Why We Shared Italy's Best Kept Secret
... And will we regret it now everyone can see Val di Susa on A New Life in the Sun on Channel 4?!?
Believe it or not, we didn’t initially jump at the chance to have a production company follow us round with cameras for the past year. We actually turned down a couple of opportunities, before the team from ANLITS got in touch.
So, why did we finally decide to do it?
Well, because we’ve chosen to make this place our forever home. It’s stunning, winter & summer, and now we’ve started Monsguide – Your Expert Guide To The Mountains, and opened The Hideaway Apartments, we wanted to showcase what’s on offer here, and actively promote the area to a whole new group of holidaymakers.
The area is popular with Italians, and the Brits know the area for skiing… but summer tourism from Britain and Ireland to Val di Susa is almost non-existent.
On the one hand, that’s awesome - no crowded hiking trails, no queues of cars through the town centre, it’s easy to grab a table for lunch. But, on the other hand, it feels like a sin to not share this region with you all, and actively promote tourism here -
The climate is great (hot, but with fresh mountain air and none of the humidity of a normal Italian summer).
The scenery is stunning (huge mountains, lush forests. Hell, half the valley is a designated National Park, with all the flora & fauna to boot).
It’s super reasonably priced for everything from food & drinks, to activities and excursions.
And, it’s an hour from an international airport, with great public transport links.
But the main reason we agreed to A New Life in the Sun filming with us, was because we’ve been welcomed with open arms, and supported, by so many other small business owners, who are striving make the area an incredible destination for both those who live here, and the tourists who love to visit each year.
So if, as new members of the community, we could play a part in showcasing all this place has to offer, then we decided to throw ourselves in, wholeheartedly.
And we knew that if saying ‘yes’ to the cameras following us around for a year would help to promote the other incredible small businesses in the area, it would be worth the added stress & long days!*
We really hope we’ve managed to achieve this, with the episodes that have been shown so far. Let us know what you think in the comments!
*The cameramen were absolute babes, and made the whole thing as easy as possible, but it definitely isn’t simple to have your life filmed while you’re desperately trying to build a house and build a business!
The Who’s Who Of Sauze d’Oulx
I suppose for those of you who don’t know us, I should introduce Ash & I here, and share some details about our businesses.
Ash started Monsguide – Your Expert Guide To The Mountains, because learning to ski changed his life (yes, he wasn’t always the snowboarder you see today!) and he has a dream of helping as many people as possible have the best possible experience in the mountains.
Across Europe, he’s managed to secure, and pass onto customers, the best possible prices on ski equipment hire, airport transfers and lessons, and (when he’s not building apartments) he’s working day & night to add even more offers to the website.
In Sauze d’Oulx he’s got even more on offer, partnering with our favourite bars and restaurants on the Sauze d’Oulx Discount Card, and running a weekly Ski Away Day to Montgenèvre in France.
And while he’s been doing all that, I’ve been doing all the behind the scenes stuff to make sure The Hideaway Holiday Apartments are open for business.
We’re fully booked until almost the end of this winter season, but if you want to squeeze in a final ski trip before the lifts stop, we have a couple of weeks available right at the end of March.
And, if we’ve convinced you to swap your beach holiday for the mountains, I’m super happy to announce that we’ve just started taking bookings for summer 2025.
But if we’re not available, then give Sauze Stayz a call!
In Episode 17 , Sophie, from Sauze Stayz made a guest appearance. She’s been an absolute godsend, helping us out with all the Italian bureaucracy needed to get a holiday apartment up and running.
Sauze Stayz look after dozens of apartments all around Sauze d’Oulx, so if our Hideaway Apartments aren’t available for the dates you want, or you’re looking for something different than what we offer, contact Sophie, and she’ll help find the perfect place that’s just right for you.
Also, sidenote - A massive shout out to Radical, a company making the amazing garms for a tonne of Sauze d’Oulx’s small businesses, and donating 10% to mental health charities… maybe you’ll be seeing some Monsguide / Hideaway / Radical mash-up merch in the not-too-distant future!
The other business I want to shout out today is Total Team Susa.
If you watched episode 19, you’ll have seen our neighbour, Matteo from Total Team, who filled our summer holidays with super fun activities.
Total Team Susa organize amazing excursions, summer and winter in Sauze d’Oulx and the surrounding areas. From e-biking to snow shoeing, wildlife photography treks to aperitivo under the stars, they offer a programme full of activities that are great for all the family.
We were lucky enough to do some e-biking, followed by a guided hike with Luca, followed by lunch on the mountain. Sharing his knowledge of the local area really made it a really special trip, and it was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with him learning more about the history of our hometown and the wildlife that lives here.
I’d highly recommend checking them out, especially if you’re here in winter and want to do something a little bit different: snowshoeing up to a mountain hut under the stars, for a mountain feast is such an awesome experience!
We really hope that by appearing on A New Life in the Sun, we’ve managed to highlight some of the amazing places and people in the Val di Susa and, perhaps, convinced a few of you that a summer holiday here is a great idea!
Next time, I’m going to share more about Cervinia, the place we lived & worked before moving to Val di Susa and shown in episode 20, but in the meantime, if you want to read more about the small business Monsguide are working with in Cervinia, you can by clicking right here.