Sestriere

Superbly positioned at the heart of the Milky Way's 400km of pistes is the highest and most snow-sure resort in this area.

Purpose built in the 1930's, Sestriere has a modern and trendy feel and is a perfect all round resort – great snow, varied terrain, Italian hospitality, and reasonable prices.

After being expanded for the 2006 Turin Olympics, the resort is the best base for exploration of the Milky Way. Set above the treeline at 2035m, the north-west facing slopes and excellent supplemental snow making cover make Sestriere a pretty snowsure resort.

With easy access to the more lively Sauze d'Oulx on one side, and Claviere and the French resort of Montgenevre on the other, the extent of skiing is huge.

On piste options best suit intermediate skiers, while those looking for some powder turns will often be able to find tracked routes long after they would normally would in other resorts of a similar size.

For beginners there is a selection of nursery slopes and some nice easy blues but progression from there can be limiting. Intermediates can easily explore the Milky Way with its huge variety of slopes and there is a decent amount of off-piste and good steep slopes to keep the experts happy too.

While the purpose built nature of the resort makes it a convenient base, the drawback is a rather bland village. Saying this, there are two attractive solutions: stay a bit lower down in Borgata; or stay much lower down in Pragelato (linked by cable car).

The focus in Sestriere is primarily on slope activities, though there is a chilled out après scene.

Although there are some hotels, accommodation is predominantly in apartment blocks.