Experience the best of Livigno & Bormio

Livigno and Bormio lie in the high Alps of northern Lombardy, near the Swiss border and about 40 kilometres apart by road. Livigno, at over 1,800 metres, fills a long, high valley beside a reservoir and has a special tax-free status that makes it a shopping stop as well as a ski resort. Bormio, lower down at about 1,200 metres, is an old town of stone towers and narrow streets, with a medieval clock tower and natural hot springs.

Both are ski towns, with long runs and snow parks in winter and mountain-bike trails and high passes in summer. Bormio's steep Stelvio run is a famous downhill course. The Stelvio Pass, one of the highest paved roads in the Alps at 2,757 metres, climbs from the valley in a long series of hairpins, and Stelvio National Park spreads across the surrounding peaks and glaciers.

The food of the Valtellina is built for cold weather: pizzoccheri, buckwheat noodles with cabbage, potatoes and melted cheese, bresaola, cured beef, and sciatt, fried buckwheat fritters filled with cheese. Red wines come from steep terraced vineyards lower down the valley. Snow lies from December to April, and the long summer days are for hiking.