Valgrande making a splash, with a new Visitor Centre in Cicogna

Sunday 2 February will be a special day for Cicogna and for the Valgrande National Park; in the village, which is the “gateway” to the large area of wilderness, there are the St. Julius celebrations, and the inauguration of the Visitor Centre, with its new and eagerly awaited design.

Thanks also to the mild temperatures of this anomalous January, the day is expected to attract many to the village.

For the occasion, the park and the managers of the hostel (which is also based in Cicogna) are trying out carpooling, to reduce the traffic along the narrow and winding road that climbs up the mountain, crossing the gorge of the Rio Val Grande.

For the time being, the procedure is simple: the meeting place is in Rovegro (the village where the main road ends), at 10 a.m.; the people will be counted, and the cars necessary to take them up to the inauguration will set off at 11 a.m. “At weekends, in the summer, traffic can be a problem,” the hostel manager, Andrea Avogadro, explained. Not only because of the car park at the entrance to Cicogna, but also because the road is really narrow and when a vehicle going up meets one coming down, it requires occasionally complicated manoeuvres.

This is why carpooling is being tried out. For information and availability, for Sunday 2 February, please contact the Hostel “del Parco”, on 371/3571697, booking@visitvalgrande.it.