Gran Paradiso - A Guidebook for Walkers and Trekkers

Guidebook to walking in Italy's Gran Paradiso national park, includes the Alta Via 2 Trek and a range of 28 walks from gentle strolls to full scale traverses of the region. The Gran Paradiso is a protected national park, just to the south of the Mont Blanc massif accessible from France and northern Italy. A range of deep valleys and passes give excellent walking. Refuge and valley accommodation is plentiful.

Maps

An excellent general road map is the 1:200,000 ‘Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta’ map published by the Touring Club Italiano (TCI) and widely available both in Italy and overseas.

As far as walking maps go, the situation has greatly improved. The most useful is a brand new 1:50,000 map published by the Park Authority and available at visitor centres; its sole drawback is that it does not cover the start and latter half of the Alta Via 2, because they are beyond the Park confines. A more detailed 1:25,000 version has been produced by the Cogne Tourist Board (distributed locally), however this only covers the Cogne–Aymavilles valleys. Other good maps are the excellent 1:25,000 ‘Carta dei sentieri’ series by L’Escursionista (www.escursionista.it) in conjunction with the Valle d’Aosta Region. Then there are the decent if slightly out-of-date ‘Carte Turistiche
e dei Sentieri’ (1:50,000) by FMB Bologna, which are handy as the two sheets ‘Gran Paradiso’ and ‘Monte Bianco’ cover the entire Alta Via 2, although they do not show the modifications to the later stages. Lastly there are the fairly reliable IGC ‘Carta dei sentieri’ (1:50,000 and vastly improved 1:25,000 series). Most of the above are on sale at bookshops and newspaper kiosks throughout the Gran Paradiso National Park and the Valle d’Aosta, as well as overseas map outlets and outdoor gear shops.