The Alps of Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta and Lombardy

Piedmont

A region so close to France!

Close by its language: Piedmontese is well impregnated with French and Occitan words.

Then close by a shared history, that of Savoie.

Turin was Italy's first capital, when the country's unification was proclaimed in 1861, before being transferred to Rome ten years later.

And with good reason: Turin was the residence of the House of Savoy, which would rule Italy for just under a century, and made it its capital after leaving Chambéry in the 16th century and the French occupation of François^1er (Savoy was not part of the kingdom of France at the time). Hence the strong links between Piedmont and Savoy... and virtually the same coat of arms.

Last but not least, a geographical proximity, as several passes, road and rail tunnels now enable you to cross from Italy to France, crossing Piedmont along the French Alpine border in the departments of Savoie, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes de Haute Provence and Alpes Maritimes.

The Piedmont is nonetheless a region in its own right in Italy: gastronomy and good wine go hand in hand, and from Turin, the cultural center of the region, it's easy to stroll through the valleys that run deep into the Alps and sample the local specialties.

Drink a "Bicerin" - a chocolate and coffee speciality - in Turin, eat a "Bagna Cauda" in Cuneo, enjoy a glass of Barbera or Barolo in the Langhe hills south of Turin, and taste the famous Piedmont hazelnuts, ingredient of a famous spread, made in this region near Alba, also known for its truffles...or simply sample the famous Risotto in the rice fields around Novara, at the foot of Monte Rosa.

We can discover the Occitan Valleys in the province of Cuneo (Cuneo), which border our Alpes Maritimes and Alpes de Haute Provence departments, with the lesser-known French tourist resorts of Limone Piemonte, Prato Nevoso, Casteldelfino, etc., which are extremely well-snowed.

Or leave Turin from the west and return to France via the Fréjus tunnel, the Montcenis pass or the Montgenèvre pass, passing through the mountain hotspots of Sestrière or Bardonecchia. But a region so rich in wonders cannot be summed up in just a few lines.

Aosta Valley

The Vallée d'Aoste is a valley that begins at the foot of Mont Blanc (on the Italian side, of course) and ends on the Po plain, at the bottom of which flows the Doire Baltée river.

Several rivers from side valleys with distinctly French names feed this river, with resorts such as La Thuile (linked to the Savoyard resort of La Rosière), Valsavarenche, Valgrisenche and Cogne to the south, and Gressoney and its Lys valley, Chamois, Breuil-Cervinia and its Valtournenche to the north, to name but a few.

This small valley is surrounded by peaks over 4000m high, including Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, Mont Rose and Gran Paradiso.

Some viewpoints, such as Pila, a natural balcony above the town of Aosta easily accessible by cable car, are breathtaking.

In summer, the valley has been a crossing point for many centuries, with access to the Petit and Grand Saint Bernard passes, the former leading to France via Savoie, and the latter to Switzerland via the Valais.

Italian is spoken here, but the region is bilingual: French is also spoken. On top of this, the Gressoney valley also speaks Alemannic dialects similar to those spoken in the Zinal and Saas Fee valleys in Switzerland's Upper Valais, on the other side of the border mountains. This very special identity is also reflected in the architecture, as the houses in the Gressoney valley are mostly made of wood, whereas elsewhere stone dominates. This is the heritage of the Walsers.

Which is the giant of these two regions? Is it Mont Viso, which can be seen from the plains south of Turin, or Mont Blanc, Europe's giant, and the Matterhorn, whose profile is universally known as the emblem of the Toblerone brand, which dominate the Val d'Aoste?...

Well, no, the giant here is Monte Rosa, visible from the Po plain from the gates of Turin to those of Milan when not obscured by fog. And it's around Monte Rosa that you'll find a number of ski resorts in winter and hiking resorts in summer: Gressoney in Valle d'Aosta, but also Alagna-Valsesia and Macugnaga in Piedmont north of Turin, on the way to another major transit route, the Simplon Pass.

Lombardy.

Heading north from Milan or Bergamo, the Alpi Orobie mountains rise to 3,000m, the first line of defence against disturbances from the south, and are well-watered throughout the year. Here you'll find two emblematic valleys, the Val Brembana and the Val Seriana, which ends with the ski resort of Valbondone.

Behind this first mountain range lies a very long valley, the Valtellina.

It ends where the River Adda flows into Lake Como, near Colico, and runs along the Adda for over 100km to beyond Bormio on the edge of the Stelvio National Park. This east-west valley, protected from the north winds by the high Bernina massif (which slopes down on the Swiss side towards St. Moritz and the Engadine), and from the south rains by the Alpi Orobie, forms an excellent terroir in its central part at modest altitude for vineyards producing quite famous wines (Rosso di Valtellina, Grumello, Sassello), which can be toured by following the local wine route.

When it comes to wine, there's always good food, and that's the case here in LombardyPizzoccheri" is a pasta speciality made from buckwheat flour that you won't find anywhere else. Of course, a variety of sauces can be served with them, but traditionally here, they are mixed with vegetables (cabbage, chard, spinach, arugula, potatoes, cheese and butter...). A "poor dish" that's actually extremely rich!

For lovers of mountain scenery, the villages of Bormio and Santa Caterina Valfurva, dominated by the Cevedale and Ortles massifs, which rise to around 3800m, await you at the far end of the valley.

Chiesa in Valmalenco offers access to the Monte Disgrazia, Roseg, Bernina and Piz Palu' glaciers.

Tirano is the gateway to the Poschiavo valley (in Switzerland), which leads up to the Bernina Pass and the Engadine, or to the Livigno valley in summer.

The latter is only accessible in winter via Bormio and a pass at almost 2300 metres, making it the most isolated of all Italian valleys.

Little Siberia, its nickname due to the extremely freezing temperatures reached in winter, offers visitors a calm, bucolic landscape, and its main village Livigno , which stretches for several kilometers (yes, you read that right) along a road, offers great accommodation choices in its beautiful wooden chalets, and plenty of shopping opportunities, as the area is Duty Free.

Livigno is a renowned winter resort, with snow from November to the end of April, where Italian cross-country skiers train at high altitude (1800m), and with a two-slope ski area that allows you to ski in the sun at all times. A must-see!

If you want to leave the Valtellina towards Italy (the Bernina pass, giving access to Switzerland), you can choose between the Aprica pass, well urbanized by the presence of a winter sports resort on the very site of the pass, at an altitude of 1,200 meters, which will take you back down to the Val Camonica, Lombardy's last great valley, but you can also, in summer only, try the ascents of the Gavia pass (2,621m) or the Stelvio (2,757m). By bike for the bravest!

The Val Camonica, north of Brescia and Lake Iseo, runs north-south along the River Oglio, and is dominated by the snows of Mount Adamello (3554m). It leads up to the gateway to Trentino, via the Tonale pass, a ski resort with little charm but plenty of snow at the foot of the Presanella glacier.

The Lakes

Piedmont and Lombardy, like their neighbor Veneto, are also famous for their great lakes.

Whether they are vast like Lake Maggiore or Lake Gardaor as narrow as a fjord like Lake Como Lake Como or Lake Lugano (Lago Ceresio), or smaller lakes like Orta, Brianza, Iseo or Idro, they're all spectacular, photogenic and well worth a visit for their natural beauty or to admire the grand villas and other sumptuous monuments that grace their shores.

They are the subject of another article in the Blog.

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