DESTINATIONS EUROPE | ITALY
Piste off with skiers hogging the Alpine fun, Yolanda Zappaterra slips on showshoes for a hike through Italy’s Lombardy region, venue for the 2026 Winter Olympics
Let’s face it, snowshoes are definitely not as elegant or as fast as skis when it comes to traversing snowy terrain, especially when they’re more like clunky platters of plastic than the aesthetically appealing woven wooden snowshoes of old. And yet, as I follow my trusty guide Luca over
two-foot-deep banks of snow amid whispering woods – ambling along a mountain stream that’s just one of thousands in Italy’s Stelvio National Park – I reflect that at this pace, with the snow muffling our steps, we’re able to take in our surroundings in wondrous tranquillity and solitude. We’re also able to explore terrain that would be totally inaccessible on skis. We can even stop and become part of those surroundings, adding our ungainly footsteps to those of the wildlife – which, Luca tells me, includes ibex, deer, stags, chamois, hares, wolves and even bears. Indeed the park, stretching from the Ortles-Cevedale mountains in the South Tyrol to Trentino and Lombardy, is home to some of the rarest species of animal in the Alps – though the constant warning whistles of the marmots we hear around us suggest they aren’t among the rare beasts. I’d never heard of Stelvio until arriving in the nearby medieval town of Bormio, which in 2026 will be one of the locations for the Winter Olympics. As a non-skier, I tend to steer clear of such snowy spots, but I’d been attracted to Bormio – tucked away in Lombardy’s upper Valtellina valley in the Alps – for its impressive range of other Alpine activities. They include electric fat-biking, dog-sledding, ice skating, glacier climbing, guided snowshoe hikes and three thermal spas – fed by hot natural springs once sampled by no less than Pliny the Elder and Leonardo da Vinci. After a hearty two-hour mountain hut lunch – rich in local cheeses – and some more snowshoeing, I ease my aching limbs with a visit to the oldest of the three spas, the aptly named QC Terme Bagni Vecchi. Roman stone tunnels leading to atmospheric ancient pools, and a steam cave excavated in 1825, contrast strikingly with more modern touches, including a panoramic fir-wood sauna, salt grotto, wellness path and infinity pool that overlooks the lovely church of San Martino – the perfect place to enjoy a few hours of après-non-ski.
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BOOK IT
Expedia offers four nights’ B&B at the four-star Sottovento Luxury Hospitality hotel in Bormio for £450 per person, based on two sharing, departing on January 11, 2025, including flights from London to Milan. Agents who are Expedia TAAP members can access discounted property rates when combined with a transport component.
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TOP: Bormio at dusk
ABOVE: Snowshoeing in Stelvio National Park PICTURES: Enrico Bigno Pozzi; Giacomo Meneghello
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24 OCTOBER 2024
travelweekly.co.uk
Bormio Bormio
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