An Italian Christmas (2025)

When deciding how to spend Christmas in 2025, we were initially debating between spending time with our extended family in Madeira, having Christmas at my parents’ new place in the Algarve, or skiing in the Alps, but given that Chilli, my parent’s dog, wouldn’t be able to come to Madeira, and we’d all spent two weeks in November in the Algarve for my dad’s birthday, we quickly settled on skiing in the Alps. Italy was then the clear winner since it has the best food!

Therefore, for Christmas in 2025, my family decided to go skiing in the Italian Alps. Although I’d already been skiing in Italy earlier in the year with my brother, my parents hadn’t yet been.

Christmas Eve

I was working until 23rd December, leaving us only one day to get from London to Italy. This meant a 3:30am wake up call and a Eurotunnel crossing at 6:22am, getting us to France at 8am (French time). Because we were taking all of our ski clothes, presents, and everything that Chilli required for the holiday, we ended up taking two cars. My brother and I were in his car, which each of us alternating between the driver and passenger seats every two hours. My parents were doing the same in their car, and since we’ve all driven across France and Italy previously, we all felt comfortable driving, which made the day feel much less laborious. That said, I did end up napping for a few hours when I was in the passenger seat as I’d gotten very little sleep the night before.

We also had to make a quick stop at a “Bip&Go” shop as we’d left one of our devices in London, which allow you to go through the pay tolls without stopping, and paying it all automatically, which reduces a lot of the faff. By the early evening, we’d made it to the Fréjus Tunnel, which would get us into Italy and only 15 minutes away from the hotel we’d be staying in, but were yet to see any snow on the ground. Nonetheless, we went into the tunnel, and when we reemerged, it was suddenly snowing a lot. The hotel was still a 15-minute drive away, which we quickly discovered would consist of climbing up the mountain via a sequence of hairpin turns, followed by attempting to park on the mountain in slippery conditions with very limited visibility. It was quite the adventure! My brother’s car is a sporty two-seater, so despite making it to the top of the mountain, he got stuck whilst attempting to park, so whilst the boys figured out how and where to park the cars, my mum and I checked into the hotel. We’d specifically chosen to stay in Bardonecchia due to the town’s proximity to the motorway and the ski-in, ski-out hotel.

After we arrived at the hotel and got settled in, it was time for dinner. The hotel was putting on a festive buffet dinner, and after learning that Chilli could join us in the restaurant, the five of us came down and enjoyed the meal. The highlight of my evening however was seeing Chilli in his little snow boots, as he looked like he was learning to walk for the first time, but as soon as he was in the snow he took like a duck to water.

Christmas Day

I slept quite badly but managed to cuddle Chilli in the morning, and once everyone else was awake we headed downstairs for breakfast. Many people were in their holiday pyjamas, which was wholesome, but since we had arrived late and the hotel only offered a buffet breakfast, it was slim pickings.

Nonetheless, my main aim that morning was to pick up our skis and head straight to the slopes, both of which were abutting the hotel, so made life much easier. The slopes around the hotel were all red runs, which my brother and I are more than comfortable with, so we were very excited to get back into it and pick up speed. A huge positive was that there were very few others skiing at that time, so the slopes were all ours and it was actively snowing, meaning the slopes were great to ski down.

We had a great morning of skiing, and then headed back to the hotel for our Christmas lunch. The menu included various appetisers, starters, mains, and desserts, however what we hadn’t realised was that we were getting every single one! This meant that our Christmas lunch ended up being a 13-course meal, except unlike with other tasting menus, the portion sizes here weren't particularly small. As soon as I clocked on, I started having just one or two bites of each course, but by the time the last main came out, there was no way I could even attempt it. A lot of tables were slowly emptying, as they were clearly satisfied enough, and even though by the end we were just waiting for the coffees, as opposed to dessert, the waiters were all very busy so service was slowing down. Since the meal had already been three hours long and it seemed like we’d be waiting a while for dessert/coffee, we instead decided to head back to our rooms to chill. Unsurprisingly, this turned into a nap.

Once we all woke up, it was time to open some presents! Despite leaving some of my big presents at home, I still managed to bring a fair few presents, some of which came in handy, including a board game, a Lego set, and ski socks! We then walked Chonky (aka Chilli) in the snow, which was so fun to see as he loved the snow and couldn’t decide whether to jump in it or eat it. We then headed to the bar for some drinks and dominoes (a must in any Fernandes Christmas), before heading up to play our new board game together. This was especially exciting as my parents aren’t big on board games but made the effort for me and my brother. It was a wonderful day and actually felt like Christmas (whereas otherer ski holidays in the Alps have sometimes felt less Christmassy since they tend to have their main festive meal on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day itself).

My Birthday (aka Boxing Day)

For those who don’t know, my birthday is on Boxing Day, which I’ve often been told that most people would hate, but I personally love. I awoke to my family wishing my a happy birthday and presents, which I opened straight away. After breakfast, my parents went to ski whilst my brother and I walked Chonk. The hotel was located on the middle of a mountain, with public access to the town via a gondola, and since we were planning on going to the town that afternoon, we decided to do a test run with Chilli since he’d never been on a gondola before. Safe to say, he didn’t immediately like it. He was excited to get on, but as soon as he realised he had to enter whilst it was moving, he tried to back up, which wasn't ideal. That said, from thereafter he made it in and out of the gondola with no issues!

Once we’d walked Chilli, we met the parents in the lobby, only to discover that they’d decided not to ski and were having a coffee instead! Therefore, my brother and I immediately put our skis on to make the most of the fresh snow. It was still actively snowing and everything was covered in a layer of snow, so looked gorgeous. We’d gotten back into the swing of things by this point and I felt very confident, so could enjoy zooming down the mountain and getting an adrenaline rush, which I absolutely loved. I had a great time and felt very content by the time we called it in the late morning.

We then played cards in the bar, before taking the gondola down to the town to pick up my boyfriend. My boyfriend had spent Christmas Day with his family in the north of Italy, before taking three trains over to Bardonecchia to join my family on my birthday, which worked perfectly! He was arriving at lunchtime, so we headed to the train station to pick him up and then wentstraight for lunch in the town centre. We managed to get a table at Sorsi e Morsi and each enjoyed a proper Italian pizza, before exploring the town a bit and finding a patisserie to buy my birthday cake. Since I’d baked a lot of cakes throughout December, I decided on a mini cheesecake each instead.

Despite having snowed since we'd arrived, for my boyfriend’s arrival the sun decided to make an appearance, so the mountains looked even more glorious in their snow-covered forms against the blue backdrop. Once we headed back to the hotel, we booked a ski lesson for my boyfriend and sorted out his skis, before enjoying a hot chocolate in the hotel lobby. It was the late afternoon by this point, and there was a glass igloo outside which was empty and had seating, so we headed over there to sing happy birthday and enjoy our cheesecakes! It was very wholesome and sweet, and the view of the mountains was gorgeous.

Before dinner, we walked Chilli, and as it was already dark and the clouds had cleared, all of the stars were visible, which was magical! I then opened all of my birthday presents (and some Christmas presents from my boyfriend’s family), and I felt so incredibly seen and loved by all of my friends and family; all of the gifts were very “me” and included board games, crafts, and experiences.

We then got dressed up and headed for dinner, and then spent the evening playing board games and dominoes together, before heading to bed. It was one of my favourite birthdays and I felt very special and even more grateful than usual for the people around me.

27th December

We woke up fairly early since my boyfriend had a ski lesson at 9am, and my brother and I wanted to get to the slopes as soon as they opened for the fresh snow. Despite a lot of joking around that my boyfriend would be taken to the magic carpet, this ended up being his reality, and we assumed that he’d then be taken across the town to the blue slopes to get comfy with skiing again.

Meanwhile, my brother and I decided to try some slopes higher up the mountain which we hadn’t yet tried. They ended up being wide and fresh, and we loved them, especially as no one else was there at that time so we had the slopes all to ourselves again. We did a few different runs, and had two events occur: the first was that my brother absolutely decked it at one point, ending up on the floor with one ski on his foot and the other upright in the snow; the second event was that we ended up crashing into each other on the two-seater chairlift, which we quickly sorted out and cracked us up, but the operators didn’t even bat an eyelid. One huge pro about this day was that we could actually see the surface of the slopes as the sun was out and it wasn’t snowing, whereas on the previous two days it had been snowing a lot and there was low visibility, so we couldn’t actually make out the texture of the snow and any clumps or patches of ice dotted about (although nowhere near as bad as in Livigno in February).

After a couple of hours, my brother wanted a break but I still had energy, so I did another run or two, and imagine my surprise when I look down from the chairlift only to see my boyfriend on the red slope below, and then run into him again later on my favourite slope (a narrow, tree-lined slope down the mountain which was very picturesque)! I was shocked that despite only having two lessons in his life, he was already doing reds, but I was very proud and excited to ski with him. Once my boyfriend had finished his lesson, we all met up in the hotel lobby, and to our surprise he was keen to ski some more as he’d been loving it, so my brother and I joined him on the red slopes, which was so much fun, and we took many a video.

We then headed into the town (via the gondola) for lunch at Caropepe, a Sicilian restaurant, where I enjoyed arancini, lasagna, and cannoli. My boyfriend and I then did another run, however the terrain was much less enjoyable as by that time the pace had picked up and the slopes were much busier, meaning the slopes were more carved out and had slightly more moguls.

We spent the evening napping and reading, before heading for dinner in the hotel and enjoying a drink in the bar. It was a much-needed relaxing evening after a big day of skiing.

28th December

As had become customary, we had an early breakfast, aiming to get the first runs on the slope whilst the snow was still fresh. Unfortunately, following my brother’s fall the previous day, he was quite sore and wasn’t wanting to ski, however my dad decided to take his place instead, which was a pleasant surprise!

My dad, my boyfriend, and I spent the morning skiing together down the red slopes, including those at the very top of the mountain, and my boyfriend got quicker and quicker as the morning progressed, until he was eventually getting down the slopes even faster than my dad! I tried out a couple of new slopes and I learnt that you could add alpine skiing to Strava, so I entertained myself with that for a while to see how fast I was going (only 33kmph on those runs, but I felt like I was zooming). The slopes were perfect and all three of us loved it, although the crowds did start to build as the morning went on (which is always the case by 28th December as people tend to spend Christmas at home with their loved ones and then ski for a couple of days before returning to work).

My boyfriend and I then decided to enjoy the swimming pool and hot tub in the hotel as we hadn’t yet been and I was excited for a swim, and then we headed back to Caropepe in the town for lunch. This time I had pasta alla Norma, and I absolutely loved it! My boyfriend and I then did another couple of runs in the afternoon, before returning our skis for the trip.

We spent the evening relaxing and packing our things, ready to leave the following morning.

29th December

My favourite thing each morning before breakfast was seeing Chilli in the snow at sunrise, playing with the other dogs staying in the hotel, and especially the other Golden Retriever, Gustavo, who was the manager’s dog. He absolutely loved making friends and playing with them in the snow, which was a delight to watch.

This was a travel day, which for us meant making it down the now icy mountain back to the motorway and across France all the way to the UK. We took turns driving in the same fashion as we had coming down, however my brother decided to take us on a little detour via Belgium to a restaurant called “Ribs and Beer”, famed for its bottomless spare ribs, which was decent but not worth the additional hour of driving in my humble opinion.

The drive was chilled and unproblematic, but by the time we arrived in London I was absolutely exhausted and I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow (at around 11pm). I absolutely loved our white Christmas, and it was even more special that my boyfriend was able to join for my birthday; I felt very loved and grateful.