Turin & the Alps - Italy - page 439

scattered hamlets within the park borders and in the Giardino Alpino Paradisia
( % 0165-74147; € 2.50; daily July-Aug 10am-6:30pm, June and Sept 10am-
5:30pm), a stunning collection of rare Alpine fauna near the village of Valnontey,
1.6km (1 mile) south of Cogne.
The park actually has five entrances (three on the Valle d'Aosta side, two on
the Piemonte), and seven info centers, but the main information center is in the
Piemonte village of Noasca (Via Umberto I; % 0123-901070). There are also
offices in Turin (Via Della Rocca, 47; % 011-8606211) and Aosta (Via Losanna,
5; % 0165-44126), but perhaps the best stop is the tourist office at the park
entrance in Cogne (Via Bourgeois, 34; % 0165-74040; www.cogne.org), provid-
ing a wealth of information on hiking and skiing trails and other outdoor activi-
ties in the park and elsewhere in the region. You can also get info at www.pngp.it
and www.parks.it .
COURMAYEUR & MONT BLANC
The one-time mountain hamlet of Courmayeur is now the Valle d'Aosta's resort
extraordinaire, a collection of traditional stone buildings, pseudo-Alpine chalets,
and large hotels catering to a well-heeled international crowd of skiers. Even if you
don't ski, you can happily while away your time sipping mulled wine while regard-
ing the craggy bulk of Mont Blanc (called Monte Bianco on this side of the bor-
der), which looms over this end of the Valle d'Aosta and forms the snowy barrier
between Italy and France. The Mont Blanc tunnel, which can zip you into France
in just 20 minutes, reopened in 2002, 3 years after a devastating fire.
The cable-car system up Monte Bianco actually begins not in Courmayeur,
but in La Palud, outside the village of Entrèves, 3km (2 miles) to the north, a
pleasant collection of stone houses and farm buildings surrounded by pastureland.
Quaint as the village is in appearance, at its soul Entrèves is a worldly enclave with
hotels and restaurants that cater to skiers and outdoor enthusiasts who prefer to
spend time in surroundings quieter than Courmayeur.
LAY OF THE LAND
The Valle d'Aosta is a region best explored by car, but if you're coming by public
transportation, first you have to get to the regional capital of Aosta, 113km (68
miles) northwest of Turin and about 35km (21 miles) east of Courmayeur-
Entrèves. Aosta is served by 12 trains a day to and from Turin (2-3hr.), and 10
trains daily to and from Milan (3-4 hr., with a change in Chivasso).
Thirteen daily buses ( % 0165-262027) connect Aosta with Courmayeur
(1 hr.). Buses also run between Courmayeur's Piazzale Monte Bianco and Entrèves
and La Palud (10 min.), at least every hour, more often in summer ( % 0165-
841305).
By car, the A5 autostrada is the fastest way from Aosta to Courmayeur (less
than 30 min.)—but you spend much of that time in tunnels. For more scenery,
hop on the parallel SS26, which winds through villages and suburbs but takes a
good hour.
The villages themselves are tiny and walkable.
The tourist office in Courmayeur (Piazzale Monte Bianco, 8; % 0165-
842060 or 0165-842072; www.courmayeur.net or www.regione.vda.it/turismo)