Great Walser Trail

Fourteen stages distributed along twelve themed trails crossing Val d'Ossola, Valsesia, Valle di Gressoney, and Valle d'Ayas.

190 kilometers in Piedmont and Aosta Valley touching over 200 points of interest that tell, in an exciting walking route, centuries of effort and achievements by an extraordinary people: the Walser.

The Walserweg Italia project was born from the love of the Walser Associations for their territory and thanks to the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation within the call “In Light. Enhancing and telling the cultural identities of the territories”, aiming to encourage the development of slow tourism capable of promoting knowledge of local cultures.

Thus was born the Great Walser Trail, uniting the cultural identities of territories located between Piedmont and Aosta Valley, a long alpine march internationally connected with Austria, Liechtenstein, France, and especially Switzerland, the other countries where the Walser culture has been present for centuries.

The Walsers descend from Germanic tribes settled in the Swiss valleys around the year 1000, especially in the Goms valley (bordering Val Formazza). From Valais, the Walsers moved to found new communities in three directions: west, towards Brig and the Saas and Zermatt valleys, with a subsequent penetration into the southern band of Monte Rosa; south, towards Binn, Formazza (the first colony outside the Valais territory), Salecchio, and Bosco Gurin; east, towards the archipelago of the Grisons valleys, Liechtenstein, and Austrian Voralberg.

Making walkers complete an ancient route, recalling the daily adventures of men and women hardened by hard work, crossing villages located up to 2000 meters high and with the possibility to stay also in traditional houses, represents an immersive experience not only in the wild nature of high Alpine valleys but especially from a cultural point of view. Coming into contact with the Walser world, in fact, allows one to connect with the history of an ethnic and linguistic minority among the least told, yet present for centuries in the Italian territory.

It is worth emphasizing the technical characteristics of this beautiful route: doing the Walserweg means measuring oneself closely with an exceptionally resilient people, capable of living in extreme weather conditions, who daily climbed significant elevation, transporting kilos of wood or hay, bringing livestock to the pastures, building villages in inhospitable areas inhabited only by rocks, water springs, and forage fields. It is, therefore, a route suitable for trained people eager to create a deep connection with a life led in the Alps.

The Walserweg Italia runs starting from Riale to reach Salecchio Superiore, then Croveo. This is the first hiking section, where it is worth taking a rest day to catch your breath and deepen the knowledge of Val d’Ossola. Then, thanks to a bus transfer, you reach Campello Monti, in Valle Strona, from where you cross into Valsesia, reaching Rimella. Crossing the Alpe Baranca area, you arrive at Carcoforo, then Rima. It is time to walk towards Alagna and thus, leaving Piedmont, you reach Gressoney-Saint-Jean, entering the Aosta Valley's Gressoney Valley. From Gressoney la Trinité, you march to Crest (Champoluc) and continuing through the Vallone of Cime Bianche you reach the Theodul Pass, on the border with Switzerland, reaching the final destination of Macugnaga, in Val d’Ayas.

Not forgetting the mandatory passage through Ornavasso (VB), the most town-like of the Walser colonies and gateway to Val d’Ossola and prologue to the Walserweg Italia experience.