Italy Travel Planning
Italy Ski Season 2026-27 Beyond the Dolomites: Opening Dates from Cervinia to Livigno
Cervinia is open, Courmayeur and Livigno start on 28 November 2026, Bormio on 4 December and Sestriere on 5 December. The opening dates beyond the Dolomites.
Italy's ski season outside the Dolomites starts in earnest on Saturday 28 November 2026.
That morning Courmayeur, La Thuile, Monterosa and Livigno open together. Cervinia is skiing already.
The Dolomites take most of the attention, and our guide to their opening dates covers them. This one follows the rest of the Italian Alps from west to east: the Aosta Valley under Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, the Piedmont valleys west of Turin and the high resorts of Lombardy. The dates are those announced by the lift companies, collected by the trade site Funivie.it and by Quotidiano Nazionale. Every one of them depends on snow.
Quick answer
Open now: Breuil-Cervinia, on the glacier and the first Italian slopes.
28 November: Courmayeur, La Thuile, Pila, Valtournenche, Monterosa Ski and Livigno.
4 December: Bormio and Santa Caterina Valfurva.
5 December: Sestriere and the Vialattea, and Bardonecchia.
Longest season: Cervinia, until 2 May 2027.
Opening dates, west to east
| Ski area | Region | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breuil-Cervinia | Aosta Valley | Open since the autumn | 2 May 2027 |
| Valtournenche | Aosta Valley | 28 November | 25 April 2027 |
| Courmayeur | Aosta Valley | 28 November | 11 April 2027 |
| La Thuile | Aosta Valley | 28 November | 11 April 2027 |
| Pila | Aosta Valley | 28 November | Not announced |
| Monterosa Ski: Champoluc, Gressoney, Alagna | Aosta Valley and Piedmont | 28 November | 11 April 2027 |
| Livigno | Lombardy | 28 November | Early May 2027 |
| Bormio and Santa Caterina Valfurva | Lombardy | 4 December | 11 April 2027 for Bormio |
| Vialattea: Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx, Sansicario, Cesana, Claviere | Piedmont | 5 December | Not announced |
| Bardonecchia | Piedmont | 5 December | Not announced |
Cervinia, where the season has started
Breuil-Cervinia shares the Plateau Rosa glacier with Zermatt, and its winter runs from 24 October 2026 to 2 May 2027, according to the lift company. Wind delayed the Italian side at the start. The chairlifts at Plan Maison, Fornet and Bontadini opened with their slopes on 7 November.
The rest of the valley follows. Valtournenche opens on 28 November and closes on 25 April. Chamois and Torgnon run at weekends from 28 November, then every day from 19 December to 29 March. In early November the lift company listed the day pass at 48 euros for the Italian side and 64.50 euros with Zermatt.
One date matters for visitors who do not ski. The Matterhorn Alpine Crossing, the cable car link across the border, is listed as closed for maintenance from 7 January to 26 February 2027.
Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa
Courmayeur and La Thuile both open on 28 November and close on 11 April. La Thuile is linked over the border with La Rosière in France. Pila, above the town of Aosta, is announced for the same Saturday if the snow allows.
Monterosa Ski opens the lifts that connect Champoluc, Gressoney and Alagna on 28 November as well. Its smaller areas, Brusson, Antagnod and Gressoney-Saint-Jean, start at weekends in December and run every day from 19 December.
Livigno and Bormio
Livigno opens all its lifts at 8:00 on 28 November, with 115 kilometres of slopes, and its price list runs to 2 May. It is the usual choice for an early or a late week. The reason is altitude: the village sits at 1,800 metres.
Bormio starts on 4 December, together with Santa Caterina Valfurva, and closes on 11 April.
Sestriere and Bardonecchia
The Vialattea, the linked area of Sestriere, Sauze d'Oulx, Sansicario, Cesana and Claviere, is announced for 5 December. Bardonecchia opens the same day.
These are the easiest Italian slopes to reach by train. Bardonecchia needs no bus at all. It has its own station on the line from Turin to the French border, and Oulx, a few minutes before it on the same line, is the station for Sauze d'Oulx and Sestriere, with buses up to the resorts.
Without a car
The Aosta Valley resorts are reached by bus from the valley's railway stations and from Aosta. For Bormio and Livigno the railhead is Tirano, at the end of the line from Milan, and the buses continue up the valley from there. Allow at least five hours from Milan to Livigno.
The mistake to avoid
Do not read an opening date as a promise of the whole area. In late November the first lifts and a few slopes open, and the connections follow with the snow. A week booked for the first days of December is a bet. Some years it pays. From the weekend before Christmas the calendars are safe almost everywhere.
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