Visit Aosta
Aosta, the Rome of the Alps
Staying at Aosta nel Cuore puts you literally steps away from two thousand years of history: the historic centre is closed to traffic, and every corner of the city is within walking distance.
It takes just a few minutes to reach the Arch of Augustus, built to celebrate the city's founding, or the Porta Praetoria, the monumental gateway that once opened onto the road to Gaul. The Roman Theatre, its facade still almost intact, and the Cryptoporticus, the mysterious underground gallery that once surrounded the city's sacred precinct, round out a route you can easily cover in a morning.
The heart of city life, though, is Piazza Chanoux, with its 19th-century town hall and fountains — the ideal starting point for wandering the streets of the centre, past shops, cafés and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. Not far away, the Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso houses one of the finest medieval cloisters in the Alps, its carved capitals telling biblical stories and local legends.
From Aosta, half an hour by car brings you to some of the region's most beautiful castles: the fairy-tale Fénis Castle, with its crenellated towers, Issogne Castle, famed for its Renaissance frescoes, and the Royal Castle of Sarre, once a Savoy hunting residence.
And at the end of the day, Aosta Valley cuisine awaits: fontina cheese, Arnad lard, mocetta and the valley's wines, best enjoyed in one of the taverns of the old town — perhaps after a stroll to wherever the mountains come into view, quite literally, at the end of every street.