Flying to Bergamo, Italy - where to go skiing from there?

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We are flying into Bergamo (really good deal on flights) at the end of Feb and we would like to give the kids their first taste of skiing, without blowing the bank. Can anyone recommend a good location to go skiing that is not too far from the airport (1 to 2 hours) and has good facilities for kids? We have both skied before but not too advanced so ideally a spot suitable for beginners to intermediate.

We got details of a option inCastione della Presolana (a 3 star hotel is allocated after booking), accommodation is located from 900 mts. a.s.l. and 1300 mts. a.s.l., while ski resorts : Presolana till 1630mts, Monte Pora till 1880 mts, Colere till 2250 mts. The altitude figures are double dutch to me and wonder if anyone could suggest if that altitude would be sufficent to have a reasonably good chance of snow or do we need to go futher north.

Any advice or suggestions will be gratefully appriciated!!

Theres lots of skiing, head north from bergamo and your in the Alps. We are off to Fopollo end Jan, which at 60km away is one of the nearest http://www.brembanaski.com/ingleseski/foppolo.html

Its a smallish resort, so after 3/4 days we will have skied it all. As u will see from the above website there are other ski resorts nearby if u want to branch out. Height wise I think its 1600 to 2100 m high, so medium height. The higer a resort is the more snow sure it will be, but at the end of feb height shouldnt be too important. If you are prepared to drive approx 150 km from Bergamo you are in hi altitude terrain - Livigno , Passo Tonale etc 2000-3000m Livigno is duty free too

I've been to both and the sking is excellent there and English is widely spoken ; assuming you are taking lessons. The kids might prefer to be in a class with other English speaking kids so might be an idea to see if the lesser known ski resorts teach in English

Bergamo and the ski resorts near it are in the province Lombaridia , so do a search for Lombaridia and Ski and you'll find lots more.

You need to have a look at the piste maps online for any resort, I think the ones u mentioned are limited and one of them is not suitable for begineers

Good news : It's been snowing heavily today http://www.snoweye.com/?page=it-lombardy

To calculate your drivig distances www.viamichelin.com

My kids learnt to ski and snowboard in Livigno, which is north of Bergamo, past Bormio. Downsids are it's 4-1/2 hour transfer; and can be cold. Upsides are it's cheap (Italy + no tax); friendly; and has a set of very good, graded learner-only slopes.

Thanks for the replies.

I have looked at Fopollo and there seems to be very few hotels there. Have e-mailed a few and will see what they come back with....they are about 30% more expensive than Presolana but I guess thats as they are higher so better chance of skiing.

4.5 hours is probably too much of a transfer for the kids - can anyone recommend a closer (with direct transfer) resort?

Are there any other easy connections from Bergamo or do we need to hire a car. Don't want to sound cheap but was hoping to keep the cost below €2000 (excluding flights)....am I being too optimistic - it's really just to give them a taste as I dread getting there and for 1 or 2 of them to say...."hate it!".

We are hiring a car, but the hotels in Foppolo San Simone or Carona, will quote for a car pick up, didnt get many quotes but was about 160 euro, which is not much less than car hire for five days. One of the hotels (albergo carona) mentioned a bus from airport to bergamo and another bus to Fopollo/Carona, about 3-4 euros fare, so check with albergo carona or tourist office on that.

Some resorts will have direct coach connections, which I'd guess are once a day, so would need to co-incide with your flights.

Thanks Dublin1, we're also going from Dublin....abit of research shows some pretty good reviews for this resort and abit more digging brought up some nice apartments, so i reckon I can do it for under the €2k. Not too keen to hire a car as don;t plan to do any more driving once there - hope to be on the slopes contantly!!! getting really excited...hope to be able to book accomadation (either the Cristallo or an apartment) tomorrow and then will tell the kids. They will be hyper for the next 6 weeks. Thanks for the help.

Dublin1 - do you have details of a ski school & a hire shop by any chance as I can;t seem to find one on-line. Thanks

U have three accom options, which are all approx 1to2km apart and on the same life pass. San Simone you can ski there but to reach Fopollo bus it San Simone 5-10 mins on bus to Foppolo, I assume bus is free with lift pass
Fopollo which is in the centre of things, looks like the sking is v near all accom there. Carona - u take a lift up from carona in the morning, this leaves u at the plateau, for sking. If I were u I'd base myself near to where the ski schools are, prob Foppolo but possibly also San Simone. The best thing about the place is its proximity to Bergamo. In my dealings with the hotels etc, I noticed that not many people speak English, so check that your ski school can coach in English as well as Italian.

We stayed in Presolana at the Spampatti hotel in mid February approx €60.00 per adult on half board, you can ski almost to the door. Not a huge ski area but if only for a few days is good and the Ski school is very reasonable and so are the lift passes. If you book through Cooraltur for a hotel, the transfer between Milan-Orio al Serio airport is €35.00 per person return, excellent value.