Resorts Guide : Madonna di Campiglio
A popular tourist destination in both winter and summer, it's undoubtedly the skiing for which Madonna di Campiglio has become best known for. Sat up in the Val Rendena at an altitude of just over 1500m, it vies with the likes of Val Gardena and Cortina d'Ampezzo for the title of Italy's top resort. It also competes with Cortina for the title of chic'est resort, with the fur-coat brigade in full attendance and numerous winter visitors going nowhere near the slopes apart from making a dinnertime appearance for a glass of bubbly ! In comparison to other similar sized resorts, it's hardly used by the British ski market, and has a strong Italian clientele, factors that will conjure up both advantages and disadvantages in the minds of many British skiers. But for us, we love this resort we rate it as one of our favourite destinations, with relatively quiet slopes (especially during the British school holidays), a fantastic setting, and a friendly atmosphere.
Madonna di Campiglio History
Madonna di Campiglio's history can be traced right back to the late 1100's, when a monastery was founded in the area.
The monks and nuns remained at the monastery until the 1500's, after which the area declined and remained almost empty.
It wasn't until the late 1800's and the building of a number of hotels and a new road from Pinzolo, that the area
started to grow. In the early 1900's, with the advent of winter-sports, the area started to become known amongst the travel and
snow-sports entrepreneurs of the time, with the wealthy British tourists starting to look at it as a possible destination
and a number of primitive lifts being built. But it was after the 1950s that the popularity of Madonna di Campiglio really took off,
and forming the basis of what we see as the resort today.
Madonna di Campiglio is Family Friendly
The Italians love their family, and this resort is no exception. We took two young kids and had no issues whatsoever,
with really friendly locals in the hotels, ski schools, ski lifts, café's etc all falling over themselves to help out
the kids and make them feel at home.
Madonna di Campiglio Apres Ski
Apres skiing in Madonna di Campiglio is quite quiet, you get the impression that the mainly Italian-clientele are more than happy
to have a nice relaxed drink after the skiing rather than say the Austrians who seem to want to get on the tables straight away and
get dancing ! However, there are some lively bars and clubs if you do a bit of searching around.
The Ober-1 bar at the bottom of the Spinale gondola can get quite lively at the end of the afternoon, with music and drinks outside the bar
and a great location next to the slopes.
Madonna di Campiglio Live Streams
Madonna di Campiglio Webcams
A list of webcams for Madonna di Campiglio and the surrounding area.
Madonna di Campiglio has Scenery
There is some absolutely fantastic scenery of the Brenta Dolomites when you get up to the slopes.
When you're down at the town centre when you first get there you don't get any impression of what's above you as the valley rises up from
both sides, but as soon as you start moving away from the centre and then going up into the mountains above you get some amazing views
from here right down the valley towards Pinzolo and also out in the opposite direction passed Campo Carlo Magno.
Madonna di Campiglio Resort Centre
Madonna di Campiglio's town centre isn't massive but what there is of it is really quite pleasant.
It's centred around a small pedestrianised square with the Bar Suisse and a few other cafés dominating on one side of it,
and some ski clothing shops on the opposite side. There's a road that comes close to the centre but it has a barrier on it
that only allows authorised vehicles (e.g. the ski bus) to pass through. The massive Hotel des Alpes dominates this side of the
centre with a park (including kids play area) on the opposite side of the road. Further down from this is the Spinale Gondola
base station and the outdoor ice rink. The nearest gondola to the town centre is the 5 Laghi, which sits on the other side
of the main square, opposite the Majestic hotel. There are some further hotels just down here too and a decent
supermarket on this road too.
There are some nice cafés dotted around and some swish ski shops, such as Lorenzetti Sport, with the focus in these being high-level brand names such as Colmar, Moncler and Goldwin.
Be aware that the view from the town centre in no way gives any impression of the scale of the slopes above, although you can see the black coming down from Spinale and the red coming into 5 Laghi. You can see peaks from the Pinzolo end of the valley, but because of the narrowness of the valley you don't see the nearer the peaks that rise up from the side of the town.
There are some nice cafés dotted around and some swish ski shops, such as Lorenzetti Sport, with the focus in these being high-level brand names such as Colmar, Moncler and Goldwin.
Be aware that the view from the town centre in no way gives any impression of the scale of the slopes above, although you can see the black coming down from Spinale and the red coming into 5 Laghi. You can see peaks from the Pinzolo end of the valley, but because of the narrowness of the valley you don't see the nearer the peaks that rise up from the side of the town.
Madonna di Campiglio Snow Record
The Dolomites are often different totally different to the Italian Alps in the amount of snow they receive, and the weather can
become quite localised. So when the Alps are struggling for snow the Dolomites might get some weather front pushing up from the south or east
that the Alpine resorts don't get, but vice versa, the Dolomoites might miss out on some of the epic weather fronts that sweep in to the Alps
through the west. The Brenta Dolomites and Madonna di Campiglio are no exception to this, and the winters of 2010 and 2011 are good examples of
this - in 2010 when lots of the resorts in the Alps were struggling for snow and having to crank up their snow-cannons, Madonna di Campiglio
and the surrounding area had a bumper season with plenty of snow from the start of the season right through to the end. However, one winter on
and the Alps were literally overflowing with white stuff in midwinter, whilst Campiglio stayed mainly dry and just kept going
with a series of small top ups. What we can say is that this resort is pretty high for Italian standards, so once the slopes have
received some snow it does tend to stick around, it's also well known for it's sunshine, so there's a good chance of lots of blue-sky days
on the slopes.
Madonna di Campiglio - Getting There
One of the drawbacks of Madonna di campiglio is that it isn't the easiest of places to get to. There are actually quite a few airports
nearby, such as Venice, Milan, Brescia, Verona and Bologna all not too far away as the crow flies, but getting from these up to
Madonna di Campiglio can be a slow process. There nearest train station is Trento but the journey from here via Pinzolo takes about an hour
as the road snakes it's way up through various passes - don't get us wrong it's extremely scenic, but if you're after a swift
journey from the airport then you might be struggling.
Getting to the Slopes at Madonna di Campiglio
Groste Ski Area
The main lifts for the Groste area are a bit further away from the centre of Madonna di Campiglio but it's still a useful
area to head for as it shares a bridge with the Fortini Express chairlift that takes you up to the Pradalogo area.
Get the gondola up from the Groste base station. and go up to the Stoppani restaurant.
Monte Spinale Ski Area
The Spinale area is a decent starting point if you're based in or around Madonna di Campiglio's centre - take the Spinale Express gondola up
from it's base station near the centre of town, it's just above the park and the outdoor ice-rink.
The gondola takes you to the top of Monte Spinale, from where there are a number of runs leading down the mountain.
Cinque Laghi Ski Area
To get up to this area take the 5 Laghi Express gondola from the centre of Madonna di Campiglio (and we mean centre - it's just off
the main square, one of those fantastic sights you get in a ski town - a gondola rising up into the snow above the roof tops).
Pradalago Ski Area
There are two ways up to the Pradalago, the fastest is via the Pradalago Express gondola from near the centre of town,
the other way is to use the Fortini Express chairlift, the base of which is a really useful area as it's connected to the
Groste Express gondola via a bridge.
The Skiing at Madonna di Campiglio
Madonna di Campiglio is part of the
Campiglio Ski Area
Ski Region:
Below is a description of the various skiing areas at Madonna di Campiglio - Groste, Spinale, Cinque Laghi and Pradalago.
Campiglio Ski Area
Information on the ski area Campiglio Ski Area, including links to the surrounding resorts, webcams, slope information and lift details.
Below is a description of the various skiing areas at Madonna di Campiglio - Groste, Spinale, Cinque Laghi and Pradalago.
Groste Ski Area
The main lifts for the Groste area are a bit further away from the centre of Madonna di Campiglio but it's still a useful
area to head for as it shares a bridge with the Fortini Express chairlift that takes you up to the Pradalogo area.
Get the gondola up from the Groste base station. and go up to the Stoppani restaurant.
Two blues go down from the top number 17 and 19 with the Ursus Snow Park sandwiched in between.
This is a fantastic area in the afternoon if it's sunny, with plenty of nice wide pistes with a series of drops and flat
sections that are ideal for beginners and early intermediates.
Others will love cruising these, with the Pietra Grande Mountains dominating over you to the right - a fantastic sight.
Run 19 merges into 17 and this continues in the same vain down to the Graffer restaurant.
There is a modern chairlift here, the Groste express to take you up to the areas highest point - 2504m.
From here he can take blue 17 and drop down to the aforementioned Stoppani restaurant or take reds 18 or 20 back down to the
Graffer restaurant. Both these reds can be quite nice and quiet as skiers only access them if they've got on the Groste express chairlift.
There's just one run down from the Graffer and that's the blue number 17 down to the Groste gondola mid station at Boch.
Again, as with the blues above it, this is a lovely wide run, great for sharpening your technique and practising nice wide turns.
Can be a bit busier here because three pistes have now converged into one, but as with most runs in Madonna it's not too busy.
From Boch, skiers have two options - red 21 that heads straight back down to the foot of the Vagliana chairlift, or blue 22 that traverses over to meet up with blue 26 coming down from the top of the Spinale area. If you cruise over blue 22 then you can get on the Boch chairlift and get into Spinale's lovely red run (number 27). Alternatively, stay on 22 and come down to the foot of the Vagliana chair. This section of 22 is quite narrow and beginners should get ready for a choppy run late in the day when so many skiers have carved up such a narrow run, especially the steep bit at the bottom. Red 21 also comes down directly to this point from Boch, a nice run down with some great views on a clear day. There are two chairlifts down at this point the Vagliana chair takes you up to DOsson di Vagliana and is well worth the trip because it's the only way to get to piste 23 - a red - it can be extremely quiet so its a great option if you're looking to progress from blues but possibly wary of testing yourself on a busy slope. The other chairlift from this point is the Rododendro Express, a covered 4 man chair that whisks you back up to a point above the Graffer restaurant, a lovely ride by the way, with fantastic views of both Pietra Grande and Cima Brenta.
Back at the base of the Vagliana and the Rododendro chairs, there's one piste down - number 24. It starts and ends fantastically, cruising down the tree-lined route. However, there's a section towards the end where the gradient flattens out too much and you come to a disappointing stop, no matter how much speed you seem to get on the approach to it. A few minutes shuffling along and you're off again until you come out above the Campo Carlo Magno nursery areas. You can connect back on to a path to take you back to the base of the Groste gondola lift but be warned that there's more shuffling involved! An alternative is to take the Nube d'Argento 2-man chairlift up to the Montagnole Restaurant. From here you can take the red 31 back to the Groste base or go down blues 30 and 32 back to Groste base, although it flattens out at the end.
From Boch, skiers have two options - red 21 that heads straight back down to the foot of the Vagliana chairlift, or blue 22 that traverses over to meet up with blue 26 coming down from the top of the Spinale area. If you cruise over blue 22 then you can get on the Boch chairlift and get into Spinale's lovely red run (number 27). Alternatively, stay on 22 and come down to the foot of the Vagliana chair. This section of 22 is quite narrow and beginners should get ready for a choppy run late in the day when so many skiers have carved up such a narrow run, especially the steep bit at the bottom. Red 21 also comes down directly to this point from Boch, a nice run down with some great views on a clear day. There are two chairlifts down at this point the Vagliana chair takes you up to DOsson di Vagliana and is well worth the trip because it's the only way to get to piste 23 - a red - it can be extremely quiet so its a great option if you're looking to progress from blues but possibly wary of testing yourself on a busy slope. The other chairlift from this point is the Rododendro Express, a covered 4 man chair that whisks you back up to a point above the Graffer restaurant, a lovely ride by the way, with fantastic views of both Pietra Grande and Cima Brenta.
Back at the base of the Vagliana and the Rododendro chairs, there's one piste down - number 24. It starts and ends fantastically, cruising down the tree-lined route. However, there's a section towards the end where the gradient flattens out too much and you come to a disappointing stop, no matter how much speed you seem to get on the approach to it. A few minutes shuffling along and you're off again until you come out above the Campo Carlo Magno nursery areas. You can connect back on to a path to take you back to the base of the Groste gondola lift but be warned that there's more shuffling involved! An alternative is to take the Nube d'Argento 2-man chairlift up to the Montagnole Restaurant. From here you can take the red 31 back to the Groste base or go down blues 30 and 32 back to Groste base, although it flattens out at the end.
Monte Spinale Ski Area
The Spinale area is a decent starting point if you're based in or around Madonna di Campiglio's centre - take the Spinale Express gondola up
from it's base station near the centre of town, it's just above the park and the outdoor ice-rink.
There are 4 options from the top of Monte Spinale - black 25 goes right the way down to the base of the gondola.
It's a nice run down, be prepared for the classic town ending though - i.e. no run off area, it just goes from black to a short finish.
There's a chairlift (Spinale 2) halfway down the route that takes you back up, so anyone getting halfway down black 25 and then having
second thoughts about completing it has get-out clause to get back to the top.
So apart from this long black, what are the other options from the top of Monte Spinale ? Well, there's a blue 26 that meets up with
blue 22 (discussed in more detail in the Groste section), it has a couple of quite steep sections but is often surprisingly quiet, probably
because of the number of pistes starting from Spinale.
Two more of these pistes are reds (no 27) that join up after a few minutes skiing. It's a lovely run, starting in the open and
then shooting down into the trees. There are a couple of blues you can detour off into but 27 is such a nice run that most skiers
stay on it and head back to the base of Spinale, via short blue 33 (right at the end of the run) or off down red 30 so that it
comes out at the Groste gondola, where you can either go up to Groste or cross the bridge and get the lift up to Pradalogo.
But Hang on ! We nearly forgot to mention the final option from the top of Spinale - black 28 that leads down onto red 27,
with the option of another short (but steep) black just before the Montagnoli restaurant.
Cinque Laghi Ski Area
You'll see this area referred to as both Cinque Laghi and 5 Laghi (Cinque is 5 in Italian, for those who didn't realise !)
To get up to this area take the 5 Laghi Express gondola from the centre of Madonna di Campiglio (and we mean centre - it's just off
the main square, one of those fantastic sights you get in a ski town - a gondola rising up into the snow above the roof tops).
The views from the top are amazing.
We found this area to be the quietest of Madonna di Campiglio's four ski areas, and possibly the prettiest, with some
great little runs down through the trees, nothing to dramatic, long or difficult, just generally pleasant !
Anyway, where do you start from up at the top once you step off the 5 Laghi Express gondola ? Well, there's a blue no 1 that basically goes right down into town - it's an interesting start from up at the Cinque Laghi restaurant, the blue sweeps round and down quite steeply, with netting on the side, slightly off-putting for nervy beginners but it's only a short section. There's also a short black that goes down from the other side of the restaurant, both meet up and head into the trees. There are some delightful sweeping pistes to cruise down through the trees until you eventually reach the Patascoss Restaurant.
Anyway, where do you start from up at the top once you step off the 5 Laghi Express gondola ? Well, there's a blue no 1 that basically goes right down into town - it's an interesting start from up at the Cinque Laghi restaurant, the blue sweeps round and down quite steeply, with netting on the side, slightly off-putting for nervy beginners but it's only a short section. There's also a short black that goes down from the other side of the restaurant, both meet up and head into the trees. There are some delightful sweeping pistes to cruise down through the trees until you eventually reach the Patascoss Restaurant.
Pradalago Ski Area
Pradalago is another great area for intermediates, with a whole host of red and blue pistes. It's also the area which gives access
to the lifts and slopes of neighbouring Folgarida and Marilleva. If the sun's out and shining then its a good area to head to in
the morning as it gets the early rays.
There are two ways up to the Pradalago, the fastest is via the Pradalago Express gondola from near the centre of town, the other way is to use the Fortini Express chairlift, the base of which is a really useful area as it's connected to the Groste Express gondola via a bridge. Ski down the bridge from the Fortini side to Groste or if going the other way get on the handy travelator and it moves you up the bridge. Both methods take you to a similar point, the Pradalago gondola takes you to the Pradalago restaurant, the Fortini chair takes you to the Viviani restaurant. Both sit alongside each other with just a short section of blue piste separating them. From the top of the Pradalago gondola there's blue 7 that takes you down to Viviani and onto all the reds and blues, there's also a black, no 6 that drops right down through the trees to the edge of town and meets up with blue 10. Back up at Viviani the slopes are wide and open above the main tree line. Be aware that many of the kids ski schools progress up to here from the main nursery slopes down at Campo Carlo Magno, so you can get a few processions up here, but the slopes are big enough to soak them up. Blue 7 is the main slope of the area going from the top right down to the foot of the Fortini Express chairlift. There are a number of blues and reds off this blue, with some giving access to the Malghette chairlift up to Monte Vigo, giving access in turn to Folgarida and Marilleva.
There are two ways up to the Pradalago, the fastest is via the Pradalago Express gondola from near the centre of town, the other way is to use the Fortini Express chairlift, the base of which is a really useful area as it's connected to the Groste Express gondola via a bridge. Ski down the bridge from the Fortini side to Groste or if going the other way get on the handy travelator and it moves you up the bridge. Both methods take you to a similar point, the Pradalago gondola takes you to the Pradalago restaurant, the Fortini chair takes you to the Viviani restaurant. Both sit alongside each other with just a short section of blue piste separating them. From the top of the Pradalago gondola there's blue 7 that takes you down to Viviani and onto all the reds and blues, there's also a black, no 6 that drops right down through the trees to the edge of town and meets up with blue 10. Back up at Viviani the slopes are wide and open above the main tree line. Be aware that many of the kids ski schools progress up to here from the main nursery slopes down at Campo Carlo Magno, so you can get a few processions up here, but the slopes are big enough to soak them up. Blue 7 is the main slope of the area going from the top right down to the foot of the Fortini Express chairlift. There are a number of blues and reds off this blue, with some giving access to the Malghette chairlift up to Monte Vigo, giving access in turn to Folgarida and Marilleva.
Madonna di Campiglio Piste Maps
A list of piste-maps for Madonna di Campiglio and the surrounding ski areas.
Madonna di Campiglio Links
If you want some further information on Madonna di Campiglio, then you might find these links to other sites useful...
Hotels in Madonna di Campiglio
Madonna di Campiglio hotels and chalets.
Ok, we've stayed here and had a fantastic time, so there's only one hotel in Madonna di Campiglio to recommend to you, and that's the Design Hotel Oberosler. You can read our full review at the link below...
Hotel Oberosler
Hotel review for the Design Hotel Oberosler in the chic Italian resort of Madonna di Campiglio.