Cyclotour: Villeneuve – Thumel (Val de Rhêmes)

The Val de Rhêmes is part of the protected area of the Gran Paradiso National Park and in order to get there you first have to pass through Villeneuve. Villeneuve is located at the entrance to the valleys of Valsavarenche and Rhêmes. The second place along the route is Introd with its 13th century castle and the adjacent farmhouse, called “La Ola”, one of the finest examples of traditional architecture. Straight after Introd, the road divides and you take the right-hand fork going uphill into the Val de Rhêmes. You meet the village of Rhêmes-Saint-Georges and soon after you come to Rhêmes-Notre-Dame. Located in a vast, grassy hollow and surrounded by woods and high peaks, that create an outstandingly beautiful setting, the village has remained almost the same over the centuries, and retains the typically rural aspect of its architecture.

Places you go through on the route:
- Villeneuve (670 m)
- Arvier junction 2.7 km (840 m)
- Introd 3.5 km (870 m)
- Rhemes/Valsavarenche junction 4.6 km (935 m)
- Rhemes-Saint-Georges 9.3 km (1,165 m)
- Rhemes-Notre-Dame 19.8 km (1,722 m)
- Thumel 23.7 km (1,850 m)