Valle d'Ayas, Val di Gressoney & Valsesia

Introducing Valle d'Ayas, Val di Gressoney & Valsesia

Forming the Monte Rosa Ski domain, these three valleys snake north to the feet of majestic Monte Rosa (4633m). Despite its name, Monte Rosa does not refer to the colour rosa (pink). Instead, it derives from the patois word roja, meaning glacier. It was across the mountain’s glacial terrain to these southern valleys that the German-descended Walsers migrated from Switzerland’s Valais region in the 13th century. Today, much of this area retains a strong Walser community and traditions. German (and Tich dialect) remains the mother tongue of many in these rural climes, where centuries-old wood-slatted Walser houses on short stilts dot the hillsides.

Varallo (population 7795; elevation 451m) marks the start of the Valsesia. The Passion of Christ dramatically unfolds at Varallo’s Sacro Monte di Varallo (0163 5 39 38; www.parks.it/riserva.sacro.monte.varallo; admission free), a series of 50 chapels dating back to the 16th century, accessed via a walking path from Piazza Ferrari in town. The big-dipper-style Valsesia helter-skelters from the ski resort of Alagna Valsesia (1191m) in the north to urban Vercelli, 50km west of Milan.

At the head of the Valle d’Ayas is its main ski resort, Champoluc (population 500; elevation 1560). This storybook spot is saved from tourism overload by the difficult road twisting from the A5 exit at Verrès around some tortuous hairpin bends.

The main villages in the Val di Gressoney are pretty lakeside Gressoney-St-Jean (population 816; elevation 1385m), and Gressoney-La-Trinité (population 306; elevation 1637m), a few kilometres to its north. Queen Margherita picked Gressoney-St-Jean as the location for Castel Savoia (0125 35 53 96; adult/child €5/free; 10am-noon & 1.30-5.30pm Mon-Sat, 10am-noon & 1.30-6.30pm Sun Mar-Sep, 10am-noon & 1.30-4.30pm Mon-Sat, 10am-noon & 1.30-5.30pm Sun Oct-Feb) in 1894, a fairytale mansion enjoyed by the Italian royals well into the 1900s.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009