Cervinia is neighbour to the famous Swiss mountain town of Zermatt - set just across the Swiss-Italian border, on the other side of the Matterhorn, you can ski in both resorts on the same lift pass.

Cervinia is by far the less glamorous of the two. But although it will never win a beauty contest, it does have the better slopes and better quality snow. The views of the Matterhorn are stunning, too.

Most of Cervinia's skiing is contained in a vast bowl that opens out beneath the great spike of the Matterhorn, and its more bulbous neighbour, the Klein Matterhorn. Here, between 2000 and 3480m, the terrain is mostly gentle and rolling, and is home to some gorgeous slopes- notably "Red 7", which drops through 8km and 1400 vertical meters, and is widely regarded as the best red-rated run on the planet. Ski it on a sunny morning, when it's been freshly-groomed and you'll probably agree.