"Valley of Hidden Surprises" a Valle d'Aosta Travel Page by firechick

This valley is on the other side of the Mt Blanc tunnel from where we live. I have a separate page for the town of Aosta itself. But the smaller villages and hidden valleys are not all listed as locations on VT so this 'generic' page will have to do for the smaller towns in the Valle D'Aosta.

We tend to do day trips here several times a year, and pick a different spot each time. This page should grow over the years as we discover more hidden gems.

This valley is more narrow than the Chamonix valley, and more dry. There are vineyards and farms here. The famous Courmayeur ski area is also here. There are many old castles as well as Roman ruins dotting the landscape.

This area was not always part of Italy - it was originally part of the Kingdom/Duchy of Savoie (Savoy) (along with Chamonix and Geneva), which was an independent country since the 1100s with it's own royalty - the Duke of Savoy. The area went back and forth from French to Swiss to Italian over the centuries and really only settled into it's present state after the 2 world wars.

Many people here speak French as well as Italian, and even the Italian is peppered with French words.