zeppole

I'm posting this trip report because I realized people may not realize just how easy it is to travel from the Italian Riviera or Milan to Europe's highest alps, either by train or car. In addition to offering breathtaking, colorful scenery, with views and cable car rides around Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and more, the valle d'Aosta has important Roman monuments, medieval castles, exceptional Christian art and history, unique vineyards, unque flowers, unique flavors, and tiny towns that enjoy a traditional way of life, immersed in nature. At the same time, it enjoys a very high standard of living, and its mountain peaks and thermal waters have many high-end spa resorts with designer shopping. During summer, the Valle d'Aosta has more agreeable temps and cleaner air than is found in most of the rest of Italy.

For those who don't want to read a whole detalied trip report, I'll begin with an overview of our July 2011 Italian road trip. In a separate post, I've written up a few tips for people interested in taking a road trip to other places in Italy as well:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...what-to-do.cfm


OVERVIEW:

The locations? Camogli, Torino, the city of Aosta, the Gran Paradiso, Castello Fenis, the heroic vinyards of valle d'Aosta. the val Grisenche, Mont Blanc , Lago Laux, Sestriere, Exilles, Susa and Torino again.

We got on a train at 1pm at Camogli, bound for Turin, where we arrived around 4pm, in time for travel book shopping, cocktails and dinner. The following day, after touring Juvarra's Palazzo Madama and eating a slow food lunch, we boarded a train at 4pm for a very scenic ride to the city of Aosta.

We spent 2 nights in Aosta to fully take in its antique Roman and medieval treasures, then we picked up a rental car to head off for villages and easy hikes through Alpine meadows carpeted with flowers, with panoramic views of Mont Blanc and the Rutor glacier. We spent an entire week doing this, eating long relaxing lunches every day, in countryside inns, near waterfalls, castles, fortresses, and lakes. We took morning and afternoon easy walks and scenic drives. We slept in agriturismi, wineries, spas, Alpine inns, and hotel-restaurants that served classic regional cuisine.

We chose to rent a car, but a great many of the spectacular sights of the val d'Aosta -- the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, the Gran Paradiso national park, the historic vinyards -- can be reached by public transport.

The July temps were ideal for outdoor activity and we slept very comfortably, without air conditioning, With one exception, we didn't book in advance (and that was the only lodgings we didn't like!). We preferred choosing places on seeing their location and the rooms.

After visiting the valle d'Aosta and Mont Blanc, we headed for Susa in northern Piemonte. Because of the visibly poor condition of the scenic Piccolo San Bernardo road, which we had hoped to use to travel back tp Piemonte via France, we instead chosethe main Aosta autostrade back through the Aosta valley, speedily arriving outside Torino within 2 hours. After lunch near the basilica of San Michele, we elected to do a 3-day scenic loop west of Torino, up the val Chisone, through the Walser town of Laux, to the dramatic heights of Sestiere and Exillles, just to get to Susa. We stayed overnight in Norvalese, just outside Susa, to visit its abbey.

The next morning we toured the Roman monuments and exceptional church treasures of Susa. It only took us less than an hour to reach Torino's suburbs to see the exterior of Juvarra's royal hunting palace of Stupinigi, have a long lunch, and then tour Juvarra's basilica at Superga before tea. We drove our now-beloved FIAT to visit the old Fiat factory at Lingotto, where we ate dinner at EATALY and spent the night at the NH Lingotto designed by Renzo Piano.

The next morning we dropped of the car and, after a conveyor-belt sushi lunch at the train station, we boarded a train to get back at the Mediterranean by 4pm, plenty of time for a swim before dinner.

Had we eliminated the Piemonte countryside portion of the trip, we would have had 6 days and nights in valle d'Aosta, so if you are considering an outdoorsy summer vacation in Italy, combining the valle d'Aosta with either the Italian Riviera or the Italian Lakes makes for a very beautiful and easy 2-week trip. (The Riviera and the Valle d'Aosta offers really exceptionally striking contrasts, plus a chance to get away from intense tourism).

People sometimes are led to believe that road trips are not relaxing and the Italian destinations most crowded with tourists surely must be the places with the most amazing things to enjoy. Neither is true. Road trips are a great way to get to know Italy intimately at your own pace, and Italians themselves celebrate the valle d'Aosta as one of the most beautiful places in all of Italy, and it almost completely unknown to non-Italian summer tourists. It is a delight to go there and have so much elbow room and to see so much traditional culture completely intact. It is amazing how easy it is to get there from other tourist hubs in Northern Italy.

I don't take travel snapshots, but Valle d'Aosta is a photographer' paradise, so here are links to a few pictures so you have some idea of how gorgeous it is.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1...16210253JQYuxj

http://www.regione.vda.it/turismo/default_e.asp

http://us.fotolia.com/Galleries/04a71211

http://www.italianvisits.com/valledaosta/

http://www.gourmetvacation.it/en/SC/...ta_Valley.html

http://www.divinotours.com/aosta.html

UP NEXT:

FROM ONE ITALIAN PARADISE TO ANOTHER: Details of our relaxed road trip from Italy's Golfo del Paradiso to Italy's Gran Paradiso

zeppole

DAY ONE: A Few Hours on a Train to Torino

We got on the train in Camogli on a Saturday at 1:20pm, and alternately read our Kindles and watched pretty Piemonte scenery roll by until we arrived in Torino's Porta Nuova station around 4pm. We took a very short taxi ride to our hotel, the Town House 70 Suites, which I highly recommend its for location, price and spacious rooms. (Ask for a room facing the courtyard):

Our first destination was a bookstore steps from the hotel. We bought good maps of Piemonte and the valle d'Aosta, plus guides to hotels and restaurants . We then strolled over to the nearby gorgeous piazza Carignano, where my husband spotted an English-lanaguge bookstore to browse. I bought a gelato from Pepino's and ate it admiring the palazzo Carignano (where the gold got loaded into Fiats in the 1969 movie "The Italian Job.") We re-united to enjoy Torino's evening passeggiata, window shopping through the historic center.

Since we were on our way to Europe's highest alps, we thought it appropriate to pause for cocktails in the Galleria Subalpina, at Caffe Mulassano, often said to be the birthplace of the tiny Italian sandwiches known as tramezzini, and where, during the police car chase in "The Italian Job", a sandwich was swiped off a stil recognizalble table at Caffe Mulassano.

http://torinodailyphoto.blogspot.com...mulassano.html

We then walked to the Quadrilatero Romano, an historic area of the city filled with informal restaurants. After checking out many menus, we reserved a table for 8:30 at a classic trattoria, which left us time for a short walk to look at some of what remains of Torino's Roman-era sights. After dinner, we were close enough to the historic caffe Al Bicerin that we considered having a chocolately nightcap, but we decided on bed instead.

COMING UP: An even shorter -- but more scenic -- journey by train to Aosta.

Keren

Fascinating, zeppole, thank you. Eagerly waiting for more.

Marija

Since al Bicerin closes at 7:30 PM, it's just as well you skipped it.

zeppole

DAY TWO: We gaze upon the Alps from the Palazzo, then go there

We ate a leisurely breakfast at our hotel in Torino, asked them to hold our luggage, and walked less than 100 steps to the Palazzo Madama, which had been closed for restoration the last time we visiited Torino. A stunning work of architecture, with an extraordinary interior salon (now a bar) by Juvarra, it also houses a significant collection of Renaissance and medieval art and artifacts, plus one of Italy's most beautifully displayed collections of ceramics. On a clear day, like this one was, the roof of the Palazzo Madama affords panoramic views of the city and the snow-covered Alps.

http://medalp.eu/wp-content/uploads/...o_madama-2.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabih/146779513/

After a relaxed lunch at a nearby restaurant, we retrieved our luggage and took a taxi to the train station, where we bought tickets and a gelato before boarding a 4pm train. Twenty minutes later, we switched to a commuter train with huge clean windows that provided near- cinematic views of increasingly amazing scenery: Rushing rivers, Roman bridges, castles and snow-capped peaks all rolled past our astonished eyes. By 6pm, we were in the city of Aosta. We took a taxi to our hotel, washed up and ate dinner at the hotel.

I originally intended not to book anything in advance but, at the last minute, I decided I should book at least our first 2 nights in Aosta, at the Michelin-recommended Hotel Miage. It turned out to be the only regret we had for the entire trip. The hotel was clean (if rather worn), quiet, friendly and cheap, and while the dining room had eye-catching views of the Grand Combin peak, the food was sub-par and we easily could have done better.

COMING UP: The city of Aosta, beautiful everywhere you look

zeppole

(Thanks. Marija, for adding that info for other travelers picking up this report. I don't think we would have minded the short walk over to the atmospheric piazza della Consolata. We were more concerned the late night chocolate wasn't a grand idea.)

zeppole

DAY THREE: At a crossroads of the Roman empire, spectacular monuments in a spectacular setting.

After breakfast, we spent the day exploring Aosta, which was a joy.. In addition to the stunning Roman monuments -- the theatre, the crypt, the arch, the bridge -- we were thrilled by Saint Orso and its cloisters, and Aosta's main cathedral and its museum

http://www.flickr.com/photos/giorgio_brida/5344556430/


We paused near the Roman arch for lunch at Trattoria Praetoria (highly recommended), and for coffees along the way. Back at our hotel by 6pm, we were foot-weary enough to talk ourselves into giving the hotel restaurant another chance. Wrong call. We should have gone out to one of Aosta's good restaurants.

COMING UP: The Gran Paradiso, Italy's oldest national park

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carnico33/2329983618/

zeppole

Thanks, Karen!

DAY FOUR: Zooming right past Cogne, and being happier for it

We picked up a car in Aosta and headed for the town of Cogne, recommended by all the guidebooks as the "gateway" to the Gran Paradiso National Park. We traveled along a very pretty, winding river road -- and the minute we saw touristy Cogne, we hated it.

Without stopping the car, we headed directly for the nearby village of Valnontey, right at the edge of the park, where the last of the tourist infrastructure ends. I had read there was a great little B&B that served good dinners to its guests. We got the last room at the rustic Le Petit Dahu. They didn't serve lunch, however, so we followed several guidebooks' recommendation to the neighboring mountain town of Lillaz, to eat lunch at "Lou Tchappe."

We loved every single thing about Lillaz. I highly recommend staying in this town if you ever visit this area. You can walk to Cogne from there if you want (or take a bus), and easily get to any number of trailheads. Lillaz itself could not be sweeter or more atmospheric. Very little of it is commercialized for tourism. It has photogenic waterfalls that you can also climb just at the town's edge, and many beautiful walks to beautiful places.

http://www.aiig.it/Convegni/AOSTA/i_PAESAGGI_02.htm

While eating my delicious lunch at Lou Tchappe I noticed they have lodgings. I highly recommend the restaurant, and I'm sure there are other accommodations in Lillaz as well.

After seeing the waterfalls, we were back at Valnontey in time to take a walk into the heart of the Gran Paradiso. We followed a cool, flat path alongside a rushing river, with dead on views of the snow-covered peaks. The summer flowers and butterflies were as beautiful as the breathtaking mountain scenery . We completed a leisurely loop of about 3 hours, which still left us time to wash up before sitting down to a delicious dinner at Le Petit Dahu.

COMING UP: Castles in the rain (that never came), plus eating, drinking and sleeping in a heroic vineyard

jmct714

Thanks so much for this. You're tempting me to re-work my current Zurich-Turin-Milan itinerary planned for the Fall to include Aosta.

Looking forward to more.

jmct714

Thanks so much for this. You're tempting me to re-work my current Zurich-Turin-Milan itinerary planned for the Fall to include Aosta.

Looking forward to more.

ekscrunchy

Me, too! Many thanks for taking the time to write this detailed report.

uhoh_busted

Well now thanks to you, there's another place in Italy we'll have to return to after our month there this Fall....

zeppole

Thanks for those comments. Merrily we roll along:

DAY FOUR: Will we ever learn to be good tourists?

Le Petit Dahu gave us an excellent breakfast of homemade cakes, jams, local honey and yogurt. An overcast sky and predictions of afternoon rain made us decide to head for one of the many, many fairytale castles that loom at regular intervals along the central highway of the Valle d'Aosta. We are not castle buffs, but several have museums or elaborate decoration inside. Based on guidebooks, we thought the castle in Fenis might interest us most.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oBUnH1YcAE...2Y/s1600/1.jpg


On our way , we detour to check out a recommended agriturismo. After about 20 minutes of climbing a pretty a switchback road through vinyards, climbing higher, and higher, and even higher still, rain clouds hovering ever closer, we concluded this was a time when we should pull over and whip out our Slow Food guidebook to call our target agriturismo. They were booked solid. We turned the page and called an equally appealing agriturismo, which had a room plus dinner for us. However, they weren't open for lunch, so we headed in the general direction of Fenis, looking to find lunch along the way.

When we arrived at the town of Fenis, a work crew was tearing up the main raod and it appeared from the edge of town that medieval Fenis might be a very aggravating place to park. We spotted a sign for a smaller town -- St, Marcel -- only 3km away, so we headed there. Sure enough, in a few minutes, there was a crossed knife-and-fork sign ponting the way to "Le Bonne Etape". We found it, in the village of Surpian, beside a deserted castle, surrounded by fruit trees. The 25 euro five-course lunch -- a mix of French and Italian dishes -- was copious and delicious!

Still no rain, but we headed off to the main event, the big Castello Fenis. It is quite a tourist attraction with very easy parking (we now learned).

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oBUnH1YcAE...2Y/s1600/1.jpg

We also learned all visitors are required to take the guided tour, which made us a bit crabby. We opted to join the Italian speakers tour rather than wait for the next English-speakers one. (There are English-language labels throughout the castle, describing each room.) We found the castle a qurky curiosity, but not fascinating. We found the tourist bars and restaurants surrounding it disheartening -- but were impressed by the care taken to give visitors plenty of parking and bathroom facilities.

We proceeded on to our agriturismo in the heroic vineyards of Italy-- and that was quite interesting!

http://www.italand.it/Agriturisms.mv...7107/La+Vrille

Le Vrille is an award-winning winery, sits high in the hills, along the old pilgrim's route from Canterbury to Rome (the via Francigena), in an area where long winters and rocky mountainsides make it hard work to produce wine there, and the people who persist in doing it are a very dedicated, disciplined people. The all-organic dinner we had was special in every way, as was the quality Fumin red wine produced by the owner-family.

The farmhouse ambience was deeply relaxed, with great views, walking paths and a sleepy sheep dog with memorable bangs. The unique dishes we were served were explained to us, and many of the delicious homey dishes had won competitions. We were offered second hepings of everything with true family and farmhouse hospitality.

One other thing that really caught our attention: A young French couple arrived at another table for dinner carrying walkie-talkie-monitors, which I quickly realized allowed them to listen in on their sleeping child upstairs. They enjoyed the multi-course me at the same pace we did, and it was only when coffee was served that a child's restlessness came over the monitor, and the father left while the mother finished her coffee and digestivo.

I wish all parents traveling in Italy would realize how relaxing a stay at an agriturismo can be, especially if you bring the means to monitor your children after you've tucked them in bed.

UP NEXT: A gorgeous Alpine valley that progress and mass tourism have passed by

http://rete.comuni-italiani.it/foto/...00-333x500.jpg

Weekender

Thank you. This is terrific.

zeppole

DAYS FIVE AND SIX:

Breakfast at Le Vrille was as organically wonderful and homey as dinner. With the sun shining, we drove a half hour west, in sight of Mont Blanc. A guidebook steered us to Pre St. Didier as an ideal base for mountain excursions. When we discovered the town hugs the main highway -- indeed making it convenient for "daytripping" -- it was too busy for us.

Several guidebooks had mentioned that some of the nearby valleys had lost out to tourism when the Mont Blanc tunnel was opened, since tourists zoom past them, to the glamorous ski resorts of Courmeyer or Chamonix. We decided to check out the forgotten valleys, in particular the val Grisenche.

http://www.fotografieitalia.it/foto/...40-54-1240.jpg

The hairpin road was without traffic.. We shortly arrived at the exceptionally charming and utterly still town of Planaval, where the first sound we heard, opening the car doors, was the high waterfall that plunges down the rock face, and which for 500 years powered a loom for the town's weavers. Even today. a very small dam at the top generates electricity.

We found a dream of an old-fashioned and funky Alpine trekkers lodge serving lunch to what appeared to be the entire population of the teeny town, in every age category, plus some neighboring workmen, and a few wanderers like ourselves..

Various adorable children turned up in succession to greet us, show us to a table, bring menus and practice saying "hello" and other English phrases on us, then vanished, yelling our requests over the sound of clattering pots and pans to unseen parents and grandparents. The food was not bad but hardly outstanding, so -- as much as we enjoyed the ambience and the town -- we thought maybe we should check out a guidebooks recommended agriturismo, 20 miintues up the road .

When we got to there, the first thing we saw was a huge hydroelectic dam, and the second was a tour bus. We zipped right back the way we came, booked a room for two nights in the Alpine Inn where we had eaten lunch. We headed out for a walk, discovering we'd landed very much in paradise.

Flowers, views, mountain berries, vegetable gardens, clear air, old Roman bridges, pint-sized churches, friendly dogs, rushing streams, stone villages -- For the next two days, we walked through valleys, up along ridges with stunning vistas. We had lunch at the Slow Food recommended place near the dam (the food was excellent).

http://www.emmeti.it/Welcome/Valdaos.../index.uk.html

When we arrived back at twillight our second evening, our teenage waiter was soulfully playing the accordian in the bar, hypnotized children around him. We sipped a red wine known as "The Wine from Hell", because its grapes ripen from the reflected heat on the Alpine rocks, not direct sun. The food at the hotel never reached stellar heights, and our rustic room had the smallest bathroom I have yet to see, but Planaval in the val Grisenche was the highlight of our trip.

COMING UP: Why not having a hotel reservation could save your life.

zeppole

Thanks, Weekender!

zeppole

DAY SEVEN: We join the Self-Preservation Society

We left the val Grisenche, not daring to look back, our eyes fixed on the glittery allure of Mont Blanc, the highest alp in Europe, just minutes down the road. It was now the weekend, so we made tracks for the big ski resort of Le Thuile, where we assumed plenty of huge hotels would be a good fallback for finding accommodations.

En route, we stopped in the very French looking town of Morgex, mildly famous for having the highest vinyards in Europe and for making a unique blood sausage that includes lard and beets, known as "boudin." The only place in town our guidebook listed as selling it had gone out of business. (Tastes change!)

Arriving 30 minutes later in overbusy La Thuile, as ugly as we feared, we decided to press on to an adjacent village, the quieter Le Thovex, which had a Slow Food recommended inn.

It was booked. They directed us to nearby b&b, but it was booked

Its friendly Ligurian owner called a hotel up the road. Booked as well.

We telephoned a Michelin-recommended hotel in Le Thuile that had an organic restraurant. Booked.

Driving back 5 minutes into Le Thuile proper, resigned to sleeping in the first huge ugly hotel that would take us, we spotted a demure, boutique Hotel-Restaurant and swung into their lot. Success!

Maison des Reves turned out to be fantastic.. We were shown a choice of eitther a simple double -- a very attractive bedroom done in warm woods -- but we instantly opted for the humongous suite with the huge wooden bathtub, high-tech shower, bio-bath products, coffeemaker, chocolates, robe and slippers.

When the proprietress heard we'd been unable to find "boudin" in Morgex, she told me her father in law sometimes made it and she'd try to have some for our dinner. To spare her all that trouble, I asked if there was a restaurant nearby that served them for lunch. She directed us toward the French border, to a chalet restaurant halfway up the Piccolo San Bernardo.

The Piccolo San Bernardo is a famously fearsome mountain pass without guardrails which is closed most of the year due to avalanches and ice conditions which reduce the summertime surface of the road to rubble. In "The Italian Job," when the bus loses control and winds up dangling dangerously over a cliff, it is driving the Piccolo San Bernardo.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/...31_472x320.jpg

We planned to use this road for our return trip into Italy, so I was eager to see it anyway.
On this pretty July weekend, the narrow road was filled with work crews, narrowing the road to frightening slenderness, and it was roaring with daredevil motorcyclists. After less than 10 harrowing minutes, I yanked the car into the first parking lot I saw. Fortunately, it was the parking lot to the restaurant we were looking for. After a soothing meal of lasagna (blood sausage was off the menu that day), I summoned my courage to get back behind the wheel and we returned to le Thuile. We would have to study the maps and see if there was another way back home.

But first, to relax, our guidebooks all recommended a particular scenic walk in the mountains, to a lake with great views of Mont Blanc. So we did that -- and regretted it.

Finding parking near the crowded trail head was time consuming. The trail itself was a busy march of tourists, many yakking on cellphones or arguing with whining children. Yes, there was a little lake that served as a "destination." Yes, there were mesmerizing views of Mont Blanc, perhaps the very best. We missed the peace and pristine loveliness of what we had enjoyed just the day before, an hour behind us.

We drove back to Maison des Reves and soaked, spa'd, wifi'd and watched CNN. We descended into the cosy taverna in the basement, where Mario Biondi was faking Barry White -- and we learned the proprietress had driven to her father-in-law's house to get me blood sausage for an antipasta to my dinner. It was delicious! We enjoyed the rest of the meal too, and returned to our wood-paneled suite with the 4-poster bed for a blissful night.

UP NEXT:: Choosing our route back to the Piemonte, and finding refuge in a Walser village on a lake.

farrermog

Great report, thanks Zeppole. Always seek out your comments here.

zeppole

Thanks, farrermog -- but I'm afraid this effort is going to do me in!

zeppole

DAY EIGHT:

We dawdled over breakfast, reluctantly concluding that the only comfortable route back to the Piemonte was to backtrack on the central autostrade. Once we were on the road, we were amazed it had us back inside Piemonte so early, we had to ditch our plan for lunch by a lake because the restaurant we wanted wouldn't open for another 90 minutes.

We kept driving southwest, skirting Torino, slipping under the shadow of San Michele -- a stunning sight on such a clear Sunday.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hen-magonza/5810932593/

We stopped to eat a 3 hour Sunday lunch of mushrooms prepared a many different ways. That still left us enough time to swing around the hot agricultural plain and ascend a twisting mountain road to Fenestrelle -- where I was hoping to locate an antique b&b that I had first read about in a 1915 guidebook.

But Fenestrelle was hosting a crafts market, and there was nowhere to park. Signs for the historic b&b eluded us. We ended up following a guidebook recommendation for lodgings down into a nearby ravine to a lakeside lodge.

At first it repelled us, but it ended up enchanting us.

http://www.camperservicesearch.com/s...20pc%20050.jpg

Lago Laux, when we arrived, was packed with RV campers (as our guidebook warned us). The lake was ringed with noisy families letting their kids fish for trout with a rent-a-pole. The old-fashioned hotel had a sweet room for us, but we were crushed to discover that its restaurant didn't serve fish in July (it does in autumn). After our huge earthy lunch, we didn't have an appetite for polenta and stewed meats.

I found an herb ravioli to order that turned out to be the best pasta I ate on the entire trip. , My dessert -- the local famous honey slathered over creme gelato, covered in crushed Piemonte hazlenuts, was the stuff of ice cream dreams. Amazingly, even though our room was perched right over the now-vanished black lake, not a single mosquito flew through our open windows while we slept.

UP NEXT -- We wake up to a world transformed, and reach the Milky Way