely gets crowded the whole area tends to feel relaxed. There's plenty to keep children happy on the snow too, from a dedicated kids' park to sledging and a village ice rink.
For younger children, the learning setup is reassuringly contained. The Larici Baby Park, at the top of the village gondola, has a gentle conveyor-belt lift rather than chairlifts, with one area for skiing and snowboarding and another for sledging and tubing. The ski school teaches children from around age five on the nursery slopes. It's fair to say the wider beginner terrain is on the limited side, so Madesimo isn't a sprawling learn-to-ski resort, but beginners can get going safely here and then move onto the blues.
Families tend to get the most out of Madesimo when the children can already ski with some confidence. Anyone happy on red runs will love the long descents, the pull of the famous Canalone, and the high-altitude terrain, and the modern lifts mean nobody's left waiting around. For young freestylers, the MadePark adds jumps and rails to session. It's a mountain that rewards keen young skiers with a real sense of adventure.
Away from the pistes, children can sledge and tube at the Baby Park, skate at the village ice rink, or head out on an easy snowshoe walk, and it's worth skiing or strolling up to the Madonna d'Europa, the tall gold statue that looks out over the Motta slopes. Meals are relaxed and child-friendly, with the mountain huts doing everything from pizza to hearty local dishes, the Ristoro Larici by the kids' park handy for lunch, and the half-board hotels serving good Lombard home cooking in the evenings. On a day off the snow, the Acquafraggia waterfall and the old town of Chiavenna, with its rock-cellar crotti, make for gentle family outings, and Lake Cuomo is close enough for a bigger day trip over the border.
Madesimo sits in a corner of the Alps with more going on than the skiing alone. The Val Chiavenna runs right up to the Swiss border, so the valley has a foot in two countries, and the mix of high mountains, frozen waterfalls, old stone villages, and Italian food culture gives a rest day real variety. Whether you want another day of adventure on the snow or a gentler wander through the valley below, there's plenty to fill the time. Here are some of the best things to do around Madesimo.
Dining in Madesimo draws on the Val Chiavenna's own culinary tradition, a mix of Lombard mountain cooking, Valtellina specialities, and Swiss influences from just over the border. It's hearty, warming food built for cold days and long descents: pizzoccheri (buckwheat pasta with cabbage, potato, and melted cheese), bresaola (air-dried beef), polenta taragna (polenta with cheese), and sciatt (crispy cheese fritters), washed down with the region's Nebbiolo reds. You'll find it at every level, from mountain rifugi serving polenta and grilled meats up on the slopes, to rustic village osterie and pizzerie, to a handful of places doing more refined cooking. And down in Chiavenna, the crotti offer something you won't find anywhere else.
WeSki insider tip: Whatever else you eat, don't leave without trying pizzoccheri, the dish this corner of Italy is built on, short buckwheat pasta layered with cabbage or potato, butter, garlic, and plenty of melted mountain cheese. It's rich, warming, and made for a day in the cold. Start with sciatt, little cheese-filled buckwheat fritters, if you see them on the menu.
Après-ski in Madesimo is low-key and centred on food and good company, in the relaxed Italian style. The ski day tends to end with an aperitivo, a Spritz or a Bombardino at a village bar among a mostly local crowd, before the evening settles into a long, leisurely dinner. Midweek is quiet, picking up at weekends when the Milanese arrive and a few bars put on music. For a different kind of evening, it's worth heading down to Chiavenna to eat in one of the crotti, candlelit rock cellars with centuries of history in the walls.
Après-ski spots to know:
Madesimo's accommodation is mainly hotels, family-run three- and four-star places with a traditional feel, and many offer half-board with the local Lombard cooking included, which is a real plus. Alongside them you'll find self-catering apartments and residences for groups who want more flexibility. Some of the hotels sit right by the slopes and lifts, so ski-in, ski-out stays are possible, and the resort's long history shows in a handful of places that have been welcoming skiers since the 1930s.
Most people base themselves in Madesimo village, which is compact enough to walk to the gondola, the shops, and the restaurants, and the hotels closest to the lifts let you ski almost from the door. For a quieter stay, a few traditional lodges sit higher up on the slopes at Motta, ski-in, ski-out but away from the village bustle. And down the valley in Campodolcino, there are more affordable hotels that reach the slopes in a few minutes on the Sky Express funicular, a good choice if you'd happily trade ski-from-the-door convenience for a lower price.
The local Madesimo ski pass covers the whole Valchiavenna ski area, its lifts and around 40km of pistes, running from the village up to Pizzo Groppera and over into the Val di Lei. It's all one connected area, so you can start from the lifts in Madesimo itself or, if you're staying down in Campodolcino, ride up on the Sky Express funicular, which comes included in the pass along with the parking there. Day and multi-day passes are available, so you can match the pass to the length of your trip.
Check the multi-day pass options when you book your Madesimo ski holiday package through WeSki to find the best fit for your trip.
There are several rental shops in the village and down at the foot of the slopes, carrying a full range of gear, from everyday skis and snowboards to performance and freeride setups, along with boots, helmets, and poles. Most also hire the specialist kit, cross-country and ski-touring equipment, snowshoes, and children's skis and toboggans, and can handle tuning, repairs, and overnight ski storage so you're not carrying everything back to your room. Service is friendly and boot fitting is done properly. Many shops let you reserve online before you travel, worth doing for peak weekends and Italian school holidays, especially if you want specialist equipment.
Madesimo is compact and easy to get around on foot. The gondola, ski school, rental shops, restaurants, and most accommodation are all within a few minutes' walk, so there's no need for a ski bus. Getting to the snow is simple too, as the lifts start right in the village, ready to walk to and ride straight up, and if you're based down in Campodolcino, the Sky Express funicular carries you up to the slopes in a few minutes. It's a place where you can happily leave the car for the whole trip.
In fact, you don't need a car to get here at all. The nearest train station is down the valley in Chiavenna, with buses up to Madesimo timed to meet the trains. A car does make day trips easier, though, whether to Chiavenna (about 30 minutes), the northern tip of Lake Como (around 45 minutes), or over towards the Swiss border. There's parking in the village and at the Campodolcino funicular station, and winter tyres or chains are needed on the valley road through the season.
Madesimo is in the Val Chiavenna of northern Lombardy, close to the Swiss border. The nearest airports are the two Milan hubs, Linate (around 140km) and Malpensa (around 170km, and the main gateway for international flights), along with Bergamo (around 125km) and, over the border, Zurich (around 200km via the San Bernardino tunnel). If you'd rather travel by train, the valley town of Chiavenna, about 25km below Madesimo, has a station with connections from Milan in around two and a half hours, and buses run up to the resort from there. Driving from Milan, you follow the SS36 superstrada up the eastern side of Lake Como to Chiavenna, then the valley road up to Madesimo.
WeSki offers car rental from the airport, plus private and shared transfers to Madesimo. Add them to your Madesimo ski holiday package for seamless door-to-door travel.
It can be, though it suits those who already have the basics better than complete first-timers. A quick note on grading. Like everywhere in Italy, Madesimo has no green runs, so blue is the easiest grade, and the blues are the beginner terrain. There's a nursery area and the Larici Baby Park for learning, plus one of Italy's oldest ski schools to get you started, but the wider gentle terrain is limited and there's a step up from the nursery slopes to the marked runs. Beginners already comfortable on blues will do well here, helped by a modern, quick lift system.
The Canalone is Madesimo's most famous descent, a long, steep run dropping from near the 3,000m summit of Pizzo Groppera. It's one of the most celebrated runs in Italy, known for its gradient, its exposure, and the fitness it takes to ski it well, and the writer Dino Buzzati once called it the most beautiful slope in the Alps. Often skied as an itinerary rather than a groomed piste, it has been a test piece for strong skiers for close to a century and remains the mountain's signature line.
Crotti are natural rock cellars set into the hillside around Chiavenna, cooled year-round by a natural cold air current called the sorel. They've been used since the sixteenth century to age cheese and wine and to serve food, and several now operate as restaurants, serving local specialities like bresaola, sciatt, and pizzoccheri with Valtellina wines in candlelit underground rooms. Eating in one is among the more memorable meals you can have in the area.
Madesimo tends to hold its snow well. The high altitude, rising to almost 3,000m, the north-facing slopes, and extensive snowmaking all help keep the pistes in good condition, and its position near the Swiss border means it can catch snow from more than one direction. The lower runs down towards the village at 1,550m are more variable, as you'd expect. The season usually runs from late November into early April, with the deep midwinter months the most dependable.
Madesimo is one of the smaller Lombardy resorts, and part of the appeal is that intimate, traditional feel. Bormio, over in the Alta Valtellina, is bigger and higher, with a famous World Cup vertical and thermal spas, while Livigno is larger still and duty-free, though both are a fair bit further from Milan. What Madesimo offers is a shorter trip from the city, steep and characterful skiing, the famous Canalone, and the crotti down in Chiavenna. It has long been a favourite for a weekend's serious skiing close to Milan.
Yes, the Swiss border is very close. The Spluga Pass road just above the resort crosses straight into the Graubünden region of Switzerland, though it's closed in winter, so it's a summer and shoulder-season route to St Moritz and the Engadine. In winter you go the longer way round, down to Chiavenna and up through the Val Bregaglia over the Maloja Pass, reaching St Moritz in about an hour and a half. The pretty Bregaglia villages of Soglio and Castasegna, just over the border, make an easy outing too.
Very much so. Between the Canalone, the other black runs, well over a kilometre of vertical, and the off-piste above the treeline, there's plenty of steep, sustained skiing, and the modern lifts serve it efficiently. Midweek it stays quiet, so you can ski hard without much traffic. For strong skiers, Madesimo is one of Italy's more rewarding lesser-known resorts.
4.9/5I usually book flights, ground transportation, hotel, ski rental and lift tickets myself but this year used WeSki for a trip to Morzine. It was so much easier. Everything worked perfectly - ground transportation arrived on time and there was plenty of feedback throughout the whole process giving you confidence the vacation would go smoothly.
A really useful service that is so much easier to use than other 'all-inclusive' sites. It nicely bridges the gap between a travel agent and booking the trip yourself online. I'll use WeSki every time I go skiing from now on.
We booked a late minute skiing trip to Morzine through we ski. We looked at booking the trip ourselves but could get anywhere near the price quoted by we ski. The company was excellent and we had no problems at all from start to finish. I would definitely use them to book another weekend skiing trip.
Seamless experience from start to finish. I was spending ages trying to sort out a weekend break and managed to do it with we ski in minutes and for the same price as booking it all up yourself. Flight, transfers and accommodation was all as expected and faultless.
