Let's start our journey in Valle d'Aosta from the eastern border of the region, from Gressoney Valley. The valley, crossed by the Lys stream for more than 40 km, between the Monte Rosa range and Pont Saint-Martin, is in the French part of Valle d'Aosta, "a world apart", what remains of the medieval colonization of German populations coming from the other side of the Alps. We exit the motorway to reach Gressoney-Saint-Jean, interesting, above all, for cross-country skiing enthusiasts, from which we can reach places with spectacular views of the tops of Monte Rosa. The resort linked to cross-country skiing is in Oberteil, the highest part of the valley, where there is Gressoney-La-Trinité, important tourist centre since the 19th century. The town is renowned because it is the finishing line of the Mezzalama trophy, an authentic mountain marathon. Its position, on the foot of Monte Rosa, was the reason why many ski-lift facilities where built on both sides (which are part of the ski slopes of the Monterosa Ski ), which "changed the aspect" of the town: holiday houses and hotels mushroomed, while there are only a few ancient constructions left . Amongst them, there is the Church of SS. Trinità, which was an ancient chapel enlarged in 1671. The high altar dates back to the 18th century and the bell tower with metallic cusp shows the influence of the German culture.

The ski slopes of Gressoney-la-Trinité are connected with those in Champoluc at the Bettaforca hill, in the heart of the Monterosa Ski. From here we can reach Val d'Ayas (a precious valley with a vast, spectacular view, renowned for the production of the typical sabot ), towards Champoluc. The small town, a modern and well-equipped ski resort with ski-lift facilities covering a vast area of ski slopes, is the most important town of the valley. Those who do not ski can have satisfactions of the athletes: they can indeed ice skate or practice some paragliding. Cross –country skiing enthusiasts have to go south and reach Brusson, a small town with perfect geographical features for these kind of slopes, which border with thick pine-tree forests. The town, indeed, is renowned for important Nordic ski competitions, even though there are also structures for Alpine skiing. From Brusson we easily reach the town of Estoul, where there are the ski-lift facilities which cross larch forests and go towards the Punta Palasina, a landscape of mountains with gentle slopes. Many of these mountains are the favourite destinations of Alpine-skiing enthusiasts.

After a hard, but regenerating day skiing, let's move to Breuil-Cervinia, one of the most popular ski and holiday resorts at an international level. We can have dinner, for instance, at the restaurant "Les Neiges d'Antan" out of town, in a beautiful chalet ( which is also a hotel), made of stones and containing a beautiful collection of prints and ancient paintings dedicated to Cervino. The cuisine served is French, which perfectly matches the Savoy tradition. For the night we stay in Cervinia, where we have plenty of hotels to choose, since, they are numerous, with a wide range of prices, built in the past years to meet the requirements of a growing number of tourists from all over the world.

Cervinia is, together with Courmayeur, the most important tourist resort in Valle d'Aosta, and mount Cervino equals Mont Blanc for its beauty and majesty. Thanks to legendary ski slopes and updated ski-lift facilities, Cervinia attracts more and more skiers, becoming every year, even in the third millennium the place for the challenge started three centuries ago with the "discovery" of the mountain. And when the Cervino "appears" just outside the tunnel after Valtournenche it is always a great emotion: every time it takes your breath away, towering over the Breuil basin, from which it looks like you can touch it with your hand. It reminds us of those who conquered it in the 19th century and their stories, creating the tourist resort which is still today the main economic source of the valley. While we contemplate it from the Plateau Rosa (a glacier on which you can ski all over the year), we can imagine how it was in the first half of the 20th century, when the tarmac road had just been opened and the green basin was not full of buildings yet. Thanks to all the modern facilities (not always positive we have to admit), the Valtournenche and Cervinia ski slopes are always appealing ( they are part of the same ski slopes crossing the border reaching the Swiss town of Zermatt), so popular that make us forget that in the Breuil area tourists can practice cross-country skiing, that on top of the mountains surrounding the valley eliski andalpine skiingenthusiast find a paradise, and that there are ski-lift facilities also in Torgnon and Chamois. It is the "fault" of the Cervinio, marvellous rocky pyramid, which you always see on the background from Antey-Saint-André.

If you do not want to spend the day in Cervinia and Valtournenche, you can reach the Cogne Valley, once important mining centre and now renowned cross-country skiing resort. Young people and the elderly, beginners and experts, professional and amateur skiers: here everybody finds a way to practice cross-country skiing. The ski slopes meet the requirements off all enthusiast, in a peaceful, sunny environment on the border with the Gran Paradiso National Park. Cogne, indeed, is not only a ski resort, it is also on the border with a park, with unspoiled nature, surrounded by a clean environment, marvellous mountains, peace and quite and a relaxing atmosphere. At the end of Valnontey, where the most difficult ski slope is, we can admire the glaciers on the only completely Italian mountain reaching 4000 metres of altitude: the Gran Paradiso, the reign of the chamois and the ibex. Many experts define Cogne as the "cross-country skiing paradise", thanks to an 80-km network of well-kept slopes (of which 5km have artificial snow and a ski school), crossing the sunny prairie of the S. Orso basin and the shadowy woods of pines and birches, in an enchanted scenario. In the area important sport competitions take place, like the Cross-country Skiing World Cup , for men and women, on 30-km and 15-km slopes, held in December, and the Marciagranparadiso, international promotional competition on a 45-km run, open to everybody, held every year in February.

In the evening we move to Courmayeur, one of the most renowned Alpine resorts in the world, surrounded by and enchanted scenario on the foot of the Mont Blanc. we can stay for the night in town, for instance at the "Villa Novecento Hotel" (situated inside an ancient aristocratic Alpine house of the beginning of the 20th century), of at the "Tavernier Hotel" an hotel with a traditional , warm and cosy, atmosphere matched with the most modern comforts. For dinner we suggest you to stop at "Pierre Alexis 1877", a very ancient restaurant, situated in ancient stable in an alley of the village. It serves an excellent cuisine from Val d'Aosta and other, less typical but very refined dishes. After dinner we go back to the hotel to rest, in order to spend another day on the slopes.

In Courmayeur, walking along via Roma, it is easy to meet famous people, since the town has been for the past three centuries, one of the most renowned tourist resorts in the Alps, visited by those who wanted to be healed by the Thermal waters, then visited by the first alpine climbers, fascinated by the Mont Blanc and, since the end of the Second World War, by ski, cross-country skiing and hiking enthusiasts. After the construction of the highway to Aosta (19th century) and the Mont Blanc tunnel (1965) Courmayeur opened its doors to the world. This brought wealth to the city, but also environmental problems and maybe too many adjustments to its old city centre. So, in the northern part of the Dora Baltea valley, passion for sport and worldly life made it an attraction, especially in winter, when the ski-lift facilities are swarmed by Italian and foreign tourists and holiday houses open up again. It does not matter if sometimes you have to queue to ski and if the centre is so crowded that it looks like a big city: the important thing is to be in Courmayeur, also because the Mont Blanc can be admired with all its majesty only from here.
hidden in the surrounding mountains, today it is an elegant ski resort with excellent hotel and holiday facilities, prestigious shops and a popular conference centre. Those who seek emotions with some off-piste skiing will find breathtaking itineraries, like the classic slope of the Mer de Glace and the Youla in the Mont Blanc, or those leading towards Val Veny or La Thuile. For cross-country skiing the ideal place is the suggestive Val Ferret, on the foot of the Grandes Jorasses range, popular for the abundant and early snow. Courmayeur offers many possibilities for sport enthusiasts, in particular those who love alpine climbing. during the relaxing moments, nothing is better than promenading along the elegant streets in the centre, where ancient buildings are still visible today, like the Malluquin Medieval Tower and Parish Church of Saints Pantaleone and Valentino, rebuilt in the 18th century.

From Courmayeur we can reach La Thuile, town situated at an altitude of 1441 metres in a beautiful sunny basin, with still the charm of the ancient ski resorts. Tourist coming here to ski, though, changed the aspect of the roman town of Ariolica, which was part of the Savoy duchy due to its strategic position along the road to the Alpis Graia (it is mentioned in old documents since 1040), and due to the vicinity to the pass, it was looted and destroyed many times.
Its name derives from the stone roof-tiles, produced in two different caves in the past. If you have the car but do not ski, you can reach Pré-Saint Didier and, on the left, you can see the old city centre, hiding, behind the houses facing the stream, the Parish of San Nicola, thought to be founded before the year 1000, but with an 18th-century aspect ( the Romanesque bell tower dates back to the beginning of the 15th century): according to the legend, a miracle spared the wooden multi-coloured crucifix of the 16th century inside the triumph arch, from the French looting in 1794 . Surrounded by marvellous mountains dominated by the majestic Rutor, La Thuile too has a international ski slopes.
With only one ski pass, tourists can reach the French ski slopes of La Rosière, beyond the Pass of the Piccolo San Bernardo, and ski in 65 ski slopes, for a total length of 150 km, with extremely modern ski-lift facilities and always lots of snow. On the Hill of the Piccolo San Bernardo, you cannot miss the extremely ancient ruins and the Chanousia Botanical Garden.

In the evening we go back to Courmayeur for the night. As it always happens in an elegant, worldly city, there are many pub and night clubs. If you want to spend a night listening to music and having fun, you can go, for instance, at the "Poppy's Bar", a disco pub in via Circonvallazione (0165-843573), or at the "Jimmy Night Café", another disco bar in La Palud (0165-869740).