Welcome to the Gran Paradiso Experience: an adventure for every season

This 13‑stage route starts and finishes at Pont Canavese, touching Val Gallenca, Valli Tesso e Malone, Valli Orco e Soana and Valle Sacra. It also crosses the Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, following the Strade Reali di Caccia commissioned by Vittorio Emanuele II to reach the Royal Hunting Reserve. It's a waymarked trail (white‑and‑red) for walkers who don't fear hard work: expect 13,000 metres of uphill, airy traverses, boulder fields and every kind of mountain path. In exchange come memorable encounters with marmots, ibex and birds of prey. You'll pass delightful hamlets, ancient chapels and sanctuaries with their tales of miracles; and you'll witness genuine Alpine spectacles-like the high‑altitude narcissus bloom in Valle Sacra-often crowning small lakes that only grazing herds and their keepers see year after year. The adventure leaves from Pont Canavese. Along the way, countless stops merit a visit, such as the Ecomuseo del Rame at Alpette, reminding us that copper mines and master coppersmiths once thrived in Valli Orco e Soana. At Musrai, several houses and a two‑storey church have been restored by volunteers. On the route, the chapel of San Bernardo below Cima Mares is a natural belvedere embracing the Canavese plain, the mountains of Valli Orco e Soana, Gran Paradiso, the Serra Morenica, the Monferrato hills and Monviso.
At Monastero di Lanzo you can reach the lake on Colle della Forchetta (around 2,000 metres). Just below Alpe Ciavanis stands the namesake sanctuary, well worth a visit. You mirror the sky in a lake at Passo del Bojret, while other lakes await at Colle della Terra d'Unghiasse.
Ceresole Reale, within the Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso in high Valle Orco, is popular in every season-a key destination for climbers too. Mineral and thermal springs once operated here. From Villa di Ceresole you can reach Lago Lillet at nearly 2,800 metres. A famed sanctuary is that of Prascondù (1,321 m) in the comune of Ribordone, while the Pian delle Masche (1,953 m) has the opposite reputation: legend says it was a meeting place for witches. At Mombianco (1,000 m), one of 26 hamlets of Ingria in Val Soana, a small church preserves a fresco of the Shroud. Nearby stand the Santuario di Santa Libera and Betassa.
Chiapinetto di Frassinetto stands out for its arcades, stone portals and the church of Santa Croce. Frassinetto is ringed by birch, chestnut and ash woods and dotted with small religious monuments like the chapel of Bellosguardo, never was a name more apt. From its 1,000‑metre perch, the village has earned the title "belvedere of Canavese". Walkers love to pause at Lago Quinzeina, on Punta Quinzeina Nord and Punta Quinzeina Sud in Valle Sacra. Here, Castelnuovo Nigra is famous for its wall‑mounted nativity scenes, and Cintano for its basilisk monument.

At the foot of Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, the Arcansel zip line at Frassinetto is more than a quick thrill: it's full immersion in nature and speed.
The Volo dell'Arcobaleno ("Rainbow Flight") spans 1,800 metres and can hit 140 km/h, treating those who take the leap to breathtaking views over the surrounding valleys and peaks.
Participants are clipped to a special pulley with magnetic braking and launched: the flight-solo or in tandem-lasts roughly 70 to 85 seconds, with a prone‑style position that lets you glide almost horizontal.

On Canavese's mountain waterways, canyoning and soft‑rafting thrive amid landscapes that still feel genuinely wild.
But the tradition of river fishing deserves its own chapter. Humankind's fascination with fishing goes back to time immemorial, and today it returns in the form of sport‑fishing you can enjoy throughout Canavese. Rich in lakes and streams with striking biodiversity, the area is a natural home for the sport. In particular, Val Soana offers dedicated reserves on its mountain rivers for this increasingly popular discipline.

From Il Caporal to Il Sergent, from single‑pitch lines to long multi‑pitch routes, the rock faces looming above Ceresole Reale burst with colour in summer as climbers return to retrace the lines on climbing routes where this discipline's history was written.
On these granite walls in Valle Orco, the early 1970s saw the rise of one of modern alpinism's most fascinating chapters: the Nuovo Mattino. It described a new way of climbing, more philosophical than muscular, a sort of ascent with a near‑mystical flavour. Its chief theorist was Gian Piero Motti and, among the many young climbers who came here in jeans and Superga shoes, there was a very young Mike Kosterlitz-later awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Alessandro Gogna dubbed these crack‑laced granite faces- demanding techniques specific to the rock- Italy's answer to Yosemite Valley.

Ceresole Reale is a launchpad for spectacular trails into the park that draw hiking enthusiasts. Classics include the ascents to Rifugio Leonesi (2,909 m) and Rifugio Jervis (2,550 m) from Borgata Chiapili di Sotto. Another fine hike leads to the Laghi di Bellagarda, on a path that climbs from the lower end of the village (Borgata Ghiarai) through woodland to the first of seven small lakes with sweeping views. Perhaps the most rewarding outing is to Lago di Dres: start from the road skirting the south side of the lake (Borgata Pian della Balma) and in a couple of easy hours you reach the mountain lake; from there you can continue to Colle Sià with vistas over the glaciers of the Tre Levanne. Another attractive option is the Giroparco Gran Paradiso: starting at Rifugio Città di Chivasso on the Nivolet, it unfolds in eight stages- linking to the Valle d'Aosta side- and follows the Strade Reali di Caccia, built in the 19th century by the House of Savoy with steady gradients of around 8-10% and stretches of dry‑stone walls and paving that once linked the royal hunting lodges, before the area became Italy's first national park.

Around Ceresole Reale in winter, numerous icefalls form; those at X Ice Park are created artificially by diverting a stream.
With its frozen waterfalls, Ceresole is a true paradise for ice‑climbers; and beginners can hire Alpine guides. In winter, the full loop around Lago di Ceresole Reale becomes a cross‑country circuit, skate and classic, totalling 17 km, with loops of varying difficulty that reach the village and sweep out to the dam's great wall.

For ski‑tourers and snowshoers the choice is vast: countless itineraries reveal the park's heart. A simple, highly scenic tour leads to Lago Serrù and then Colle del Nivolet: the road that carries cars in summer is closed in winter and turns into an easy, panoramic route where close‑up encounters with chamois and ibex are not uncommon.

Two kilometres from the village, at Borgata Chiapili, a one‑kilometre downhill ski slope is served by a lift.

Lower down Valle Orco, near Locana, lies a small historic Canavese ski area: Alpe Cialma. With four pistes served by a chairlift, a drag lift and a magic carpet, it feels purpose‑built for families and children- the classic place to learn and enjoy a day in the open air away from the crowds. Once a week you can even ski under floodlights; the area is also ideal for ski‑touring and snowshoeing.

In Val Soana, at 1,550 m in Piamprato, the tiny Pianeta Neve ski area offers 800 metres of pistes for skiing and snowboarding, served by one lift.

Straddling the boundary between the Torinese and Canavese, two lands as different as they are complementary, the Velodromo Francone in San Francesco al Campo is a gem for track‑cycling fans. Just 20 km from Turin, a short hop from Torino‑Caselle international airport and 35 km from Ivrea, it's easy to reach and close to attractions such as the Reggia di Venaria, the castles of Canavese and the Alpine frame of the Graian Alps. Built back in 1996, this concrete track has been a reference point ever since, offering an exciting arena for anyone ready to roll onto the boards. Here the story of numerous champions has been written, among them Filippo Ganna, six‑time world champion in the individual pursuit, an unprecedented achievement in cycling history.

Thanks to its features and lively calendar, the Velodromo Francone is a hub for athletes of all ages and a major draw for enthusiasts. With a 400‑metre lap and a maximum banking of 35%, it stages stimulating challenges for cyclists at every level: professionals honing their craft and amateurs testing themselves.
Open seven days a week from March to September, the venue is a valuable resource for the local cycling community thanks to its strong youth programmes. Here, emerging talents- especially the youngsters of the FCI Track School- can cultivate their passion and sharpen their skills under expert coaches, laying a solid foundation for the future of Italian cycling. The venue is also a fixture on Italy's national and international track‑racing calendar.
And it's not just the track: the velodrome provides services to make every visit comfortable and complete, from high‑quality track‑bike hire to changing rooms and showers, designed around riders' needs. It welcomes those with cycling in their blood who aren't full‑time athletes too: amateurs, triathletes, para‑athletes. For them, the venue offers a unique chance in the region to experience track cycling. In short, the Velodromo Francone is an outstanding reference point that makes the dream of the boards accessible to all.