Walking and Trekking in the Gran Paradiso. Gillian Price

we come to Val Veny, which turns SW soon after Courmayeur. It is the only valley with no permanent inhabitants, understandable in view of its location at the foot of the breathtaking spreads of glaciers that spill down from the Mont Blanc massif. The final stage of Alta Via 2 runs this way.

      The southernmost Piemonte side of the Gran Paradiso has similarly good access and direct transport links with Torino. First to be encountered is narrow Valle Soana and the village of Ronco Canavese, probably the most suitable base for forays into the surrounding mountains, such as Walks 25 to 28.

      The Valle dell'Orco winds its way west, with a fork at Rosone for Vallone di Piantonetto and Walk 24. Further along is the picturesque if diminutive village of Noasca for Walk 23. Soon we reach Ceresole Reale set on a lakeside, a well-served base for Walks 20 to 22. At the top of that valley, well above the dams is Col del Nivolet where the road ends. Here a couple of rifugi come in handy for Walks 12, 15, 16 and 20.

Information

      The head office of the Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso is in Torino (Turin) (Via della Rocca 47, 10123 Torino www.pngp.it). Visitor centres that hold exhibitions on local themes and offer guided walks can be found at Ceresole Reale, Noasca and Ronco Canavese in the southern Piemonte section and Cogne, Chavaney and Dégioz in the northern Valle d'Aosta section. The fascinating Alpine Botanical Garden at Valnontey also doubles as an information point.

      Useful tourism offices are in

      Aosta Tel [phone] www.lovevda.it. This website covers all the villages on the Valle d'Aosta side of the Gran Paradiso park.

      Ceresole Reale Tel [phone] www.turismoceresolereale.it

      Champorcher Tel [phone] www.valledichamporcher.it

      Cogne Tel [phone] www.cogne.org

      Courmayeur Tel [phone] www.courmayeurmontblanc.it

      Dégioz Tel [phone]

      Ivrea Tel [phone] www.anfiteatromorenicoivrea.it

      La Thuile Tel [phone] www.lathuile.it

      Locana Tel [phone]

      Noasca Tel [phone] www.comune.noasca.to.it

      Pont, Valsavarenche Tel [phone] (summer)

      Rhêmes Notre Dame Tel [phone]

      Rhêmes Saint Georges Tel [phone]>

      Ronco Canavese Tel [phone] (summer) www.vallesoana.it

      Valgrisenche Tel [phone]

      Valprato Soana Tel [phone] (summer) www.vallesoana.it

Access

      By air

      The most convenient airport for this region is Torino's Caselle www.aeroportoditorino.it. It is well served by many companies from the UK and European countries. While the occasional coach does go direct to Aosta, regular city trains and buses convey passengers to the city centre and the main railway station, Torino Porta Nuova, for ongoing services.

      Milano is also handy and has two airports www.sea-aeroportimilano.it, both well served by UK, European and international companies. Both Malpensa and Linate have direct trains to Milano Centrale station for links via Chivasso to the Valle d'Aosta or via Torino Porta Susa for the Pont Canavese railway – see below.

      By car

      Drivers have a good choice of itineraries, which are also spectacular: from France via the Mont Blanc tunnel or the Piccolo San Bernardo pass; from Switzerland via the Gran San Bernardo pass and tunnel. From the south, as well as main SS26, the A5 autostrada (motorway) leads via Aosta to Courmayeur. For the southern section you'll need SS460 from Torino via Cuorgné and on to Pont Canavese.

      Comba des Usselettes and Rifugio Deffeyes (AV2 stage 10)

      By coach and train

      From the north, Valle d'Aosta can be approached by coach from France via Chamonix or from Switzerland via Martigny. Otherwise, you can arrive from the south by train via Ivrea as far as Aosta or Pré-St-Didier, only 5.5km short of Courmayeur. Long-distance coaches also run from Torino and Milano (Milan).

      The southern flanks of the Park are accessible from Torino, which in turn has international train connections via Modane in France. From Torino take the train line as far as Pont Canavese.

      Local transport

      Train information is available at www.trenitalia.com, tel 892021. Remember to stamp train tickets in one of the machines at the platform before you travel; failure to do so can result in a fine. The exception are tickets with a booked seat (showing date and time).

      Timetables for all bus services in the Valle d'Aosta are available at www.regione.vda.it/trasporti, and local tourist offices can also provide timetables. In Aosta, you can get information at the central bus station (autostazione) (Tel [phone]) across the road from the railway station.

      When reading timetables or asking for information, you will need to know that giornaliero (abbreviated as GG) means daily, scolastico means during school term, feriale means Monday to Saturday, and festivo means Sunday or public holidays. Sciopero means strike.

      The services are very reasonably priced and travel to even the smallest hamlet. In midsummer there are usually extended runs to points of visitor interest. Summer timetables take effect around mid-June, ending early in September, depending on school term dates.

      The different bus company services are summarised below.

      GTT Tel [phone] (tel [phone] from a mobile phone) www.gtt.to.it has a direct Torino-Col del Nivolet return run on Sundays and public holidays as well as responsibility for the shuttle buses from Lago Serrù to Col del Nivolet on Sundays and public holidays, from early July through August, in conjunction with the Park's ‘a piedi tra le nuvole’ initiative. They also run the train from Torino to the Pont Canavese railhead and ongoing buses in Valle dell'Orco and Valle Soana.

      SADEM Tel [phone] (tel [phone] from a mobile phone) www.sadem.it does Torino-Aosta runs as well as serving Torino's Caselle airport.

      SAVDA Tel [phone] or 0165 367011 www.savda.it covers Cogne, Courmayeur, La Thuile, Valgrisenche, Val di Rhêmes and Valsavarenche.

      For information on the local Cogne runs (to Valnontey, Lillaz and Gimillan) contact the Cogne Tourist Office (Tel [phone]) www.cogne.org.

      VITA Tel [phone] for Valle di Champorcher www.vitagroup.it.

      Between July and September the park runs a handy on-demand mini bus that links the Valle d'Aosta valleys. Tel [phone] or 331 4950951 www.grand-paradis.it.

When to go