Granparadiso Park view

STOCK PHOTOS OF THE VAL DI COGNE, ITALY

Stunning Alpine scenery greets you as you wind your way down from the St Bernard Pass having negotiated the mountains that frontier north-eastern Italy. It may be tempting to drive onwards further into Italy, but doing this you will miss experiencing the most unspoilt and dramatic mountain landscape in the entire country. ... Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso, Italy's second largest National Park...small town of Cogne is virtually at the end of this tortuous road up into the mountains. Here the valley broadens and you are presented with a pretty settlement of deep roofed Alpine houses surrounded by rich green meadows and ringed by a stunning 360 degree panorama of mountains.

The main focus is the majestic peak of Monte Paradiso itself which rises 4061 metres, its glacier always dazzling in the summer sun... Cogne is known for its crafts, especially for its unusually delicate lace and lacemaking can be seen firsthand at Les Dentelles de Cogne at 50 rue dott. Grappein. Wood and wrought iron working are also to be seen and in summer evenings displays of such crafts are exhibited in the streets near the church. Cogne also prides itself on something of a gastronomic centre and the regional food has a very distinctive character.

Mecoulin, a kind of plain cake is often offered at breakfast with numerous locally made honeys and jams. Soups are a local speciality, especially a rice broth known as soupetta a la cogneintze, and the area has its own particular pasta dishes as well as dishes widely using the delicious local prosciutto crudo. A fat flavoured with local herbs, lardo d'Arnaud, is also widely used and is sold in shops as a delicacy for visitors to take home with them.

Well marked colour coded trails begin in Cogne and lead in several different directions around the valley. One easy and pleasant walk is route 25 which follows the river up the Valnontey, a narrower valley leading southwards in the direction of Monte Paradiso. Along the way, trees shade part of the path as it follows the course of the river and Alpine cattle bearing huge sonorous bells are a common sight. The tiny settlement of ... Rifugio Vittoria Sella which is situated at an altitude 2584 metres. This walk can be uncomfortably busy on August weekends, but only serious walkers with some light climbing experience proceed further over the Colle Lauson reaching a height of 3296 metres. A more leisurely trail from the wooden bridge in Valnontey leads further into the ...

© John Heseltine