Cyclotour: Aosta – Avise – Road of the Salassi – Aosta

Starting fom Ponte Suaz in Aosta you go along the left-hand bank of the Dora Baltea going uphill and make your way towards Aymavilles. This village is at the entrance to the Cogne Valley in a position that has enabled vine-growing to flourish. You then come to Villeneuve, situated at the start of the valleys of Valsavarenche and Rhêmes and overlooked by the Church of Santa Maria and the ruins of the Châtel-Argent Castle, where they used to mint silver coins (hence the name). Continuing on, you go through Arvier, which lies in a little hollow surrounded by vineyards, and Avise. This ancient village, located in a dominant position over the right-hand bank of the Dora (as you look towards the source), is overlooked by the important remains of three mediaeval castles. In Roman times it was a strategic point along the Via Galliarum. As you climb to 1200 metres, you reach the village of Saint-Nicolas, that lies on the edge of a small green hollow in a very sunny position. It is the home of the “Centre d’Etudes Franco-provençales” created to safeguard and promote the patois, the Val d’Aosta dialect with Franco-Provencal origins.

Places you go through on the route:
- Ponte Suaz (550 m)
- Aymavilles 7.4 km (635 m)
- Villeneuve 10.6 km (655 m)
- Arvier 14.4 km (750 m)
- Cerellaz junction 17.2 km (780 m)
- Cerellaz 23.3 km (1,250 m)
- Vens/Saint-Vincent junction 25.6 km (1,285 m)
- Meod 31.4 km (1,530 m)
- Villair sur Sarre 38.9 km (1,200 m)
- Arpuilles - Gignod/Aosta junction 46.6 km (1,000 m)
- Junction with SS27 road 50.8 km (690 m)
- Aosta 52.7 km (590 m)