Aosta Valley is located in North West Italy, surrounded by Italian Alps. First time I heard about this place is from a colleague. Initially I had a plan to visit The Dolomites in October, but as we did not have International Driving Permit, had to drop the plan and do last minute changes. You will not find many itineraries or guides around Aosta, apart from the tourism website. Luckily, I had Anna (my friend) helping me with rough plan and our airBnB host added few more spots to our list. We did the whole trip by public transport, in this itinerary we will share all the details with you.
Where is Aosta Valley?
The valley of Aosta is located north west part of Italy, a very small place but surrounded by gorgeous alpine mountains. What is so special of this valley? You have the Matterhorn in one side(West) and the Mont Blanc in the other (East). You are surrounded by many national parks so any direction you go you will love it. If this does not interest you then you can actually take the historical route of exploring Roman ruins in the city and cover many near by castles. You can also go for vineyard wine tasting trip, check out the tourism website for the same.
How to reach Aosta Valley?
Aosta valley is not so popular amongst tourists hence there are no fast trains like other parts of Italy. You can reach Aosta valley by car, train or bus.
The nearest airport is Milan, which has connectivity all over Europe and UK. You can hire a car from there and drive to Aosta, i.e. what my friend did. If you plan to drive that saved a lot of time, you will reach in 2 and half hours.
You can also take Flixbus/Bla Bla Car bus from the airport to Aosta, which takes 3.5 hrs, but our flight timings were not matching with the bus timings. So we had to let it pass.
We took the train from Milan to Aosta, which roughly takes 5 hrs to reach. You need to reach the Milan city centre railway station to take the train to Aosta. You might get a direct train or change in Turin station. We used the trenitalia app to book our tickets (very cost effective) on the go.
When is the perfect time to visit the valley?
We visited in early October, and at that time the temperature was perfect. You get fall colours and it was off season so not so many tourists. When we visited all we found was Italian and few French tourists. So, we have the whole place practically to us. The city is very lively even in off-season so you won’t struggle in anyway. We feel any time will be great. If you want to see snow and avoid tourists May will be perfect and October is good too. You can even plan a trip to the valley in December for a skiing trip, ski-season is quite popular and all the gondolas seems to operate this season.
How many days needed for Aosta trip?
We recommend 5 days to be in the valley. You can chose to book 4 nights stay and 5th day you leave the city. If you have a car you might be able to do it all and see it all in 4 full days.
How to get around Aosta Valley?
If you rented car then getting around will be smooth as butter, but we used public transport. Honestly, the public transport in Aosta is very good and well connected. You have regular buses that starts from Aosta city to all the remote villages. We were surprised that buses are operating as late as 8pm in some routes. You can get the latest timetable from the tourist office of all the routes and also learn from them to read the table as it is a bit different. They were getting their online ticket system updated when we visited ( in 2023) so our commute was free and didn’t have to pay for any ticket. You can use the online application to buy your tickets and check the time as well.
Are there any language issues?
In Aosta city we had none. Most of the people speak French, Italian and English. Make sure to have google translator with you while navigating remote villages.
Where to Stay?
Aosta city is the best place to stay, as it has some night markets and shopping. If you are travelling by public transport like we did, it’s the best in terms of connectivity. If you have a car then you can chose to stay a bit far from the city with nice views and cheaper rates. We stayed at a self-catering apartment with gorgeous view around it.
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Aosta Valley itinerary for 5 days
In this itinerary, you need to book 4 nights stay in a hotel no more irrespective of doing this trip in public transport or self-drive. The day 1 and the day 5 is arrival and departure days respectively. So, lets get started.
Day 1 is Arrival in Aosta Valley
Day 1 is always the day for reaching the destination and then checking in to your hotel. Also freshen up and rest a bit as doesn’t matter what is your mode of transport you will be tired (minimum 3 hrs of travel from the airport). You will be left with the evening only like us. We will recommend you to explore the Aosta city by walking and leave the Museums and churches for the last day. There is a lot you can do in the city, so you can see half the things on Day 1 and leave the remaining for Day5. All these places can easily be covered by walking so let’s indulge into Roman history.
Stone Bridge (Pont de Pierre)
You can reach here by walking a before Christ bridge used in the old days built over the flowing water canals, which is not there any more. It is 10 mins stop.
Arco di Augusto
Next stop is close to the bride, roughly 10 mins walk. Another historic victory Arc built by Romans Before Christ. A small one which will take 5 mins to walk around.
Explore the market to reach Torre dei Signori di Porta S.Orso
The walk through the market is pretty and you can do some shopping as there many cute shops.
Mura di Aosta
You will also find the tourist information center here, where you can check several hike routes from them that interests you.
Monumento ai caduti
This is a central square with cobble street and stunning heritage buildings and hotels. Very similar to any European square but has different vibes all together.
Dinner at any restaurant of your choice
You will have plenty of restaurants here so you can chose any to have food. Apart from Italian food, the Japanese food is quite good here, thanks to frequent Japanese traveller.
Day 2 explore Lago Blu and Matterhorn
Second Day in Aosta valley you visit the famous Matterhorn from the South side or Italian side. You need to start early if you want to cover more and specially if you don’t have a car. All 3 stops we take today are on the same route so, you can even shuffle the stops as per your will. The route is gorgeous to drive in and even from the bus the views are breathtaking.
Lago Blu or Lake Blue
Our first stop will be Lago Blu or Lake Blue, the earlier you reach the better. Why we say so? The lake is blue water lake as the name suggests but the best part of this lake is you get a perfect reflection of Matterhorn. You need to visit early in the morning or close to sunset so the wind speed is not high. If you get high winds the reflection doesn’t appear.
The second reason is crowd after 9 am crowd keeps coming in though not so famous but still, if you want to have the place to yourself then either visit early or late. If you have car it’s easier for you to shuffle but if you are taking public transport, take early morning train or bus to Châtillon and from there take bus number 503 to the lake blue. Please make sure to take the latest time tables as the timings vary based on weekdays and weekends.
Breuil-Cervinia or Matterhorn
You can now drive to the small town of Breuil-Cervinia and park your car there. If you are taking public transport then do check the timing of bus 503 ( mostly in every 30 mins) and the bus takes 15mins to reach. We missed the bus, hence decided to walk for 25 mins to the town. You can have breakfast in this town got loads of restaurants and stunning views. If interested in 2 to 3 hrs hike check out different route options from the tourist information center. Post breakfast take the cable car to up the Matterhorn, cross border and even explore the Swiss side of the Matterhorn. We decided to hike upto another lake midway of the cable car and return ticket was way cheaper than going all the way. You can even decide to hike down and take the cable car up.
Chamois
This cute alpine town can only be reached via Gondola. If you are travelling by public transport then it will be unlikely that you can make it to this village. If you are travelling by car then I highly recommend visit this town and stay there till dinner. The ticket is as cheap as €6 for a round trip and the cable car timing you can find here, please check the timetable before planning your trip.
Day 3 Explore Courmayeur and Mont Blanc
As I said in this itinerary, you can swap day2, 3 and 4 based on the weather. Specially, on the days when you will be taking the Gandola up the glacier. We made a mistake of booking the ticket to Mont Blanc even though the weather was not in favour. Even if you have the ticket please remember it is valid for a month so you can come back another date than your planned one. Today you don’t need to rush and wake up early to do this site unless you have a car and you want to combine Day3 and day 4 together.
Courmayeur
Courmayeur is very well connected from Aosta city by bus. You can take the bus from the main bus depot, one bus leaves every hour except lunch time ( 2 hrs gap for lunch). You can take the local 581 bus to reach the Alpine town which takes 1 hr or Flixbus which takes 30 mins to reach. Once you reach the depot take another bus to Skyway Monte Bianco which is 20 to 25 minutes ride. You can also chose to walk which will take 50mins. If you are using car you can drive directly to the Skyway in 40 to 45 mins.
If the weather is good then book a Round trip to Punta Helbronner at €58 ( when purchased online) cheaper than French side. Otherwise, go for a round trip ticket to the Pavilion at €24. During our trip the weather was bad but still we went and got the €58 ticket. The pavillion is gorgeous too giving you a view of the Alpine valley and Mountain goats.
Mont Blanc
If you want you can add an Alpine meal along with your trip to add on extra luxury, but the price is bargain honestly. Please keep in mind that once you reach the top it is going to be cold and you will feel the oxygen level dropping as you climb high up very quickly. We had thick mists covering us all around, but whenever we got some clearing we get to see the snowy mountains surrounding us.
Day 4 Lago del Pellaud in Rhêmes-Notre-Dame or Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso
Rhêmes-Notre-Dame is small alpine town close to Aosta and well connected by buses. The last bus is at 8.30PM in October that prompted us to chose this over Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso. If you are traveling by car, I bet you can do both or more very easily. The road towards the town is gorgeous and well maintained, so you won’t have any issues driving.
A short walk from the bus stop is Pellaud where the gorgeous Lake Pellaud is located. If you are driving you can directly drive to Pellaud parking spot. There is Pellaud lake, there is small cafe there if you fancy to have lunch and multiple trails around to hike. Our hostess recommend this place and another glacial lake but we reached late so could not cover the other lake. You can easily spend whole day exploring the villages, lakes and hikes.
Day 5 Aosta City Museum, Roman Theatre, Roman Ruins and Church
Last day in Aosta valley, you will explore the remaining cites in Aosta city. If you have already covered these placed in Day 1 then you can chose to go for hike or explore some nearby castles on Day 5. As both Day1 and Day5 are check in and check out days, we consider you will have half a day to explore. You need to buy the tickets to see the Roman theatre, Roman burial grounds and the museum. The cost is not huge and you get to see 3 incredible spaces, the tickets can be bought at the tourist information centre or any of the sights.
Roman Theatre
Ruins of Roman theatre that is currently closed for renovation but schedules to open later this year 2025. It is a perfect open air theatre set up with mountain backdrops makes it a gorgeous monument worth your visit. You can spend 15 to 30 mins in this location.
Chiesa Paleocristiana di San Lorenzo
A tomb that was discovered under a church dated 500BC. All the tombs were found intact and it is amazing to see them preserved by nature. It takes you literally back in time. This is part of the same ticket as the Roman theatre if you have purchased 3 monument ticket. You can’t buy the ticket from here so remember to have the ticket before hand.
Chiostro romanico di Sant-Orso
This requires €2 ticket, a small lawn with gorgeous multiple pillars depicting stories from bible curved in them. You can spend 15-20mins exploring this Roman architecture marvel.
Museo Archeologico Regionale
This is the museum you can visit in the clubbed ticket, really worth it if you ask me. You will get to see Roman artefacts like jewelleries, pots and pans etc. The place also has underground ancient burials tombs.
Aosta Valley has lot more to offer than what I have stated, you can visit in Ski season for Skiing or explore many alpine lakes in the region in several hikes. You have an option to visit nearby castles and heritage sites if that interests you. You can even visit local vineyards while here to get a mix bag of experiences. We will definitely love to go back and would love to hear from you if you did in the comments.
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