What to do in Soana Valley
The most authentic mountain of Canavese, in the Gran Paradiso
Carved by the Soana stream, in the heart of the Gran Paradiso National Park, Soana Valley is the most authentic mountain landscape in Canavese: wild valleys, alpine pastures and villages that still speak the Franco-Provençal dialect. Here you climb to the Sanctuary of San Besso, set into the rock, reach Pian dell'Azaria — which Mario Rigoni Stern called 'the most beautiful place in the world' — and discover Ingria, among Italy's Most Beautiful Villages (Borghi più belli d'Italia). This is the valley that gave birth to the Clerico brothers, future owners of the Moulin Rouge in Paris. Here's what to do, depending on who's travelling with you.