 Fringed
by Europe's highest mountains, Mont Blanc, the
Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, veined with valleys and
studded with castles, Valle d'Aosta is undeniably
picturesque. The central Aosta valley cuts right across
the region, following the River Dora to the foot of Mont
Blanc on the French border. Along the river are most of
the feudal castles for which Valle d'Aosta is famed -
the majority built by the Challant family, who ruled the
region for seven centuries. Although the castles are
pretty from the outside, and easily accessible by bus or
train, few are absorbing enough to warrant a special
trip into the region. But as skiing and walking country,
Valle d'Aosta is unsurpassed.
Valle d'Aosta is the least Italian of all the regions.
Its landscape and architecture are Swiss, the official
language French, and in some valleys the locals, whose
ancestors emigrated from Switzerland, still speak a
dialect based on German. In fact, although Italian is
more widely spoken than French, bilingualism is an
essential part of Valle d'Aosta's identity, which is
quite distinct from other parts of the north - a
distinctiveness reflected in its greater administrative
and financial autonomy.
Aosta, the regional capital, is the only town of any
size and, with its attractive cobbled streets and good
shopping, it makes an excellent staging post on the way
to the smaller mountain resorts. As for the countryside,
the main valley is for the most part rather bland, and
it's in the more scenic tributary valleys that you'll
want to spend most of your time. The eastern valleys are
the most touristed, with ski resorts and narrow, winding
roads that can get choked with holiday traffic. If
you're walking, you're best off heading for the valleys
in the west, inside the protected zone of Italy's
largest national park, the Gran Paradiso. The valleys
here can also be busy - the mountain rifugi as well as
the hotels get packed in summer - but development is
restrained.
Getting around on public transport demands patience.
Buses run from Piemonte along the main valley past most
of the castles, but buses into many of the tributary
valleys are rare. The road branches off at Aosta into
Switzerland via the Grand-St-Bernard Pass (where you can
stop to take clichéd photos of the famous dogs) and
forks again some 30km further west at Pré-St-Didier:
both branches run into France - the southern via the
Petit-St-Bernard Pass to Chambéry, the northern to
Chamonix through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Because of the
border posts, the road is much used by long-distance
lorries, which are something of an earache and eyesore.
Trains are less regular and run only as far as Pré-St-Didier,
but by using a combination of the two, you can get just
about everywhere, though for serious exploration of the
quieter valleys, your own vehicle is a definite
advantage.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT
www.italiamia.com
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