East and West of Aosta. Winter sports sustain the economy of this wild enclave between the high Alps and the Gran Paradiso, whence come the valleys with the evocative names – Valpelline, Valsavaranche, Valtournanche and the rest – to tumble their freezing streams into the Dora Baltea river. The stony slopes and snowy uplands criss-crossed with ski-tows and chairlifts to the high runs look better in winter than summer. After Courmayeur the popular resort is Breuil-Cervinia under the Matterhorn, which Italians call Monte Cervino (4,478 m). Much exploited for tourism, the resort is the terminus of an expensive cable-car trip from Zermatt in Switzerland.

East of Aosta, where autostrada and Dora Baltea (now a foaming destructive river) run parallel, several impressive quattrocento (15thC) castles survey the valley. See Fénis, a fortified stately home near Chambaye, and Issogne, a beautiful castle 17 km south of St-Vincent.