Table of contents
- Motorcycle tour tour tips in the Italian Alps 15 dead ends in the Aosta Valley
- Iseran or Stilfser Joch have nothing to report
- Exclusive chocolates in a box of delicious passes
- Sunrise on Gran Paradiso, sunset on Mont Blanc
- Information on motorcycle tours in the Aosta Valley
Jo Deleker
19th pictures
Jo Deleker
1/19
After these 15 dead ends in the Aosta Valley, you will love dead ends.
Jo Deleker
2/19
Dead ends in Aosta.
Jo Deleker
3/19
Dead ends in Aosta.
Jo Deleker
4/19
The Château de Sarre in front of the characteristic almost four-thousand-meter peak La Grivola.
Jo Deleker
5/19
Old rustic hamlet in Valsavarenche. Places in this style are common in the Aosta region.
Jo Deleker
6/19
Danieles “Fruit Paradise” in the historic center of Aosta. It’s worth trying.
Jo Deleker
7/19
Dead ends in Aosta.
Jo Deleker
8/19
… impress.
Jo Deleker
9/19
The great route and the rock face of the 3619 m high Levanna…
Jo Deleker
10/19
Colle del Nivolet again: View over Lago Serrù and Lago Agnel.
Jo Deleker
11/19
At seven in the morning we curve out of the misty valley up to the sunny Colle del Nivolet at an altitude of 2612 meters.
Jo Deleker
12/19
Dead ends in Aosta.
Jo Deleker
13/19
In the historic center of Castellamonte.
Jo Deleker
14/19
The city of Aosta is only really worth seeing in the historical center. Here there is full Italian life between historical buildings.
Jo Deleker
15/19
Summer on steep roads in the Alps.
Jo Deleker
16/19
Summer on steep roads in the Alps.
Jo Deleker
17/19
Anti-rust paint played no role in this bridge in the Val di Cogne near Cretaz. But it also lasts without it.
Jo Deleker
18/19
One of the numerous hairpin bends on Colle di San Carlo, an extremely rewarding pass road south of Mont Blanc.
Jo Deleker
19/19
Travel time: one week; Distance covered: 1500 kilometers.
to travel
Motorcycle tour tour tips Aosta Valley Italian Alps
Motorcycle tour tour tips in the Italian Alps
15 dead ends in the Aosta Valley
Dead end. The very word sounds harsh and final, not exactly tempting. But beyond all prejudices, you should try the 15 dead ends that are hidden around the Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps. After that, you will love dead ends.
Joachim Deleker
05/25/2016
The Aosta Valley is not necessarily one of the alpine highlights. Most travelers rush through quickly, on their way to the famous passes of France, the four-thousand-meter peaks of the Valais or the beaches of the Riviera. What a mistake. We did it ourselves often enough, always with the excuse that we didn’t have time for the many side valleys of the Valle d’Aosta, all of which with three exceptions all end as dead ends. But now the time is finally ripe for our cul-de-sac tour. We won’t be bored for a minute.
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Our destination is the Colle del Nivolet, a curiosity among all alpine passes. It is the first dead end on our tour. 80 kilometers long, it ends humorlessly in a mountain meadow shortly after the top of the pass at the foot of the Gran Paradiso. Only ten kilometers short of him, then the Nivolet would be a circuit. But the status quo of the national park prevents the missing section from being built into Valsavarenche.
Iseran or Stilfser Joch have nothing to report
Is the long detour to Nivolet worth it? Absolutely, because the last 20 kilometers from Ceresole are awesome: The unique mountain road is one of the most beautiful in the Alps. Especially the sensational view shortly before the 2612 meter high pass over the Spaghettigekringel of the road, the deep blue Lago Serrù and the green Lago Agnel up to the snow-covered rock ridge of the 3619 meter high Levanna is beguiling. Even alpine celebrities like Iseran, Stilfser Joch or Bonette have nothing to report against this view.
Through the Locarno valley we roll back down to the plain, where we turn left into the Aosta valley. It’s not nice. Motorway, SS 26, the railway and the Dora Baltea river are noisy through the valley. But there are the many side valleys, like the Val d’Aya, which meanders right in front of the glaciated south face of the four-thousanders Breithorn and Castor. Over the Col de Joux, the most fun pass far and wide, we cycle into the next valley, the Valtournenche. That ends in the winter sports resort of Breuil-Cervinia at the foot of one of the most famous mountains in the world, the Monte Cervino. Never heard? Not bad, because the non-Italian world calls this mountain the Matterhorn. But the 4478 meter high legend is indifferent, hiding in gray clouds.
Then it’s not possible. The “Denzel”, the bible of all alpine road drivers, recommends a much better vantage point anyway, the Colle San Pantaleone. Our singles tumble across the narrow and almost traffic-free street. And voilà, from up there we can see the Matterhorn, although not in all its glory, but the steep south face is impressive even without a summit. It’s good that we have enough time for such side trips. Time creates the inner peace to explore all these little paths high above the valley. And there are so many. Verrayes is signposted three times at an intersection. Don’t all roads lead to Verrayes? Here already. But which one to take? Anyway, we all three try one after the other, do pirouettes on the sunny south-facing slope high above the Aosta Valley, hardly get past fourth gear on these narrow and winding paths and sometimes end up somewhere completely different than expected. At least not in Verrayes. Discovery terrain.
In the end, however, all roads end in the Valle d’Aosta, perhaps at the castle ruins of St. Denis or the castle of Fenis. What role does that play in so many great trails? A sign points to Pila, a dead end street, of course, but 1400 meters high above the valley. Tempting. A grandiose mountain road, hairpin bends and curves until you drop, with a promising end. Not to the ugly winter sports retort town of Pila, but to the four-thousand-meter peaks of the Mont Blanc chain, the Gran Combin and the Monte Rosa massif. Once again the view is breathtaking. Each of these dead ends that leave the Aosta Valley is rewarded with a highlight at the end, each different, each grandiose, each worth the detour.
Exclusive chocolates in a box of delicious passes
The next four valleys are waiting southwest of Aosta, of course dead ends. The Val di Cogne is most beautiful, as it is the only way to go to a point from which the four-thousand-meter Grand Paradiso can be seen. The hamlet of Gimillan basks in the sun high above the old town of Cogne. A couple of hairpin bends and we’re up there. Far to the west, at the end of the narrow Valnontey, a huge rock and glacier wall rises to the peaks of the Gran Paradiso. craziness.
Valley in, valley out, the motto of this trip. We roll back parallel to the rushing river Grand Eyvia. But not yet into the Aosta Valley, because shortly before a sign with the nice name Ozein entices us to the right and steeply up. No valley for a change, but at least a dead end. Ozein turns out to be a pretty old mountain village with black wooden houses and geranium-strewn balconies, almost all of which face west. Because of the view. Behind the village, the sharp-edged almost four-thousand-meter peak La Grivola stretches into the blue of the crystal-clear sky. And far in the northwest, the Mont Blanc stretches 4810 meters high. A huge white block.
Next valley, next dead end, the Valsavarenche, which ends just before the 2000 meter mark in the wine village of Pont between weathered and moss-covered wooden houses. From here it is less than ten kilometers to the Colle del Nivolet. But the road is missing. It would certainly be faster to hike on the Nivolet than by motorcycle, because the large arc around the outside is almost 200 kilometers. The dead end status quo is difficult for the people in the valleys, because the isolated location of the places makes life complicated. Many move to the big cities of Turin and Aosta in search of work. The committed alpine riders, on the other hand, are happy because the Nivolet remains one of the most exclusive pralines in the large box of delicious passes.
Sunrise on Gran Paradiso, sunset on Mont Blanc
We had sunrise on Gran Paradiso, how about sunset on Mont Blanc? So back to Valle d’Aosta, looking for the way to St. Nicolas between vines and castles on the other side of the valley. The meandering map of white and yellow lines on the slope between Sarre and Aviso is a magical attraction. We meander for hours on different floors along the slope, discover detours that simply end in the forest, and sleepy mountain villages such as Châtelard, Ville sur Sarre or Verogne. Sounds suspiciously French. Missed the limit? The Aosta Valley once belonged to the Kingdom of Savoy. The many French names have remained and the area is still bilingual today.
Wasn’t there still the plan to see the sunset on Mont Blanc? Actually yes, but we have simply lost our way in this tangle of tiny paths. The white mountain still has to wait. Quickly down into the valley and look for a campsite. And tomorrow morning we will pay our respects to the King of the Alps. But first swing over the Colle San Carlo. The inconspicuous pass is only 1961 meters high, but has everything a pass needs. Branches off the SS 26 in Morgex and climbs in varied curves to the top of the pass. It ends in La Thuile at the eastern ramp of the Little Saint Bernard. We are less interested in that today, after all, we are on a dead-end mission. And there are still two missing, perhaps the most spectacular in the region, the two valleys at the foot of the gigantic rock face of the Mont Blanc massif: Val Ferret and Val Veny.
Both branch off directly in front of this huge wall in Courmayeur, one to the right, the other to the left. Wonderful valleys with breathtaking views of broken glacier streams, boldly shaped rock towers, bright green wild flower meadows and of course the mountain giants right in front of us. A good part of all alpine four-thousand-meter peaks grow right here around Mont Blanc. Its snow-white top towers over all other mountains in Europe. The king is repellent, tempting, dangerous and beautiful, out of reach and yet within reach. As the glacier fields on the peaks bathe in the orange light, Birgit bursts out with the question: “Why have we always ignored all these great dead ends?”
Information on motorcycle tours in the Aosta Valley
Jo Deleker
Travel time: one week; Distance covered: 1500 kilometers.
The Valle d’Aosta with its 15 spur roads is a spatially limited region in the extreme northwest of Italy. A week? Then intensively explore the dead ends that leave the main valley. Sensational!
getting there: The fastest routes lead via the Swiss highways that are subject to tolls to the Great St. Bernard Pass. Or from the French side over the Little Saint Bernard. If you want to see Mont Blanc from below, love long dark tubes and don’t shy away from the expensive toll (29 euros), you can also drive from Chamonix through the Mont Blanc tunnel into the Aosta Valley.
Travel time: As usual in alpine regions, the season starts in May and ends in October. Around the Aosta Valley, which lies on the south side of the main Alpine ridge, the climate is noticeably milder than on the north side of the mountains.
accommodation: Accommodation in Aosta is ideal as a base camp. The places in the side valleys or high above the Aosta Valley are more beautiful and quieter. From camping sites to luxury resorts, pretty much everything can be found.
Worth seeing: The biggest sights are of course the alpine landscapes with their sometimes very rustic mountain villages. The south side of the Mont Blanc massif is particularly impressive from the valleys of Val Veny and Val Ferret. From Courmayeur there is a cable car up to the icy regions of these mountains beyond 3000 meters. You can even float by cable car over the glacial sea to the other side to Chamonix. Fans of palaces and castles have plenty of ancient walls to visit in the Aosta Valley. Even older, namely 2018, is the Roman aqueduct Pont d’Aël in the Val de Cogne, which can even be viewed from the inside. The old town of Aosta attracts a leisurely stroll, especially in the evening.
Literature and maps: The travel guide “Piedmont and Aosta Valley” comes from the Michael Muller publishing house. The “Denzel Alpine Road Guide” describes almost all mountain roads in the region in the usual detailed manner. Good maps are “The General Map 1 – Italy” by Marco Polo and the sheet “Piemont, Valle d’Aosta” by the Touring Club Italiano, both on a scale of 1: 200000.
Info: Searching the Internet provides the best overview of the region, for example on these two pages: www.regione.vda.it and www.loveda.it/de
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