Val Maira Walking Holidays

Your destination for the start of your journey is the delightful commune of San Michele di Prazzo, situated in the mountains at an altitude of 1370m. Before your transfer to your first accommodation, you may decide to stay a while and observe the beautifully painted parish church. Your hosts will warmly welcome you in later that evening, where a delicious dinner will be waiting for you.

Today you have two itineraries to choose from.

Walk A: Lou Viol Dal Genesté Michele Round Walk | 6.2 miles/10km |↑564 ↓592 | 4 hours

This circular route winds around the southern slopes above San Michele, following a section from the ‘Lou Viol Dal Genesté’. Walkers can expect a profusion of nature and a bucolic alpine landscape of forests, grassland and rocky crags.

Walks B: Campiglione to San Michele di Prazzo | 8.9 miles/14.4km |↑779 ↓1106 | 5 hours

Take a short transfer to the hamlet of Campiglione for a short, but stunningly beautiful route that offers panoramic views over the main peaks of Val Maira, as well as the Monviso, from where the longest river in Italy (the Po) has its source. Here you follow paths and dirt runs to an impressive height (2481m) - giving you an enviable vantage point over the alpine landscape.

Today’s walk is one of the more challenging of your itinerary, though you’ll find that the beautiful views featured on this walk are more than a just reward for the effort involved. Walking through woods and meadows, you’ll encounter a few abandoned ‘granges’, buildings farmers used in times gone by to store wheats and cereals. The summit of the mountain leads to a gentle descent that brings you into the tiny village of Ussolo (we can arrange a transfer from there if required), before meeting the more challenging ascent to the Colle Sarasin, offering truly memorable views over the surrounding valley. Th e route then takes you through a descending woodland trail before arriving in Ponte Maria to your next stay and a well-earned break with some home-made cake

Today you have two itineraries to choose from.

Walk A: Chiappera and Rocca Provenzale Loop | 6.2 miles/10km|↑564 ↓592 | 4 hours

Take a short transfer to Chiappera, the last restored village of Val Maira (at an altitude of 1602m), with a small bar, and a beautiful, frescoed church. From the village square, your walk takes to the striking Rocca Provenzale, a walk that is initally demanding, but becomes a great deal more leisurely after you pass the Colle Greguri (2309m) where the route leads back to the village of Chiappera where your transfer is waiting to take you back to your accommodation.

Walk B: Ponte Maira to Chiappera Circular | 6.5 miles/10.5km |↑489 ↓489 | 4 hours

This is the easier option, taking to the routes around the village to select viewing points over the valley. The forested route offers some shade in summer; and a short detour brings you to the Maira springs – a tributary of the great Po river.

A short transfer takes you to Sorgente Maira for today’s route following the Sentiero Frassati. The route skirts the deepest blue water of Lago Apzoi (situated at 2300m altitude), as well as series of bunkers built by Mussolini on the French border. From here it is possible to walk back to Ponte Maira, or you can take a transfer from Sorgenti Maira (not included in price).

A car transfer (about 35 minutes) will drive you to the parking lot 2 km after the hamlet of Preit, in front of Grange Selvest, from where you will start today’s walk to one of the most beautiful lakes of the Val Maira, the “Black Lake”, beautifully set at 2227 meters in a panorama with stunning views over Rocca La Meja and the Monviso. The path is well marked, you will walk through pastures surrounded by larches; the descent from the lake passes along a gravestone in honour of 23 young “Alpini” soldiers whom were killed by an avalanche on the 30th January 1937. The walk ends on the same parking lot from where you started; a short transfer will lead you to your next accommodation in Marmora.

The “tour of the hamlets” of Marmora is an easy walk on ancient mule tracks and in small part, on asphalt. From Vernetti, the bigger hamlet of Marmora, the path winds through a beautiful mountain landscape with meadows, fields and forests, touching eleven of the seventeen small villages of the municipality, most of them inhabitated, where you can admire hidden painting masterpieces of local paintes, like Giovanni Baleison and Giors Boneto and the typical architecture of the valley. San Sebastiano, Tolosano, Urzio, Reinero are only some of jewels that you will encounter along the way. After you reach Brieis, a descent will gently lead back to the start point, offering you wonderful sights of the valley of Canosio.

Transfer to Prazzo bus stop and departure.