Western Alps Road Trip - Gran Paradiso by Lenise Calleja Photography

Yes we decided to go on another trip this year! We had been invited to join our friends on their camper van road trip in the Western Part of the Alps. The itinerary looked amazing starting from the Gran Paradiso in northern Italy, to Chamonix in France and Switzerland. How could I refuse such an adventure? This was the best way to end the summer, so without thinking about it twice we decided to join. Our friends had an 8-day itinerary, however we could only afford to join for the first part of the trip. Mainly due to the vacation leave left for my husband and as the expenses incurred in travel during this year. Moreover the Switzerland part proved to be the most expensive as the accommodation is extremely expensive so we only spent 1 night there.

5-day Itinerary

Day 1

We landed in Turin Airport and we began to drive north west in the direction of Ceresole Reale. As we entered the Gran Paradiso National Park the scenery was breathtaking. We drove along winding mountain roads and accompanying our trip were several herds of cows, marmots, goats, sheep and horses. The waterfalls are very numerous and luckily I was not the one driving as otherwise I would have stopped every hundred metres. So we sticked to plan and stopped only at the lake of Ceresole Reale, Lago Serrù, Lago Agnel and then up the Colle del Nivolet to get an aerial shot of the beautiful lakes.

After leaving the southern area of Gran Paradiso, our next destination was Aosta and the northern area of the park. After around a two-hour drive we stopped for a small break in Aosta. We took a stroll in the historical centre of this town. Although Aosta is the capital of Valle d’Aosta it doesn’t feel like being in a big city. The main historical centre is located around the large square Emile Chanoux and the pedestrian roads to the left and right of the square.

We didn’t have time to visit the Roman Archeological sites located in the centre as our trip for the day had to continue to Lillaz. The main attraction in Lillaz, apart from the village itself that represents the perfect mountain village, is the waterfall. The Gran Paradiso is an immense park and one could easily spend an entire week here taking several treks in the different valleys.