The Aosta Valley is Italy at its most vertical, a single great trench carved by the Dora Baltea and walled by the four-thousand-metre giants that mark the borders with France and Switzerland.
Go in June to September for hiking, December to March for skiing.
- Capital
- Aosta
- Size
- 3,261 km² (1,259 sq mi)
- People
- 123,000
It is the country's smallest and least populated region, and its only officially bilingual one, where road signs read in Italian and French and the old Franco-Provençal dialect still lingers in the side valleys.
Rome left its mark first. Aosta, founded as Augusta Praetoria, still guards its triumphal arch, its theatre wall and the gridded streets of a frontier garrison. Above the valley floor, castles such as Fénis bristle on their crags, and the high meadows yield the nutty, melting Fontina that thickens a pot of fonduta. To finish, there is genepy, the bittersweet alpine liqueur distilled from mountain wormwood.
Come in winter for the skiing under Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, or in summer, when the ibex of Gran Paradiso, Italy's first national park, graze the slopes above wildflower meadows.
What to see in Aosta Valley
Save the ones you want and we'll find which of our routes reaches the most in the fewest nights.
Matterhorn
Breuil-Cervinia The Matterhorn above Breuil-Cervinia, with Italian-side valley views and seasonal lifts toward Plateau Rosà.
Gran Paradiso National Park
Cogne Italy's oldest national park, a former royal hunting reserve where ibex still graze near Cogne.
Fénis Castle
A Challant residence inside double crenellated walls, with Gothic frescoes around a semicircular courtyard stair.
Forte di Bard
The Savoy fortress that once stopped Napoleon’s army, now home to the Museo delle Alpi.
Aosta Cathedral
A plain neoclassical facade hiding eleventh-century frescoes and centuries of mosaic floors.
Arch of Augustus
Aosta The Roman triumphal arch that has marked Aosta's eastern entrance since 25 BC.
Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso
Aosta's Sant'Orso priory, famed for its Romanesque cloister capitals and hidden Ottonian frescoes.
Roman Theatre of Aosta
Aosta's Roman theatre, with its 22-meter stage wall still standing.
The short answer
- Where to sleep
- Aosta
- At least
- 3 nights
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How many nights in Aosta Valley?
Choose your nights and the route redraws: where to sleep, what to see, and the towns an easy day out from each base.
3 nights in Aosta Valley: Aosta for 3.5 nights in Aosta Valley: Courmayeur for 2 and Aosta for 3.7 nights in Aosta Valley: Courmayeur for 2, Aosta for 3 and Cogne for 2.10 nights in Aosta Valley: Courmayeur for 3, Aosta for 4 and Cogne for 3.
Add your first day and each link opens on that stop's dates.
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Where to stay in Aosta Valley
Each stop with what to see and, where we have them, a day out and the hotel we'd book.
The grande dame of Italian alpine resorts, set in the shadow of Mont Blanc at the head of the valley.
A family-run hotel steps from Courmayeur's pedestrian Via Roma, with a breakfast of local products and home-baked cakes.
Check dates: Hotel Bouton d'OrMore in Courmayeur
Auberge De La Maison
A hotel in the hamlet of Entrèves at the foot of Mont Blanc, with individually decorated rooms, a spa and indoor pool.
Check dates: Auberge De La MaisonVilla Novecento Romantic Hotel
An Art Nouveau villa with Mont Blanc views in a peaceful garden, a short walk from Courmayeur's main street, with sauna and hot tub.
Check dates: Villa Novecento Romantic Hotel
30 km from Courmayeur as the crow flies
The regional capital, founded by Augustus as Augusta Praetoria in 25 BC and still laid out on its Roman grid.
- Day out
- Fénis
A small guesthouse in the historic centre with Alpine wooden furniture and a daily breakfast buffet, handy for exploring Aosta on foot.
Check dates: Le Rêve CharmantMore in Aosta
Vecchio Mulino Guest House
A simple guesthouse on Corso Ivrea near the Arch of Augustus and the Roman bridge, for exploring Aosta's Roman remains on foot.
Check dates: Vecchio Mulino Guest HouseHotel Milleluci
A family hotel in a converted farmhouse on the hillside above Aosta, with night views, a spa and local cheeses at breakfast.
Check dates: Hotel Milleluci
15 km from Aosta as the crow flies
A mountain village on the doorstep of the Gran Paradiso, Italy's first national park, where ibex and chamois roam the high valleys.
- Day out
- Bard
A family-run mountain hotel in Cogne with a large spa and several restaurants of its own, close to the Gran Paradiso park.
Check dates: Bellevue Hotel & SpaMore in Cogne
Hôtel-Chalet de Tradition Notre Maison
A chalet-style family hotel at the edge of Cogne, inside Gran Paradiso National Park, with wood-furnished rooms and a small pool and sauna.
Check dates: Hôtel-Chalet de Tradition Notre MaisonHotel du Grand Paradis
A boutique hotel in the centre of Cogne with rooms furnished in local Valle d'Aosta wood, hand-painted walls and a private spa.
Check dates: Hotel du Grand Paradis
Other places to stay
Hotel Bouton d'Or
A family-run hotel steps from Courmayeur's pedestrian Via Roma, with a breakfast of local products and home-baked cakes.
Check dates: Hotel Bouton d'OrBellevue Hotel & Spa
A family-run mountain hotel in Cogne with a large spa and several restaurants of its own, close to the Gran Paradiso park.
Check dates: Bellevue Hotel & SpaHôtel-Chalet de Tradition Notre Maison
A chalet-style family hotel at the edge of Cogne, inside Gran Paradiso National Park, with wood-furnished rooms and a small pool and sauna.
Check dates: Hôtel-Chalet de Tradition Notre MaisonAuberge De La Maison
A hotel in the hamlet of Entrèves at the foot of Mont Blanc, with individually decorated rooms, a spa and indoor pool.
Check dates: Auberge De La MaisonHotel du Grand Paradis
A boutique hotel in the centre of Cogne with rooms furnished in local Valle d'Aosta wood, hand-painted walls and a private spa.
Check dates: Hotel du Grand ParadisVilla Novecento Romantic Hotel
An Art Nouveau villa with Mont Blanc views in a peaceful garden, a short walk from Courmayeur's main street, with sauna and hot tub.
Check dates: Villa Novecento Romantic HotelHotel Cavour Et Des Officiers
A hotel inside Fort Bard itself, in the former officers' quarters, so you wake up within the alpine fortress.
Check dates: Hotel Cavour Et Des Officiers
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A traditional dinner from Aosta Valley
Every course is one the region actually serves. Change any of them and the wine, the timing and the shopping list follow.
First course
Seupa à la Vapelenentse
Valpelline’s baked soup layers white bread and Fontina, softened with cabbage broth and finished with melted butter and cinnamon.
Main course
Carbonada Valdostana
Thin slices of beef cook briefly with onion, pancetta, butter and dry white wine; serve them with hot polenta.
Dessert
Tegole Valdostane
Thin hazelnut and almond cookies with a crisp edge and a light, lacy centre.
Start the Tegole Valdostane first: 1 hr 35 min.
Taste it there
A full meal on foot through Aosta
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What Aosta Valley is known for
You will find these here and nowhere else.
Two aisles of travertine piers wrap three sides of Aosta's old Roman forum, and no one is fully sure what the gallery was for.
At 1,700 metres in Valnontey, under the peaks of the Gran Paradiso, some 1,000 mountain species grow in a garden named for one white lily.
From June to September the cows graze up to 2,700 metres, and Fontina Alpeggio is made right there at the alp, straight after milking.
Vines along the Dora Baltea
In the Aosta Valley, viticulture occupies particular slopes rather than one continuous plain. Around Arvier, stone terraces and carefully exposed vineyards follow the Dora Baltea valley. Begin with that small-scale landscape: walls, aspect and the work of keeping vines on a slope make the wine country visible before a bottle is opened.
At Christmas
Build an Aosta Valley Christmas visit around a town base and the market’s actual opening day. At home, thin tegole make a smaller baking project, while caffè alla valdostana has its own preparation and serving vessel, the many-spouted coppa dell’amicizia. Open the methods before deciding how they fit your table; mountain activities need a separate check of local conditions and equipment.
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Liguria
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