Sestriere introduction
General information
Sestriere, an alpine village of Italy, is located near the city of Turin and is 17 kilometers from France’s border. The elevation of Sestriere is 2035 meters. It is one of the villages comprising the ‘Milky Way’ skiing area. It is a popular skiing resort. In the winters, it becomes overcrowded with around 20,000 people who come in for skiing thrill. Sestriere has a floodlit run for facilitating skiing at night also. Besides skiing, Sestriere also provides facility for indoor sports like tennis, basketball, and gyms as well as saunas and beauty services. For outdoor activities, Sestriere facilitates the tourists to enjoy the paragliding and snowmobiling. Moreover there is a 500 meter toboggan run also. It also has some great hiking trails for the mountain walkers and provides special lift tickets.
Winter activities
Sestriere is a great skiing resort. It is a part of the 249 miles long skiing area known as the ‘Milky Way’. Some magnificent views can be observed while riding on the lifts. Sestriere also facilitates night skiing and has a 1.400 long lit-up run. Cross country skiing can also be enjoyed in Sestriere on a 6 miles long loop located near the town. There are several rest houses and restaurant along this loop. Tourists can also enjoy the snowboarding sports in Sestriere, even though there are no special trails and lifts for the snowboarders. Any one not interested in skiing can avail the various other activities like snowmobiling on an enclosed track or into the backcountry. Moreover there is an ice skating rink. Furthermore, snow hiking can be taken up by the tourist. Ice climbing is another winter activity but for the experts only.
Summer activities
Sestriere has magnificent landscapes to enjoy during the summers. There are many activities to enjoy in summer like horse riding, trekking, mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, tennis, basketball, and especially golf. Sestriere has one of the highest 18-hole golf course in the world namely the Vialattea Golf Club. It was built in 1930s and is 4,955 meters long. Moreover, there are many gyms, beauty services, and saunas, etc. if one needs to be pampered. Sestriere also has a cinema for the summer time.
Other information
Sestriere is one of the highest resorts of Europe. It was purposely built altitude ski village. Sestriere is the main resort of the Milky Way skiing area and regularly hosts the Alpine Ski World Cup events. In 1997, Sestriere hosted the World Championships; in 2006, it hosted the men's alpine skiing competitions of Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympics. Sestriere is the arrival point for the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. There are two hotels in Sestriere which were built in 1930s by Giovanni Agnelli the founder of FIAT. One of these hotels was a part of the Olympic Village. These hotels have become a symbol of the village. Moreover, Sestriere has the world’s highest golf course too.