Savoy Castle – trail 15

from Tschemonal/Chemonal to Savoia Castle

Trail 15 starts from Tschemenoal and arrives at Savoia Castle (1405m). It is 3324m long and the total positive elevation gain is 63m.
The approximate time for the climb is 0h56. The trail is rated T difficulty.

A trail within anyone’s reach, relaxing, with virtually horizontal development, it runs almost entirely in the shade of the forest on the left side of the valley (orographic right of the Lys).

Queen Margaret

The trail starts from the hamlet of Tschemenoal/Chemonal, 2 km from the center of Gressoney-Saint-Jean: a tiny cluster of old houses built around a small church dating back to 1749 and dedicated to Our Lady of Grace (the house next to the church dates back to 1567).

After reaching the center of Gressoney-Saint-Jean, the trail leads to the Savoy Castle (Wikipedia), one of the valley’s pride and joys: ancient in appearance, but actually built at the end of the 19th century (it was inaugurated in 1904), it was the summer residence of Queen Margherita of Savoy, who was in love with Gressoney (and widely reciprocated by the town). A few years after his death in 1926, his son Victor Emmanuel III sold the castle to Milanese industrialist Ettore Moretti: his heirs in the 1980s sold it back to the Valle D’Aosta region, which still owns it today.

The interior of the castle still retains much of its period furnishings and is open to visitors all year round: link for prices and opening hours; tickets can be purchased online. The park is freely accessible: inside, just in front of the castle, is a lush alpine botanical garden (Wikipedia) of about 1000sqm, opened in 1990, which is recommended to visit in July and August to take advantage of the peak flowering period.

More information on level of difficulty, ascent times, maps and GPX tracks

Photo Gallery

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One of the wonderful dwellings along Trail 15

1. Start and finish

Trail 15 starts from Tschemonal , the elevation is 1408m.
See on Google Maps.

Latitudine e longitudine (WGS84 - EPSG 4326): 45.793677267, 7.82149890954

The arrival location is Savoia Castle. The altitude is 1405m.
See on Google Maps.

Latitudine e longitudine (WGS84 - EPSG 4326): 45.7660525278, 7.8257074668
Tschemenoal

Tschemenoal

The parking lot

The parking lot

Set “Tschemenoal” as your destination on Google Maps or Waze. Tschemenoal (or Chemonal) is a hamlet of Gressoney-Saint-Jean, consisting of a small church next to the state road, surrounded by a cluster of a few houses. At the base of the small church you can see the yellow marker identifying the start of Trail 15. Past the small church on the left (if coming from Gressoney-Saint-Jean), or before the small church on the right (if coming from Gressoney-La-Trinité) there is a comb parking lot, beyond the guard rail, which is quite capacious.

2. The route

From the small church in Tschemeonal, the trail starts by entering the forest, and turning immediately to the left. There are several gentle ups and downs: at the golf course, the trail crosses TRAIL 5 , which climbs towards the Valnera pass, then descends near Lake Gover to the valley floor, climbs slightly, and crosses TRAIL 4 , which climbs towards the Eclou pass at the Staller waterfall, which children always love..

Staller Stream Waterfall

Staller Stream Waterfall

…and finally, you arrive behind the parking lot of the Savoia Castle.

All in all, a great walk on a trail (especially the final part) that is wide and in perfect condition, passable even by strollers of some sturdiness.

The view towards Monte Rosa near the Staller waterfall

The view towards Monte Rosa near the Staller waterfall

3. Map and GPX track

This is the official map of the trail as recorded in the SCT Trail Registry of the Aosta Valley.
You can download the GPX track of the trail if you want to use it later in your favorite app.

Download the trail in GPX format