The ski station of Breuil Cervinia is located in the Italian Alps and in specific in the Aosta valley, a valley known for its many ski stations and beautiful resorts. Breuil Cervinia is the ski station build right under the emblematic jewel of the Alps the renowned Cervino mountain (in Italian) which you probably know as Matterhorn, in Swiss German, Cervin in French.
It is also know as the mountain depicted on the Toblerone chocolates (this was the case until 2023 I think but not any more, theguardian.com)
The village
The village itself is nothing special in terms of architecture. As locals told us, it was build in the 60’s – 70’s rather fast and with not much thinking about preserving the traditional architecture of the area. As a result, you will see many multi store buildings that do not really correspond to the natural beauty of the mountainous landscape. In order words, if you go there waiting to see a traditional Alpine village with little wooden chalets you better look elsewhere.
Nevertheless, as i mentioned above, the natural landscape is great with Cervino dominating the views. It is not the classic view of the mountain that you will get from the Swiss village of Zermatt but still, it is an alterative look that still fascinates mountain enthusiasts and nature lovers.
The ski station of Cervinia
The ski station of Cervinia is connected with that of Valtrourneche, a village at lower altitude (around 1600m) and 10 minutes by car from Breuil-Cervinia resort. Valtourneche is a nice alternative if you want to avoid the traffic and the crowds that visit Cervinia village. There are little hotels and Airbnbs along with some nice restaurants for budget or more expensive and delicate cuisine.
In addition, the ski station of Cervinia is connected to Matterhorn ski domain in Switzerland. You can cross the Italian-Swiss borders and ski in two countries with one ski pass in order words. The connection is done at the Matterhorn paradise sector, around 3,500 meters, from where you will have almost a 2,000 meters of altitude difference to ski all the way down to Zermatt village.
We had visited Zermatt two weeks before our visit to the Italian Alps so we stayed only in the Italian side of the mountain. Which to be honest is more than enough for skiing. The area is huge and if you add the side of Valtourneche you may probably need one day to fully explore all slopes.
What we did not like
One thing that we did not like in Cervinia ski station was the lift quality and the huge lines we had to wait in order to reach the upper side of the mountain. From the village base, there are only two lifts, not connected to each other, you go either to one (chairlift) or the other (a small and old telecabine). Both get really crowded in the morning. In addition, in order to reach the 3,500 meters, base is at 2000m, you will have to take another three, with the last two being old and only 4 seat chair lifts… On a cold day, reaching the top can be torturing.
In order to reach the other side of the mountain, connected to Valtourneche, there is a rather old telecabine that takes ages to reach its destination. There, fortunately, they have updated two chairlift and there is no queue as there are two 8 seats fast chairlifts that are also heated! So, getting and returning from Valtourneche ski station is very efficient. Again, at Valtourneche you will find some old and crowded chairlifts but as this station does not receives the Cervinia crowds, the situation there much better.
In any way, we skied 5 consecutive days and we enjoyed the sunny days and the good quality snow of the high altitude Cervinia ski station.
What we liked: food and where to eat at Cervinia
One of good memories that we bring back home, will be the food. We are in the Italian Alps, so food is well taken cared of 🙂
We would absolutely propose you the La Bricole (map), on the slopes, very close to the Cervinia base, the one with the chairlifts and not the telecabine where there is also a parking area, and it is build in an old barn. Probably the best food in the past several months. Served at a very mountain traditional environment that is decorated with taste. The only think we did not like was the music playlist but the food was too good to bother us in the end.
For something cheaper and quicker, you should climb, with your skis :), at 3000 meters and visit the mountain restaurant of Bar Ventina (map), you will find classic plates well cooked and at big quantities. If you want to eat something quick, at a good price, with great views and music, all three days we spent some time there it was playing rock and blues, we highly recommend Bar Ventina. In contrast to the loud club music you will find at the rest of the ski station….
Eating at Cervinia was also nice, we visited the classic pizzeria called Sotto zero (map) and we liked all 3 pizzas ordered there.
An excellent proposal is found at the village of Valtourneche and it is called La Maison Du Coq Rouge (map) in Valtourneche village, mostly French cuisine at a very warm and cozy environment. Service is great and the stove will keep you warm all time! For something cheaper but of good quality we liked the Big Ben restaurant, again in Valtourneche.
Finally and going back to Cervinia, if you want to grab a sandwich, or panini, of excellent quality, head to the La Macelleria La Fraschetta di Cervinia (map). I ate the panini so fast that I forgot to take a picture of it, but you can find some on google maps… It takes time to prepare but it is worth it! Found next to the Scuola Di Sci Del Cervino (ski school).
In Breuil-Cervinia there are many commercial stores in the small pedestrian street at the heart of the village. You may also walk around, we tried the road that takes you to the 5 star resort of Valtur and we took the circular path that brings you back to the village, after walking on a red ski slope for the last few hundred meters. In Valtourneche, you can also walk and find the small square.
Parking and snow
Be careful when it snows or has snowed the days before, as they do not clean the snow almost at all and icy patches are found all over the place, in both villages. While walking in your ski boots, if you do not have GripWalk soles be extra careful, I saw at least 3 people falling while carrying their skis!
Also keep in mind that parking is not regulated at all and as a results all parking lots fill up very quickly on busy periods, weekends or holidays, as drivers tend to leave huge spaces between cars. They are either super scared about their cars not been touched by the door of another car or they simply do not care, at all, about other drivers/visitors arriving after them! There is no other explanation to this.
Final verdict
Will we go again to Breuil-Cervinia?
I think there are so many ski stations in the Italian, and not only, Alps that visiting again is not highly probable. I find that overall value for money is not very high in order to justify going back. Nature and snow quality is great but huge traffic when we were leaving Cervinia to go to Valtourneche, parking availability wherever we went, crowds and long queues at the ski lifts, ski lift infrastructure and higher than average prices, will send us look elsewhere next time we go skiing.
To be fair, we visited during high season and probably we would have a better experience another time during the year. If you can avoid high season, then you should definitely visit the area and the ski station and enjoy the food and the beautiful landscape with the Cervino mountain!
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