The Valtellina

The Valtellina is an unusual valley: it runs east to west rather than north to south, and so it has one side always in the sun and one always in shadow. On the first, for fifty kilometres, are vineyard terraces built by hand on dry stone walls, a landscape resembling the Cinque Terre but in the mountains.

At the head of the valley the road climbs to the great passes: the Stelvio, which with forty-eight hairpins is the highest surfaced road in Italy, the Gavia, the Bernina towards Switzerland. Bormio has Roman baths still in use, Livigno is duty free and people go there to shop as well as to ski.

In summer

You walk. The Stelvio park is the largest national park in the Italian Alps, the Val Masino and the Val di Mello have granite walls that draw climbers from across Europe, and the Valtellina path runs along the valley floor for a hundred almost level kilometres, suited to bicycles and children.

The campsites

They are few, small and nearly all on the valley floor, between Sondrio and Bormio. Many stay open in winter because there is skiing here. The access roads to the side valleys are narrow and steep: with a long vehicle, ask first.