Bionaz: Glaciers, Mountain Trails and Living Traditions

Bionaz Between Glaciers and Water Landscapes

In Bionaz, glaciers and water combine to create an alpine landscape with distinctive natural features: around twenty glaciers cover approximately 15 percent of the municipality's area. Glacial water and water erosion have shaped alpine lakes, gorges, waterfalls, streams and small ponds. The Place Moulin dam is 155 metres high and 678 metres long, making it one of the largest dams in Europe. This combination of ice, water and a large engineering structure gives the area a clearly recognisable landscape.

Walks by the Water and in the High Mountains

At Place Moulin Lake, a level lakeside path closed to traffic leads in about one hour to the historic alpine pasture site of Prarayer and the refuge of the same name. From Ferrère, signed Trail 15 leads in approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to Arp-Damon Alpine Pasture. Also from Ferrère, signed Trail 14 leads in about three hours to the Chentre-Bionaz bivouac hut. The municipality provides four route maps for snowshoe hikes. The Dzovennoz–Lexert cross-country ski trail has a 5-kilometre main loop as well as several shorter variants of 1 to 3 kilometres.

Living Traditions and Art

Bionaz's culture is also expressed through seasonal customs and specific buildings. In Bionaz, the Inarpa and Desarpa festivals mark the seasonal movement of livestock to and from the higher pastures: in May, the cows return outdoors, and at the end of September, the herds leave the alpine pastures. In winter, rye bread is still baked in the ovens of the hamlets. The parish church of Santa Margherita was built in 1694 by enlarging an older chapel dating from 1617. The church contains frescoes and paintings by the Genoese painter Ettore Mazzini, as well as a partially gilded Baroque wooden high altar. During Carnival in Bionaz, traditional costumes are worn that are considered allegorical representations of the uniforms of French soldiers.

Family Adventures at Rebel Park

The Rebel Park adventure park in Bionaz is set among rocks, fir trees and larches. The zip lines at Rebel Park are up to 120 metres long. The easy “Percorso dei Leprotti” course at Rebel Park is intended for children aged 4 to 8. The age range specified for the easy course provides clear guidance when children aged 4 to 8 are taking part.

Getting to Bionaz

From Aosta, you can reach Bionaz via the SS 27 of the Great St Bernard to the turn-off at Variney, and then via Regional Road 28. Bionaz can also be reached from Aosta by the “Bionaz–Aosta” bus route in about 50 minutes. If you are planning accommodation in Bionaz, you can choose between travelling by road and taking the bus.

For further travel planning, you can also include La Salle, Allein, Frachey, Challand-Saint-Victor, Villeneuve, Courmayeur, Brengon and Lignan in your plans.

For the higher-level travel overview: Aosta Valley.