Cesana Torinese-Sansicario - village

At 1,350m, Cesana Torinese is well placed in the middle of the Milky Way with access to both the Italian resorts Saniscario/Sestriere/Sauze and to the French side at Montgenevre.

It’s a charming, traditional Italian village, and off the radar for most British tourists. Sansicario has a dual personality, blending the traditional with the purpose-built, all tastefully done with mostly low-rise buildings and wooden balconies and ideally located for exploring all the Milky Way resorts.

A monorail connects the different levels of the resort, which is also largely car-free. 

Accommodation types

In Cesana, the recently refurbished Hotel Ginestra (00 39 12 289 78 84), close to the river, offers a good standard of food and accommodation.

Sansicario has a lot of apartments and some modern hotels close to the pistes. Our favourite is the Hotel Majestic (00 39 12 281 19 05) which has stunning views of the mountains and also has great facilities for children. 

Ski/Snowboard equipment hire

While Cesana is limited in scope, Saniscario has several rental shops. A good choice of equipment is available from SkiSet and J2Ski which offers four different grades of ski from ‘Excellence’ (new season’s models) to ‘Economy’ (no more than three years old).

Non-ski activities

A cinema screens different films every night, usually in Italian. The Olympic bobsleigh run, located between Sansicario and Cesana, reaches speeds up to 125kph with each run averaging 1 minute 20 seconds down the 1,435m track. Helmets and protective gear are supplied and to ride the taxi bob you need to be 14 years or more

Childcare

There’s a Junior Club in Sansicario for children aged from 2 years. The ski school has a ski kindergarten for 4 upwards in a Fun Park with inflatable toys and its own moving carpet lift. For age 12 upwards there are special children's ski school classes.