Our first trip to Cervinia, chosen for the promise of early season snow and sure enough we were blessed with perfect skiing conditions and 6 days of bright sunshine.
Cervinia is a fantastic resort for beginners and intermediates who want long, wide pistes which were ridiculously empty given the time of year. In reality it is a network of blue pistes, even the reds are not at all difficult and we didn't find a black all week. Plenty for snowboarders too with lovely soft powder just beside the main pistes.
The appartment owner, Roberto is a great guy. He lives next door and he will answer any queries and sort any problems straight away. The appartment has everything you need but don't expect luxury or modern refinement. We had 10 adults in our party and it was a squeeze but we were expecting that and coped accordingly.
Unfortunately the only negative is the location of the appartment. It is at the lift station Cielo Alto which is between Cervinia and Valtournenche. There are 2 restaurants there which are both good and friendly and not over pricey. They also sell basic provisions and pastries etc for breakfast but when you need to do a big shop you will need to go down to Cervinia which is where the problems start. Cervinia is a 20 minute walk down narrow, twisty, icy roads. You can get the bus but unlike French resorts where you can jump on buses free of charge and they run regularly, the buses in Cervinia are maybe 1 an hour and you will pay €1 for the pleasure. That is clearly not expensive but on top of a £250 lift pass it seems a bit unneccessary. Also you have to pay the driver as you get on so you can imagine 50 people with shopping or skis pushing and shoving to get on a bus takes a fair bit of time!!
The other issue is that although you can ski door to door, the lift at Cielo Alto doesn't link to the main lift system in Cervinia. So in the morning you can ski down to Cervinia but you will have to stop, take skis off and walk a fair distance to get to a lift. It's all fine from there but not the perfect start to your day.
All in all I would thoroughly recommend Cervinia. There are plenty of great bars and restaurants in the main town but I would encourage staying in accomodation in the main town to avoid annoying trips up and down in the morning and the evening.