Love Madonna di Campiglio? Where to go next for the gentle runs, the style or the family week
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20268 min read
Madonna di Campiglio does everything neatly. The grooming is immaculate, the centre is traffic free and smart, the Brenta Dolomites stand over all of it, and it has been a fashionable place to ski for well over a century. It suits families, and it suits people who like a bit of gloss with their skiing, which is a rarer pairing than it sounds.
That is why the next resort is hard to pick. One that matches the gloss may not suit the children, and one that suits the children may not have the gloss. So decide which half of Madonna you would miss most, and start there.
Madonna di Campiglio, measured
Two things stand out, and the alternatives tend to keep one and lose the other.
The first is that the runs are kind for their colour. Madonna's blues average 12.9 percent and its reds 19.7, both gentler than the typical Italian blue and red, and Italian blues and reds already measure gentler than French or Austrian ones. That is average gradient per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so a red can still have a moment. But a nervous skier here gets a good deal of help from the mountain.
The second is that it is not short of a top end. There are 17 kilometres of black, the second most of any Italian resort we cover, and 54 kilometres of blue and easier, also the second most. Only 18 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against 26 at the median resort we cover, but the strong skier in a family group is not left with nothing to do. Gentle where it is gentle, with real black on top: that balance is what makes it work for mixed groups.
The size needs no asterisk, either. The ski area is 155 kilometres, all three sectors joined by lift, and around the village itself we measure 115, almost exactly the median of the 55 resorts we cover.
The one soft spot is the snow. Sixty one percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, and the skiing tops out at 2,496 metres, which sits right on the edge of what we would call snow sure. Every route below has more of its skiing above 1,800 metres.
Val Gardena: if it is the gentle Dolomite skiing, on a bigger map
- VillageVillage
- 1,563 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,518 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 500 km about, our sum
Val Gardena: 145 km of piste we measure. 42 km blue and easier 29%87 km red 60%16 km black 11%
If the skiing is what you love, the long, kind, well kept runs under pale limestone, Val Gardena is the same thing with the Sellaronda attached. It is a classic Dolomite valley, and the village sits at 1,563 metres, 13 above yours. At the door, nothing changes.
On the piste it is gentler on every measure we hold. Only 13 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, against your 18, and only one of the 55 resorts we cover has a smaller share. Its reds average 17.3 percent, among the five gentlest of the 55, against your 19.7, and its blues 12.8 against 12.9. And the top end survives the move: 16 kilometres of black, against your 17.
It is much bigger. Val Gardena's own sector is 175 kilometres, and we measure 145 around the village, the second most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. From a base on the Sellaronda, around 500 kilometres is reachable by lift, which is our own approximate sum rather than a published number. The 1,200 printed on the Dolomiti Superski pass covers twelve areas, and only four of them join up.
It is snow sure on our test, where Madonna sits on the edge: 66 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, against your 61, and the lifts reach 2,731 metres, measured. That call leans on the top of the lifts, though. The highest piste we measure is at 2,480 metres, 20 short of our 2,500 metre line and a little under Madonna's 2,496, so on the piste alone the two sit on the same edge.
The trade is the polish. We class Val Gardena as traditional and scenic rather than upmarket, woodcarving is on its list of what it does best, and we do not tag it as a family resort. The map is redder, too, with 42 kilometres of blue and easier against your 54, though by the gradient its reds are kinder than yours.
Cortina d'Ampezzo: if it is the style, with more height at the top
- VillageVillage
- 1,224 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,939 m
Cortina d'Ampezzo: 86 km of piste we measure. 38 km blue and easier 45%38 km red 45%9 km black 11%
Plus 9 km of marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste total.
If what you love is the style and the long lunch, Cortina is the other Italian answer. It is stylish and scenic by our read, upmarket like Madonna, with style and long lunches on its list of what it does best, Dolomite drama all round, and it hosted the 2026 Games.
It has more height where it helps the snow. The lifts reach 3,028 metres, measured, 532 above Madonna's top, and the highest piste we measure is at 2,724 metres, 228 above it. Sixty seven percent of the piste is above 1,800 metres, against your 61, and the piste top alone clears our 2,500 metre line. That makes it snow sure on our test. The village, though, is at 1,224 metres, 326 below yours.
The trade is the gentleness and the family feel. A quarter of Cortina's piste is steeper than one in four, against your 18 percent. Its blues average 15.3 against your 12.9, and its reds 21.9 against 19.7. There are 9 kilometres of black against your 17, and we class it as upmarket but not as a family resort. It is smaller on the doorstep, too: we measure 86 kilometres around the town, against 115 around Madonna. We do not quote a ski area figure for Cortina, because we have not confirmed what the published one covers.
But it is a different shape of week. The skiing is spread across separate mountains rather than one linked area, and we measure about 106 kilometres around the town, against 115 around Madonna, where all 155 are joined by lift. It is steeper, with blues averaging 16.4 against your 12.9 and 30 kilometres of blue and easier against your 54. Go for the town and the height, not the cruising.
Crans-Montana: if it is the smart family week, in Switzerland
- VillageVillage
- 1,500 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,000 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 140 km
Crans-Montana: 85 km of piste we measure. 22 km blue and easier 26%50 km red 59%13 km black 15%
Crans-Montana is the closest Swiss match to Madonna we measure, and it keeps both halves of the week. It is sunny and smart by our read and a family resort, with sunshine, golf and spa, and families on its list. The village sits at 1,500 metres, 50 below yours.
What it adds is snow. Seventy nine percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, against your 61, and the skiing reaches 2,868 metres, measured, so it is snow sure on our test. The ski area is one linked area of 140 kilometres, a figure three independent sources agree on to the kilometre, against your 155.
By the gradient it skis much like home. Its reds average 19.2 percent against your 19.7, its blues 13.3 against 12.9, and 36 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, exactly your share. A little more of it is steep: 22 percent steeper than one in four, against 18.
The trade is the blue. Crans-Montana is 59 percent red, with 22 kilometres of blue and easier, among the five lowest of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 54. On average those reds are as kind as yours, but a beginner has fewer runs to choose from, and a child who reads the piste map will notice. There are 13 kilometres of black against your 17, and we measure 85 kilometres around the village against 115.
So, which one
the skiing is what you love and you want more of it, with more snow under it, and you can give up the gloss.
Alta Badia if it is the family week and the lunch, and nobody needs much black.
the style is the point and your group is happy on steeper runs.
St. Moritz if height and glamour matter more than one linked area.
you want the smart family week with more snow, and the children are past needing a lot of blue.
It keeps the village height, the Dolomites, the kind runs and almost all of the black, and it adds the Sellaronda and a better snow line. What you give up is the polish.