Walking and Trekking in the Gran Paradiso. Gillian Price
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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 0165 236627 www.lovevda.it. This website covers all the villages on the Valle d'Aosta side of the Gran Paradiso park.
Ceresole Reale Tel 0124 953186 www.turismoceresolereale.it
Champorcher Tel 0125 37134 www.valledichamporcher.it
Cogne Tel 0165 74040 www.cogne.org
Courmayeur Tel 0165 842060 www.courmayeurmontblanc.it
Dégioz Tel 0165 905816
Ivrea Tel 0125 618131 www.anfiteatromorenicoivrea.it
La Thuile Tel 0165 884179 www.lathuile.it
Locana Tel 0124 83121
Noasca Tel 0124 901001 www.comune.noasca.to.it
Pont, Valsavarenche Tel 0165 95304 (summer)
Rhêmes Notre Dame Tel 0165 936114
Rhêmes Saint Georges Tel 0165 907634>
Ronco Canavese Tel 0124 817377 (summer) www.vallesoana.it
Valgrisenche Tel 0165 97193
Valprato Soana Tel 0124 812908 (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 0165 262027) 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 800 019152 (tel 011 0672000 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 800 801600 (tel 011 3000611 from a mobile phone) www.sadem.it does Torino-Aosta runs as well as serving Torino's Caselle airport.
SAVDA Tel 800 170444 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 0165 74040) www.cogne.org.
VITA Tel 0125 966546 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 339 5443364 or 331 4950951 www.grand-paradis.it.
When to go