Vercelli to Pavia by train. Pavia walk, 19.09km By way of a 1.5 hr train trip to Pavia, we avoided four days of walking alongside the flat Vercelli rice fields, now levelled and flooded again with water for planting during May. The rice seeds will be sown in the water, using specially-equipped amphibious tractors. After locating our ...

Santhia to Vercelli, by train We decided that we would prefer to look at the rice paddies from a train, rather than walk through them for hours on end, possibly while being bitten by mosquitoes! Additionally, Paul was nursing a couple of painful blisters. So, we hopped on the 9:17 train, arriving in the town of ...

Viverone to Santhia, 20.16km A thunder storm during the night was dramatic and had cleared the air. Hoping for an early start, we arrived at the pasticerria soon after 8:00, but it was already hopping on a Sunday morning in the touristy town of Viverone. They provided great espresso, pastries, yoghurt and fresh fruit. We even ...

Ivrea to Viverone, 21.45km Walking away from Ivrea, we could identify the long completely flat moraine that encloses the plain of Ivrea in a horseshoe shape. The Moraine Amphitheater of Ivrea, which spreads over an area of approximately 530 sq. km, is one of the world’s most important geological formations of glacial origin. It was generated ...

Ivrea. Now that we are out of the mountains, it is harder to justify having our bags transported, so we spent a day in Ivrea to organize a parcel to send extra weight back to Canada. With the help of Google Translate, we bought a box at the post office which we duly filled with 5.25kg ...

Pont-Saint-Martin 21.51km (17.84km walking) Arranging for our bags to be taken by taxi again on this final stage of the Aosta valley, we walked a short distance through the old town to view the Roman bridge of Pont-Saint-Martin. Built in the 1stC BC, the bridge carried the Via delle Gallie across the River Lys. While most ...

Verrés to Pont-Saint-Martin, 16.84km Al Drit, our B&B in Verrés was the kind of place you want to stay for a few days. A delightful property with a garden and private terrace, it sits just below the Castillo de Verrés, with a view out over the Valley. What’s more, the family also operates the excellent Ristorate ...

Some thoughts from Lois on a reluctant day off. The guide book indicated that the 19km route to Verrez would be “another strenuous stage returning to the terraced hill-sides on the north and east flanks of the Aosta valley before descending to the broadening valley floor.” Unfortunately, this is where our interrupted training becomes relevant. While ...

Chatillon to Verrés, 21km It was a good day to walk but not as enjoyable as I was by myself. The description in the guide book referred to in Lois’ blog was accurate. I met Ad again a couple of times and passed the time of day with a couple of other walkers. The 12-13thC Castles of ...

Nus to Châtillon, 16.4km Our solution to the bag transportation issue was to take the 7-minute train journey to Châtillon, drop our bags at the hotel and return to Nus, all for 8€. The only problem was the hike up from the train station to the hotel, carrying 4 packs between us. Paul, being Paul, left ...