Advice on resort for mixed-level group

This winter I will be making my first trip to ski in Italy. I'll be going with a group of people with mixed interests and skill levels, so there's a bit more pressure to pick the "right" resort than when I just travel by myself. I've been reading various sites but I'd appreciate any feedback I can get from people with personal experience. Here are the criteria I'm working with:

1. We will be travelling without a car, so I'd like to find a resort basically right on the slopes. I have no problem taking a ski bus, say, from the far end of the resort to the lifts, but I don't want to have to "travel" every day to the slopes. Similarly the place needs to be large enough to keep us busy for a week.

2. The composition of the group will be fairly diverse. Importantly, one person will primarily be doing cross-country and so they need access to a fair number of trails. (Maybe this isn't hard to find - I've just never looked for it before.) A couple of people will be interested in a good apres-ski scene in terms of bars, restaurants, etc.

3. In terms of the slopes themselves, well, we're probably all solid intermediates: reasonable experience but only as much skill as you can work up in a week or two on the slopes every year. Personally I'm probably happier with a really long blue run than a challenging red one.

Past resorts I've been to include: Zermatt, Val d'Isere, St. Anton, Garmisch (Zugspitze).

Hi

At a quick first glance then I'd say Livigno meets your requirements quite nicely (runs and lifts are from town though there are two distinct sides to the valley and its quite stretched out but the bus is excellent and free with pass)

Only bit I'm not sure of is the X-Country - I reember seeing people doing it when I was there but no idea how extensive it is.

Only real downside with Livigno is that transfer can be long

(I should have mentioned that one of the people in the party is pushing Madonna di Campiglio, although solely on the basis of having visited in the summer - which has nothing to do with anything.)

Madonna was the first resort I thought of - should suit everyone.

Lovely place in winter to. Quite pricey tho if i remember, though the more outlying stations linked to it are considerably cheaper... if my memory serves me right. It was about 6 years ago now that i was there.

mityaski wrote:(I should have mentioned that one of the people in the party is pushing Madonna di Campiglio, although solely on the basis of having visited in the summer - which has nothing to do with anything.)

Have a look at folgarida

Folgarida may be a bit quiet for you if you are into your apres. Only one bar (Eta Beta) in Folgarida 1300 and it is often almost empty, which is a shame as the owner, Ricky, is a good egg and a bit of a character to boot. Nightlife, in the main, revolves around the hotel bars, which welcome non-residents, but offer a rather more gentille experience than that which a bunch of mates may be anticipating. Eta Beta gets busier later on with ski instructors and other local workers but by that time most holidaymakers, many of whom have children in tow, are tucked up in bed or are having a nightcap in their hotel bar.

Folgarida 1400 (a 20-25 minute walk) may be livelier, but if it were me, I would take a few more euros and stay in MdC. (if it's good enough for Rossi and Schumacher then it's good enough for me :wink: )If nightlife isn't such a priority then you could certainly do a lot worse than Folgarida.

On the langlauf front, there are 15km of trails at Campo Carlo Magno, just outside Madonna, and I believe there are more at Pinzolo,which is linked. My first thoughts were along the lines of 15km is not a lot, but I suppose that depends on how much of that is pointing downhill :lol: .

One last thing: if you enjoy long flowing blue pistes, blue#2 (azzurra) down to 1300 is a beaut. I think you'd like red#3 (belvedere)too. Hope this helps.

P.S. Livigno is not a bad shout either. Good apres and nice feel to the town in the evening. Only downside is the transfer: used to be 5 hours from Bergamo, now it's 4-ish from Innsbruck (prices have sneaked up too :evil: ). 40 km of langlauf there, if your mate is a real glutton for punishment -) .

Thanks, all. Any thoughts on Pinzolo vs. Madonna proper?