RushBijoux

Hi,

As the title says, I need suggestions for hiking trails that is not crowded in late July. Some of the replies to my earlier posts have suggested that there are hiking trails that are quite comfortable (in terms of crowds and temperature) in late July. I'm thinking Switzerland, France, or Italy.

Any suggestions? I really don't mind less popular spots but hopefully they are as beautiful and also appreciate places that are reachable by public transport. (I try not to drive but I will if I have to).

Thanks!

RushBijoux

Additional info: I want the hike to be a leisurely one, not a serious hike to the summit for serious hikers. Basically, I'm bound to my office desk in my daily life and so I'd like to move as much as I can while enjoying the different surroundings when on holiday.

MmePerdu

What I believe you mean by leisurely hiking, after months spent at it in France and England, I've been taught to call walking. Some call it rambling and I love it just about more than anything. The best place I know and why I keep going back, is the UK. France is good too, but not as good as England. My suggestion would be that you consider it.

How do you envision your walks? Circular, beginning and ending at the same place in a day? Or going for some days and staying overnight along the way? Also, do you want to walk over hill & dale or do you prefer flatter terrain? I can make more specific suggestions in both countries if I know more about what you have in mind.

sandralist

Valle d'Aosta.

You can get there by train, but once you are there it is nice to have a car, which you can rent in the lovely town of Aosta. But you can get by without one if you prefer.

There are easy day hikes, or you can do just a portion of some multi-day treks. I'm not recommending these tour companies in the links, but just giving you pictures and lists of the sort of hiking/trekking available

http://www.aosta-valley.co.uk/discov...vity/trekking/

http://www.lovevda.it/en/sport/trekk...day-excursions

http://www.italia.it/en/travel-ideas...s-castles.html

http://www.mostlywalking.com/ItalyPa...ite/index.html

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/famou...aly-56166.html

There is also the opportunity for the multi-stage cable car rides around Montebiano (Mt Blanc), but in July you will definitely be around other tourists (and likewise if you take the hikes with views of the Matterhorn)

http://www.montebianco.com/

But basically, in late July, if you go to the rural valleys like the Valgrisenche or the Rhemes-Notre Dame, you will have wasy strolls through flower meadows with cows and few other people.

http://www.granparadisonatura.vda.it/home/menu/2/1

RushBijoux

Hi MmePerdu, ah yes, it's walking. I prefer the former i.e. beginning & ending at the same place in the same day. I believe you call it a day hike. I guess it's not much hiking as it is going out to walk around and enjoy the nature, really. Maybe not so much slopes, more flower meadows and cows like sandralist mentioned.

sandralist, you've mentioned valle d'aosta several times yet I only take notice now, I don't know why. It seems like a great place with all the parks and hills, there's an opportunity to see the snow-capped alps as well, and looks to me the night sky will be beautiful.

However, I understand it's an area and I'm having trouble to find articles on how to get there. I imagine I'll be flying to Milan and then continue by train. Also, where should we base ourselves if we want to explore valle d'aosta?

WeisserTee

The area in and around Gstaad is full of easy day hikes and, unlike some parts of the Berner Oberland, most of it will be relatively uncrowded at that time of year. In addition, there will be many cafes and restaurants open so you can stop for a break as needed (or wanted!). Not to mention all the spa hotels where you can arrange a massage to soothe your sore muscles. Finally, if you happen to be there during a day that's just too hot for walking, there are some large, public swimming pools in beautiful settings where you can get some exercise and cool off at the same time.

Many hotels offer hiking packages -- special rates for a week or several days and individually tailored hiking advice (some included free guided hikes). The area is very well served by public transport, so if you decide to go for a long day hike, it won't be a problem finding a train or bus to take you back to home base.

sandralist

Regarding the Valle d'Aosta, you can make your way by train from Milan's airports in about 4 hours last time I checked. I think there are also a few buses, but where you get them in Milan, I'm not sure. If you aren't doing this already, you might want to register for the forums on the TripAdvisor website because there are some Italians who post there who know a lot about the public transport connections out of Milan, and probably are also familiar with many nice destinations and places to stay in the valle d'Aosta, and give you guidance about avoiding summrtime crowds.

But I can generally say that if you want to be in a town with lots of cafes, restaurants, and even the opportunity for outdoor concerts and events in summer, then stay in the town of Aosta itself and either use public transportation (buses, trains, taxis and cable cars) to get to nearby rural walking trails, or rent a car. (If you rent a car and want to use the town of Aosta as a base, you probably want to pick lodgings in the town of Aosta with a guarantee of parking).

But also be aware that the town of Aosta will get considerable daytime tourist action, and that the easiest scenic hikes/walks reachable by public transportaion will have tourist action too. If you prefer something quieter, you can pick another town/village along the train line (like Pre St Didier or Morgex), which have fewer restaurants and cafes but still have things like post offices and shops with variety, so they will still get daytime tourists flowing through for supplies.

Or, you can slip into one of pretty valleys, either by bus, taxi or rental car from the train line, and then go for fairly lonely walks to your heart's content. There are often delicious places to eat in the tinier valley villages, here and there, but otherwise you need to be able to amuse yourself and be a tireless admirer of beautiful scenery and listening to cow bells, because that's all there is (unless you have a car to go visit castles).

When I stayed in the area, with a rental car, I hopped around a bit. I particularly enjoyed not only the town of Aosta, but also the villages of Lillaz and Planeval, and also a marvelous wine-producing agriturismo called Le Vrille, which is near Verrayes (which has a train station) and is reachable by a short taxi ride into the hills. When I visted the towns with the easiest access to Montebianco, like Le Thuile, they were much more developed for tourism (including motorcyclists in summer) and town gateway to the Gran Paradiso national park, called Cogne, is also a tourist depot. So if you are going to go to the trouble of moving beyond the town of Aosta and off the train line, you might want to pick a simple village or agriturismo, rather than a town with several dozen hotels.

Agreed it is tough to find out info and TripAdvisor might be your best bet for public transportation options. If you do decide to rent a car, the valley driving is really very easy, and you don't have to go over the mountain passes unless you want to (I avoided them, mainly because of motorcyclists making faces at me when they passed me in droves).

sandralist

Sorry for my typo: the village is spelled Planaval, in the Valgrisenche. I didn't stay in these place but they have nice pictures and info that represent what's on offer if you stay in a rural valley like this:

http://www.lajoliebergere.com

http://www.hotelperret.com/Summer_3_0_227.aspx

sandralist

So here's another link with nice pictures for an agriturismo in Lillaz, only a few kilometers from Cogne, which you can reach without a car from Aosta by bus. Then it is only a short navette or taxi ride to Lillaz. The village has a nearby multi-tiered waterfall, so lots of people come to see that during the day, but it is a sweet town with lots of other walks and hikes, and delicious food.

http://letoiledubergerlillaz.it/photos/

sandralist

(But you might also check out villages just north of the town of Aosta in the like Ollomont -- where I've never been but which I've heard is pretty and you don't need a car. I think there are big cow festivals in summer which attract people:

http://tangoitalia.com/valledaosta/ollomont/

bilboburgler

a wander down the Mosel can be nice

neckervd

Aosta Valley is a jewel.
Gressoney, Courmayeur, Valtournenche-Breuil have many cableways which make it easy to hike at high altitudes.

Access:
direct bus or indirect train (change at Busto Arsizio FNM) from Malpensa airport to Novara, train from there to Chivasso (change) - Ivrea (change) - Pont St. Martin - Chatillon - Aosta
or
bus or train from Malpensa airport to Novara, taxi to SAVDA bus stop, bus to Pont. St. Martin - Chatillon - Aosta
or
bus from Milan Malpensa airport to Milano Fiera - metro to Milan Lampugnano bus station - direct bus to Novara - Pont St. Martin - Chatillon - Aosta
or
bus from Geneva airport to Chamonix (change) - Courmayeur (Valle d'Aosta)
or
train from Zurich airport dp 14.40 to Visp (change) - Martigny (change to bus) - Aosta ar 20.20 (only once daily).

July is fine for Aosta Valley; in August however, everything will be extremely crowded (Italian school holidays).

BTW: there are more than 60,000 kms well signarked hiking trails in Switzerland too; less than 1 per cent of them (usually those mentioned in this forum) can get crowded.

neckervd

Aosta is a transport hub. From the Autostazione and from the railway station (just beside), you can easily reach all areas ot the province.
Sleep in the pedestrain zone of the charming old city (but be aware that in summer, it might be difficult to sleep before midnight even without road traffic, as many people stay and chat in the street restaurants until they close).

Ollomont-Vaud-Valpelline, etc:
Nice places, but the real gems of the area (Lakes of Cormet, Clusaz, Litaz, Beseyaz, Thoules, Fenetre, Mort, Mont Rouge, Long, Livourneyaz, etc. as well as the Alpine Club Huts Giorgio e Renzo, Adolfo Letey, Chiarella, Crete Seche, etc.) are about 1000m and more above these villages and there are no cableways which help you to reach these altitudes.

MmePerdu

If you're still considering other locales, of late I've been walking the countryside in France & England along waterways. They are excellent places for some solitude, no possibility of getting lost, the terrain is flat to mild inclines with the added interest of towns & villages, passing boats and locks along canals, or castles and other sights if you choose your walk for that possibility. I've walked them long-distance but they can just as well be day trips, public transport to & from or, in a pinch a taxi ride from trains and buses. I'll be doing more of the Thames Path in the spring.

Some of my blogs:

http://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/gall...ing-in-england

http://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/walk...amp-avon-canal

http://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/walk...rgundy-canal-1

Melinda Lusmore's blog:

http://ilovewalkinginfrance.com/5-re...along-a-canal/

sandralist

When I was in Aosta, I spotted this well-situated hotel which is right near the ancient Roman bridge, which puts it just a few dozen steps outisde the pedestrianised streets of the pretty city, with all the cafes, and really very quiet. (Plus the Roman bridge is lovely).

This is the hotel, which is simple like most hotels/agriturismi in the area. I have not stayed here, however, so am recommending only that you look up reviews:

http://www.hotelcecchin.com/camere

I am glad neckrvd showed up to fine tune specific destinations, although I am still unclear if all the places mentioned are reachable by public transport from the town of Aosta, or whether they are being recommended for day trips, or as places to stay. You may eventually decide to go someplace else, but as you noted earlier, it is not easy to find information online about this spectacular area of Italy, so its useful to have details here for other people searching in the future.

RushBijoux

Thank you, all!

Valle D'Aosta sounds like a dream but I think it requires more research and prep work as it is a little bit secluded. 6 months seems inadequate to prepare for such trip. I've decided to put Valle D'Aosta on hold, hopefully we get to visit soon.