Trail Name: Tour dei Vigneti
Trail Type: Short to medium distance; almost exclusively paved, well maintained, but the route itself is not always marked.
Length:
Segments – 1.5, 3.5, 5, 5.5, 8 and 10 kilometers/6 miles
Total – Variable, depending on trail segments taken
Convenient to: Aosta, Italy
Marking: Green rectangular Sign with white lettering “Tour dei Vigneti” and a number
Trail Description: A series of short, one-way routes along dirt paths or little-traveled roads covering the village of Aymavilles and nearby hamlets. The numbered routes range from easy (most segments) to difficult, and may be combined according to time and/or ability, and to form circuits.
Trailhead: Cave des Onze Communes, Frazione Micheley, Aymavilles
Parking:
Aymavilles –
Small lot along SR47, just south of the Old Grizzly Café, and another lot further up the road between the roads Micheley and Urbains
In Frazione Vecellod, along street of the same name, just after the sign for the road to Aosta.
Pompoid – by the playground/sports field (basketball and soccer)
Public Transportation Options:
Bus: Societa Valdostana Autoservizi Pubblici (SVAP) Aosta-Cogne line, services Aymavilles from Aosta
Rail: No rail service to Aymavilles. (The closest rail station is in St. Pierre, about 4 kilometers distant.)
Suggested Stages:
This is a series of linked trails, branching off from one another, therefore you can choose which segments you want to do, for a total of about 10 kilometers
Trail Itinerary-Reference Points:
Aymavilles: Frazione Micheley, behind small mount and return, Frazione Pompiod; Pompiod: through village center, past soccer and basketball court, through fields; Jovencan: Frazione Adams, Frazione Pinga, Frazione Jobel, retrace partly; head to Agriturismo Mont Rosset, retrace; Pompiod: through fields and vineyards; Pompiod: retrace trail to small mount to the wine cooperative, but head south on Frazione Urbains, then Franzione Micheley around the castle; return to start.
Representative Trail Photos:
Restrooms: Aymavilles – on the lower part of SR 47 x Frazione Chef Lieu, by the church clock tower
Attractions on or near Trail:
Tasting along the Trail:
In Aymavilles, both Cave des Onze Communes and Les Cretes Viticoltori are open most days for visitors, morning and afternoon.
Alternative Options:
Hiking: Vignes et Terroirs vineyards series trails; a short circuit starts in Aymavilles.
Car: Routes de Vins Valle d’Aoste, a series of five short routes totaling about 130 kilometers, almost interlocking, covering the Aosta Valley wine producing areas.
Additional Information:
Regional: http://www.lovevda.it/en
Trail (segment) specific: http://www.caveonzecommunes.it/tour-dei-vigneti/
Comments:
The Aymavilles wine-making community designed this system of cycling itineraries for E-Bikes, which along with regular bicycles, may be rented locally. While mountain bikes are not necessary, sturdy tires are, as parts of the trail are not on asphalt! (See the photos above.)
Obviously a very short ride, but its several variations adds to its attraction. Any number of variations could prove feasible to families with tweens and teens looking for a late afternoon’s diversion; and for an early morning constitutional!