Motorcycle routes

From Aosta, the regional capital, to the territory of the municipality of Bionaz, passing through the villages of Valpelline and Oyace.

AOSTA CITY: ANCIENT HISTORY AND SHOPPING
Before heading North and entering Valpelline, allow yourself a few hours to visit Aosta. You will discover that it is truly worth the effort and you will head out again with only one thought: to come back soon!
Park your motorbike next to the Arch of Augustus, a symbolic monument of Aosta built in 25 BC, the year the city was founded. A few steps in the historical centre and you arrive at the Porta Praetoria, the Roman Theatre, the Forum… And then the Cathedral, the Church of Sant’Orso, the San Lorenzo basilica, Piazza Chanoux. But that’s not all. You can immerse yourself in the ancient streets of the city, go shopping in the elegant shops of the pedestrian area, enjoy the pleasure of a typical restaurant and visit the exclusive local craft shops. Enough for now, however. Valpelline awaits you!

GO UP ALONG THE VALPELLINE VALLEY
You’ll really enjoy the unique atmosphere of this valley. Quiet and little-travelled roads, a captivating setting, dominated by the imposing peaks that mark the border with Switzerland, thick forests and inviting meadows, ideal for a nice stop. The gastronomic culture is also very lively, with the “Seupa à la Vapelenentse” and, naturally, Fontina cheese, to which the large festival held annually in mid-August at Oyace is dedicated. A whole wheel of cheese, in the hard luggage, maybe not. But a chunk, yes. A nice piece of Fontina to enjoy in the evening or perhaps to melt down for a substantial fondue. So take a small detour, shortly after the capital village of Valpelline, to the visitor centre of the Cooperativa Produttori Latte e Fontina. The visit to the centre also includes the spectacular Fontina maturing warehouses dug into the rock, one of which was created inside the ancient copper mine and where the Fontina remains for 80 days and takes on its sweet and inimitable taste.

BIONAZ AND THE PLACE MOULIN DAM
Bionaz, one of the municipalities with the largest territorial extension in the region, is located at 1600 metres above sea level at the head of  the Valpelline valley. For a different stop than usual, you can stop at the Lexert picnic area, surrounded by greenery, on the banks of a pretty lake. The road continues further between curves and green panoramas until reaching the imposing Place Moulin dam: the vast lake of Place Moulin, with emerald waters, is flanked by a dirt farm road closed to traffic.

You can immediately take the Great Saint Bernard Valley or lengthen the road a bit, choosing the variation that will take you to Doues, picturesque village in the middle of the mountain, in a prime panoramic position.

Another location to “taste”, in every sense of the word, is Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, where the renowned Jambon de Bosses was born, a genuine gastronomic rarity, celebrated every year in July with a big festival.

Past Saint-Rhémy, the road climbs up to 8114 feet of the* Great Saint Bernard Pass* (don’t forget gloves and heavy sweater!), important alpine passage used since antiquity, as attested to by numerous archaeological finds. It was Saint Bernard himself who constructed here, in the 11th century, the grand hospice that for a long time gave assistance to travellers. Behind his statue, which today dominates the pass, the ancient Roman road carved into the rock is still quite visible.

A Saint-Nicolas parcheggiate la moto e fate quattro passi fino al belvedere, suggestiva terrazza a strapiombo sulla valle centrale: qui la vista spazia da Aosta ad Arvier, tra vigneti e campi coltivati; alzando lo sguardo, vi sembra di toccare i ghiacci della Grivola e del Rutor e, di fronte, vi si aprono ben quattro vallate, la Valle di Cogne, la Valsavarenche, la Val di Rhêmes e la Valgrisenche. Una posizione straordinaria, che fa di Saint-Nicolas un centro turistico particolarmente apprezzato. Una curiosità: questo è anche il paese natale dell’Abate Cerlogne, il primo codificatore della lingua valdostana; non a caso, oggi, ospita il Centro Studi “René Willien”, impegnato nella difesa e nella diffusione del dialetto locale.

VAL FERRET AND VAL VENY, WHITE SPECTACLE
Just a few Km after Courmayeur you encounter Entrèves, characteristic village. If you think the landscape has been amazing until now, prepare yourself: From here on will leave you literally open-mouthed. Here we have two marvellous valleys, which more or less join to form a single immense shelf in the Mont Blanc group of mountains.

The peaks of the mountain range display themselves in all their majesty: The Grandes Jorasses, the Giant’s Tooth, Mont Maudit, the Aiguilles Blanches and Noires, Helbronner Peak, the Tré-Ia-Tète, Aiguilles des Glaciers, up to the 4,810 metres of the Mont Blanc peak. It seems like you can touch them, driving the two splendid roads that travel up through the valley.

But if you want to try a truly unforgettable experience, enjoy a breathtaking climb on Skyway Mont Blanc cable-car: A stop at the intermediate Pavillon station to discover the Saussurea Alpine Botanical Garden, the highest in Europe, and then on…up to the 3,466 metres t of Point Helbronner, magnificent terrace on the glaciers.

Here, considering the temperatures, motorcycling outfits will be particularly useful

THE LITTLE ST. BERNARD PASS
There is a mysterious and striking ambiance, around the cromlech or Hannibal’s Circle, on Little Saint Bernard. A large circle of stones planted in the ground, one of the rare megalithic circles existing in Italy. Turn off the engine, approach these stones and let yourself be guided on a journey back in time… Place of worship? Trail marker? Calendar? Primitive astrological observatory? Today it is still a mystery.
But on the Pass, beyond the dolmen, you find other important historic relics. Starting from the remains of the Roman mansio, large building on the ancient Road of the Gauls, and the adjacent temple that you see to the right, just beyond the former Italian customs. Continuing on, after the French customs, another Roman construction, possibly a sanctuary, and the the ancient Jovis Column, which originally held up the bust of Jupiter and today forms the base of the Saint Bernard statue.
Lastly, the Hospice, instituted around the year 1000 at Saint Bernard to welcome travellers, today a tourist information point. But that’s not all. Before returning to the valley, don’t miss Chanousia, a short distance from the Hospice: The celebrated botanical garden created by Abbott Abate Chanoux at the end of the 19th century, that today houses more than 1,600 species of alpine plants, a scientific laboratory and a botanical museum.

BLANC DE MORGEX ET DE LA SALLE
Delicately perfumed, with undertones of mountain herbs, dry taste, slightly acidic, lightly fizzy. If you are passionate about wine you are already acquainted with it, if you’ve never tasted it, you’re going to fall in love. It is the refined P.D.O. wine Blanc de Morgex et La Salle, the wine of Valdigne, produced by vineyards at the highest elevations in Europe. Want to bring a bottle home? Stop at the Cave Mont Blanc in Morgex.

SAINT MARTIN AND THE COVENANT WITH THE DEVIL
That night the Lys river enlarged and carried away the fragile wooden bridge. And so Saint Martin of Tours, who had stopped in the town during a trip to Rome, gave proof of his famous cunning: He asked the Devil to build a new large bridge, promising in return the first soul to cross it. The Devil accepted, building the bridge in a single night and waited for his payment; but Saint Martin deceived him, having a dog cross the bridge. Since then the town was called Pont-Saint-Martin -- Saint Martin’s Bridge. So goes the legend. In reality, however, the famous roman bridge -- which you can admire from Piazza IV Novembre, starting point of this itinerary -- is a magnificent Roman testimonial: Built in the first century B.C., with a single span measuring 72 feet in height with 105 feet of rope, its arch is among the largest built by the Romans.

DONNAS, THE MOST ANCIENT WINE IN THE VALLEY
A motorcyclist with self-respect loves beer…but also wine. Therefore, just past Pont-Saint-Martin, keep an eye out for the sign for Donnas. This small district, at the foot of the vineyards that climb the mountain, gives its name to a famous wine. Brilliant red color, delicate flavour, lightly almond-flavored and slightly bitter, Donnas, besides being the oldest wine in the Aosta Valley, is also the first to have obtained, in 1971, the Protected Designation of Origin.

CHAMPORCHER VALLEY
The road climbs steeply through a valley of charming semi-wilderness, among dense larch forests. A route to enjoy stopping from time to time in some traditional villages, such as Pontboset with its famous stone bridges, or to pass through without stopping, concentrating on the hairpin turns up until Chardonney, the last district in the valley. And before returning don’t miss, in Chardonney, the permanent exhibition of hemp fabrics typical of the area.

THE “LARD” OF ARNAD
A recommendation for the connoisseur: past the Bard Fort and then make a stop at Arnad and request some of the famous lard. Spicy and flavored with mountain herbs, the “Lard d’Arnad” adds to any dish an authentic taste, the taste of the Aosta Valley. In 1996 it received the Protected Designation of Origin. Every year, on the last Sunday in August, the traditional “Féhta dou Lard” - Lard Festival - unfolds, which attracts thousands of tourists.

BRUSSON
The climb from Verrès, along the lower part of the Val d'Ayas, takes you to Challand-Saint-Victor where you can make a detour to Lake Villa, a nature reserve. Continuing further, you will pass Challand-Saint-Ansèlme, you will see the Graines castle, built in the 11th century on a rocky spur, and you will reach Brusson, at 1338 meters above sea level, where you can visit the Chamousira gold mines and the dairy  La Fromagerie Haut Val d'Ayas.
From Brusson starts the road that leads to Col di Joux, which connects the Val d'Ayas with Saint-Vincent.

SAINT-VINCENT
A charming scenic road descends from the 5,380 feet of Col di Joux to Saint-Vincent, exclusive town overlooking the central valley, known as the “Riviera of the Alps” for its special climatic conditions. The ideal location to spend a few days of vacation in absolute relaxation, but also just for a pleasant break before you get on the road to the bottom of the valley: It’s the right time for a pizza, an ice-cream, a stroll through the elegant streets of the center and – why not?- a short trip to the slot-machines at the famous Casino de La Vallée.

The first municipality in the Aosta Valley is Pont-Saint-Martin. After passing the municipalities of Donnas, the fort of Bard, Hône, Arnad, Verrès and Montjovet, the short climb of the "Mongiovetta" begins which takes you to Saint-Vincent and then to Châtillon. Then after crossing Chambave, Champagne (Verrayes) and Nus, you arrive at the gates of Aosta, where the state road becomes two lanes in each direction in the municipalities of Quart and Saint-Christophe (commercial area).

After a possible stop in Aosta, having passed the Aosta Valley capital (Corso Ivrea, Via Roma and Via Parigi with numerous roundabouts) and after the crossroads which leads to the Great Saint Bernard state road N. 27, the road 26 continues westwards and crosses Sarre (crossroads for Cogne), Saint-Pierre, Villeneuve (crossroads for Introd and the valleys of Rhêmes and Valsavarenche), Arvier, Léverogne (crossroads for Valgrisenche), passes near Derby (fraction of La Salle), crosses  La Salle and then Morgex until you reach Pré-Saint-Didier (crossroads for La Thuile and, in summer, for the Little Saint-Bernard pass). From here continue to Courmayeur.

To return you can opt for the transfer route along the A5 motorway, which crosses the entire central valley, from Courmayeur to Pont-Saint-Martin. You will find indicated all the toll booths and exits that you may need to reach the starting points of the motorbike itineraries or to return home at the end of your excursions.

WALSER TRADITIONS
Wide wooden balcony, large verge…and a lot of flowers, in the windows and on the balconies. If you see houses like these at the side of the road, you have entered Walser “territory”. But the structure of the habitations is not the only idiosyncrasy of the upper Gressoney Valley. There is also an unusual dialect, different from the patois used by most of the people in Aosta Valley: It is Titsch, a parlance of German roots. The population of Walser in fact originates from Valais, from which they migrated, between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, settling here and in the adjacent Ayas Valley. The first Walser village that you encounter upon climbing the the hollow is Issime, village of ancient origins.

THE SAVOY CASTLE
Two stops in Gressoney-Saint-Jean. The first is the Savoy Castle, which you can see in the pine forest on your left. Completed at the end of the 1800’s by Queen Margherita, passionate mountaineer, stands on a panoramic terrace where you can enjoy a splendid view of the entire valley all the way to the Lyskam glacier. The second stop can be made at Gover Lake for a relaxing walk.

MONTE ROSA
Continue towards Gressoney-La-Trinité through Walser villages, pastures and woods. Monte Rosa awaits you majestically at the end of the itinerary.

Among the recommended stops, don’t miss the Fénis castle: Conveniently park your bike and visit this splendid manor from the 14th - 15th century, extraordinary example of medieval Aosta Valley architecture.

And then onwards, to the Saint-Marcel valley. If you’ve ended up here totally relaxed, a spectacular road immersed in the woods awaits you, charming in summer and striking in autumn for the thousands of colors of nature, ending at the Plout sanctuary, at an altitude of 3,143 feet.
At this point, the choice is yours: You can stop at the sanctuary and enjoy the view that opens onto the central valley, or proceed further for about six miles to Les Druges, where the road ends in a large picnic area. From the car park a pleasant walk of about 20-30 minutes leads to the Servette mining site.