Alta Via 1 of the Aosta Valley, among the great glaciers

When people talk about the Aosta Valley, what comes to mind is Courmayeur, Cervinia, the ski slopes and the upscale tourism of the valley floor. But there is a different Aosta Valley, the one of high altitudes and alpine pastures, and you walk through it along Alta Via number 1, also known as the Alta Via of the Giants. It is a traverse that follows the left orographic side of the valley, the south-facing flank, beneath the great mountains that mark the border with Switzerland: the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, the Grand Combin.

The route

The route unfolds over several stages linked by mountain huts and crosses, from east to west or the other way round, a series of side valleys. It touches the Monte Rosa area above Gressoney, home to the Walser communities with their wooden houses, passes at the feet of the Matterhorn in the Valtournenche valley, and crosses the Valpelline and the combes below the Grand Combin before descending towards Courmayeur and the head of the valley, within sight of Mont Blanc. It is a mid- and high-mountain walk, made of passes to cross, pastures, alpine tarns and long stretches at altitude, always with the great glaciers as a backdrop.

Unlike the day hikes around the famous resorts, Alta Via 1 is lived from hut to hut and from pasture to pasture, far from the cable cars and the crowds. You sleep in staffed refuges and in guesthouses in the valley-floor villages, you eat Valdostan mountain cooking, from fontina to polenta, and you walk for hours, mostly meeting herds, marmots and other hikers heading, like you, towards the next pass. It is an experience of total immersion, where the effort is repaid by views that simply cannot be found on the crowded trails.

Who can take it on

Tackling it requires fitness and mountain experience, because each stage involves significant elevation change and the crossing of high passes, sometimes with lingering patches of snow early in the season. You don't need to be a mountaineer, but you do need to be a walker used to several consecutive days on the trail with a backpack. There's no need to do the whole thing: you can choose a section, for example the stretch around Monte Rosa or the one below the Matterhorn, and walk for a few days, linking up with the side valleys.

Getting there

To get there, the reference point is Aosta, reachable by train and by bus. From there the valley buses climb towards Gressoney, Valtournenche, Valpelline and Courmayeur, allowing you to reach the start and end points of the various stages. This makes the Alta Via convenient to tackle even in sections, dropping down to the valley floor and moving between one section and the next by public transport.

When to go

The right time is the heart of summer, July and August, when the huts are open, the passes are clear of snow and the alpine pastures are in full swing. It is the only truly reliable window for walking at altitude on this itinerary. Even though these are the busiest months in the Alps, Alta Via 1 remains far quieter than the trails around the tourist resorts: most visitors concentrate on the easy hikes reachable by cable car, while the passes and the high pastures stay silent.

A practical tip: book the huts well in advance, because beds are limited and fill up in high season, and always check the conditions of the route and the passes before setting off, since lingering snow and the weather can change the feasibility of a stage. Travel light but with clothing suited to cold and rain, because at altitude the weather changes fast. And don't rush: Alta Via 1 is not a race, but a way to spend whole days beneath the giants of the Alps, far from the noise of the valley floor.

Practical guides

• How to get to Aosta: complete transport guide
• What to see in Aosta in 2 days
• Where to stay in Aosta: neighborhoods, accommodation and practical tips
• Where to eat in Aosta: fondue, carbonade and mountain flavours