Cervinia

For those looking for long, cruisy runs perfectly suited to beginners and intermediates, there are few places better suited than Cervinia. As the highest resort in Italy with an altitude of 2,050m in the village and 3,480m at the top lift station, Cervinia guarantees fantastic snow coverage, long into those sunny spring days, with its season running well into May. Alongside the fantastic skiing, the views from the resort and slopes are phenomenal, with the resort situated between the instantly recognizable jagged profile of the Matterhorn and the Klein (little) Matterhorn.

The village was branded Cervinia when it was developed for skiing, but these days harks back to its mountaineering roots by prefixing that with its original name, Breuil, though this is not widely used. The compact, traffic free resort alongside the makeup of the pistes makes it a perfect option for children and families. 

Cervinia is on the Italian side of the Matterhorn (or Monte Cervino), at the head of a long valley off the Aosta valley. The slopes link to Valtournenche further down the valley (covered by the lift pass) and at high altitude to Zermatt in Switzerland (covered by a daily supplement, or a more expensive weekly pass). Across the combined area, there are 322km of well groomed slopes served by 53 lifts.

Though the proximity to Zermatt may seem appealing for those looking for its famous expert terrain, you would be better suited to staying in Switzerland to avoid a potentially long lift journey. 

The resort gets a lot of Italian weekend business, though lift queues are rarely a problem.