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Voykit pocket guide · Italy
Aosta
Aosta / Aoste
Give Aosta one full day on foot for the Roman walls, theatre and Sant'Orso; add a second only for the Pila cable car or a valley day-trip.
Aosta is the small capital of the Aosta Valley, ringed by mountains and built on a Roman camp plan that still reads in the street grid. The wall circuit, Porta Praetoria, the theatre and the collegiate church of Sant'Orso sit within about 15 minutes' walk of each other, so the historic centre is a half-day to a day. It works as a stop between Turin and Mont Blanc, or as a base for Pila skiing and the Great and Little St Bernard passes. Two languages are official here: Italian and French.
- Country
- Italy
- Local name
- Aosta / Aoste
- Best months
- May–Jun, Sep–Oct
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (crowds and heat in the valley), late Jan if you dislike fair crowds
- Stay
- 1–2 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- EUR
- Money
- Currency is the euro (EUR, €). Cards and contactless are widely accepted in cities; small cafés, markets and rural places may prefer cash.
- Daily spend
- Budget €60–95 excl. bed · Mid €95–160 excl. bed · High €160+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- TIM, Vodafone, WindTre and Iliad sell prepaid SIMs in shops and at airports; a passport and an Italian tax code (codice fiscale, issued in-store) are needed.
- Emergency
- All emergencies 112 · Police 113 · Fire 115 · Ambulance 118
- Plugs
- Types C, F, L · 230 V · 50 Hz · Italian type L plugs have three pins in a row; most sockets also take two-pin Europlugs (C), and bivalent sockets take Schuko (F).
- Tipping
- Bar: Leave €0.10–0.20 of change on the counter if you like.; Restaurant: Coperto or service may already be on the bill; leave €1–2 a person or round up for good service.; Taxi: Round up to the next euro.; Hotel porter or housekeeping: €1–2 per bag or per night.; Tour guide: €5–10 per person for a half day.
- Water
- Tap water is safe unless signed otherwise; Rome's nasoni fountains run all day. Restaurants serve bottled water (naturale or frizzante) unless you ask for tap (acqua del rubinetto).
- Toilets
- Few public toilets; use bars (buy a coffee), museums and stations, where some charge €1.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Coffee at the bar | €1.20–2 |
| Pizza or a plate of pasta | €8–14 |
| Fixed-price menu (menu a prezzo fisso) | €15–25 |
| Glass of local wine | €4–7 |
| Genepy liqueur, neat | €4–6 |
| eSIM or data SIM, about a week | €10–20 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- TRN · Turin Caselle
- Nearest commercial airport; train or bus onward to Aosta, allow 2–2.5 h door to door
- MXP · Milan Malpensa
- Longer transfer via Milan and Chivasso or by road; check connections
- GVA · Geneva
- Reachable by road through the Mont Blanc Tunnel; check seasonal conditions
Typical fares
- Turin → Aosta, train
- about 2 h with a change at Ivrea, hourly to Ivrea; check times
- Turin → Aosta, Savda bus
- about 2 h, three per day
- Aosta → Courmayeur, bus
- about 1 h 15 min
- Pila cable car, return
- about €25
Get around
The centre is small and flat enough to cover on foot; the Roman sights and Sant'Orso are all within the pedestrian axis. The Pila cable-car base is at Charvensod, about 500 m south of the railway station, with a shuttle in the evenings when the cable car is not running. Regional trains and Savda buses link the valley towns; a car helps for the passes and side valleys.
See and do
Known for
- Roman walls, Porta Praetoria and the theatre
- Collegiata di Sant'Orso and its cloister
- Pila cable car and ski slopes
- Fontina, carbonade and tegole
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Pila | Cable car from Charvensod, about 500 m south of the railway station | About 30–45 min from the centre |
| Courmayeur | Savda bus up the valley, or car via the A5 | About 1–1.5 h |
| La Thuile | Bus or car up the valley towards the Little St Bernard pass | About 1–1.5 h |
| Great St Bernard pass and tunnel | SS27 north from Aosta | About 45 min to the tunnel |
Sleep
- Centro storico (Via Sant'Anselmo axis)
- Everything walkable; best for one or two nights without a car.
- Around the railway station
- Practical for early trains and buses; 5–10 min walk to the pedestrian centre.
- Charvensod / Pila cable-car base
- Choose this if the cable car or skiing is the point of the trip.
- Hills above town (Porossan side)
- Quieter, views over the basin; you will want a car or taxi.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Good morning | Buongiorno / Bonjourbwon-JOR-no / bon-ZHOOR |
| Thank you | Grazie / MerciGRAH-tsyeh / mer-SEE |
| The bill, please | Il conto, per favoreeel KON-toh per fa-VOH-reh |
| How much is it? | Quanto costa?KWAN-toh KOS-tah |
| Can I pay by card? | Posso pagare con la carta?POS-soh pa-GAH-reh kon la KAR-tah |
| Where is the toilet? | Dov'è il bagno?doh-VEH eel BAH-nyoh |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Say buongiorno (until mid-afternoon) or buonasera on entering shops and bars; avoid: Walking in and pointing without a greeting
- Cheek kisses: Two kisses, right cheek first, among friends; follow their lead; avoid: Kissing strangers or in business settings
- Dress: Smart-casual in cities; covered shoulders and knees in churches; avoid: Beachwear, bare chests and flip-flops away from the beach
- Queues: At delis and pharmacies take a number (numerino); avoid: Assuming the crowd at a bar counter is chaos — pay at the till first where asked
- Restaurants: Wait to be seated and ask for the bill; avoid: Splitting a bill item by item with a large group
- Conversation: Food, football and family are safe openers; avoid: Mafia jokes and north–south stereotypes
- Dinner at a home: Bring pastries, wine or flowers (not chrysanthemums, which are for funerals); avoid: Refusing seconds too firmly
Scams and watch-outs
- Restaurants often close between about 14:00 and 19:00; plan lunch or expect pizza and fast food.
- Keep your restaurant receipt — checks are possible.
- The Roman monuments are sold as one combined ticket; individual sites can be closed for works, so check before paying.
- Mountain weather changes fast; the Great St Bernard tunnel is open year-round but the Little St Bernard pass is summer only.
- ZTL camera zones apply in Italian old towns; do not drive into the centre.
Aosta is a low-crime small city; the real risks are mountain weather, closed passes in winter and the midday restaurant gap. Keep valuables out of sight in the station area and use 112 for anything urgent.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Aosta yet. Suggested stay: 1–2 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Roman walls, Porta Praetoria and the theatre
- Collegiata di Sant'Orso and its cloister
- Pila cable car and ski slopes
- Fontina, carbonade and tegole
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Aosta Valley official tourism site: www.lovevda.it/en
- Trenitalia: www.trenitalia.com/en.html
- Wikivoyage: Aosta, revision 5241306 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5241306
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
AostaAosta / Aoste
A questo indirizzo, per favore
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No embassies in Aosta; most countries keep embassies in Rome and consulates in Milan or Turin. Check your own country's list.
Italian and French are both official in the Aosta Valley; French is common on signs and in the valley.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/aosta). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.