You can reach Sondrio, perhaps by train. And you follow the cycle path that runs along the Adda river. Between greedy stops and rock carvings.
It is one of the best seasons to visit Valtellina. The wet weather of this unusual spring has made the mountains very green, and the peaks still covered with snow. Until the middle of June the main road between Lecco and Colico is interrupted for works: you have to exit at Bellano and take a few kilometers of a minor road along the lake. Discouraged by the risk of queues, many repeat visitors in recent weeks have chosen other destinations - with the result that there are hardly any queues anymore. Even before the road reopens, therefore, it may be time to go back to the valley. By car, in fact, or by train, as we recommend doing in this proposal suitable for those who love cycling on mostly flat cycle paths along a river.
SHOPPING BEFORE STARTING. The river in question is the Adda, the cycle path takes the name of Sentiero Valtellina. The stretch that we propose for a weekend in June is the one that goes from the capital Sondrio to Tirano and beyond, to Grosio. If you take the train to Milan and take your bicycle with you, you will pay a surcharge of 3 euros valid for 24 hours. Once you get off in Sondrio, you don't necessarily have to pedal straight away in the direction of the cycle path. You can decide to park your bike at the station and take a walk around the town. Here are some tips for shopping for typical products: al Saraceno, in viale dello Stadio 24 (better to go there by bike; for information, see the link below), as well as flours and pizzoccheri, there are wines. Bresaola doc from Antica Macelleria Rigamonti in the central street that connects Piazza Garibaldi and Piazza Cavour (tel. 0342.216638), milk and goat cheeses next to the Casa del Cheese (tel. 0342.514673). Cappuccio and cream brioche at the La Milanese bar in Piazza Garibaldi, and you can leave by bike.
THOSE VINEYARDS HESSE LIKED. The Sentiero Valtellina can be reached in a few minutes from the Sondrio station (for detailed information on the entire route up to Grosio, see the link below). It skirts the river Adda and climbs up the valley, offering glimpses of the sun-kissed Rhaetian side, on its terraced vineyards supported by 2500 (sic) kilometers of dry stone walls. They are what a special admirer of Valtellina and its wine, Hermann Hesse, described as «Majestic hills dotted with vineyards, deeply undulating and terraced». In the more pleasure-seeking than sporting spirit of Hesse, if you are tired after a few kilometers of pedaling you could make a stop in Piateda, for example at the La Vecchia Fattoria farmhouse (for information, see the link below). The topics are not lacking: pizzoccheri that need no introduction, sciatt - buckwheat pancake balls stuffed with melted Casera cheese - taroz - mashed potatoes with melted cheese and green beans or better still snow peas, to be eaten with salami - venison salmì, polenta taragna - buckwheat - or mogna - mixed buckwheat and corn ... To be accompanied with one of the ruby red wines that Hesse liked so much, from Inferno to Sassella to Grumello to Sforzato, a meditation wine that is obtained with an ancient practice of drying of the grapes.
IN TIRANO BETWEEN BASILICAS AND PALACES. If after the snack you manage not to get up, but also to get back on the saddle, you can continue in the direction of Tirano - unless you choose to return to Sondrio. After a few kilometers of flat pedaling along the river, the ancient tower of Teglio stands out on the Rhaetian side, the place that gave the valley its name. If you have arrived this far you can reach Tirano, the watershed between lower and upper Valtellina, about 25 kilometers from Sondrio. A town that has a pleasant historic center to walk around, with the seventeenth-century Palazzo Salis, formerly home to the governors and podestà of Graubünden Salis von Zizers, ten frescoed rooms overlooking a courtyard of the sixteenth century, the beautiful Italian garden (for information, see link below). At the end of the avenue that comes from Sondrio there is also the Basilica of the Madonna di Tirano, a beautiful Renaissance sacred architecture built following the apparition of the Madonna to Mario Omodei from Tirano in 1504, the destination of many pilgrimages. Just behind the basilica the Bernina Red Train passes from time to time, a Unesco World Heritage Site, which passes Lake Poschiavo, the Bernina glacier and reaches St. Moritz in the Engadine. While meditating on the opportunity to extend your stay to make the journey on the train, you could also treat yourself to a glass at the Vineria, a place in a historic setting with a well-stocked cellar, a stone's throw from the Town Hall square.
THE ROCK ENGRAVINGS ON ARRIVAL. But you could also decide to continue by bike. And continue to go up the river Adda along the Sentiero Valtellina, passing the last terraced vineyards and beyond, until you reach Grosio, at 656 meters above sea level - 350 more than in Sondrio, but spread over almost 50 kilometers, so that the slope is not felt much. One of the good reasons to get here is to visit the Park of rock engravings, with the Rupe Magna, a large rock on which you can walk - perhaps barefoot on the stone warmed by the sun - with over 5 thousand engravings depicting warriors, animals, anthropomorphic figures, the oldest of which date back to the end of the Neolithic, that is to the fourth millennium BC. The best time to visit is sunset, or sunrise, when the grazing light allows you to better identify the figures on the rock. Above the Rupe Magna there are the vestiges of the Old Castle of S. Faustino from the XNUMXth century, with its church, and the New Visconti Castle from the XNUMXth century. A closeness that gives the sense of historical continuity over the millennia.
EAT, SLEEP, ARRIVE. The Open restaurant in the center of Sondrio (about 30 euros, for information, see the link below) is a small place in a historic setting with an open, informal and creative kitchen. In Tirano, the Trattoria Valtellinese in the center (about 25 euros, tel. 0342.701147) offers abundant traditional Valtellinese dishes. If you have no budget problems, in Sondrio in Piazza Garibaldi there is the Grand Hotel Della Posta (weekend packages with 2 nights and 2 dinners at 330 euros each, for information, see the link below), a historic hotel recently refurbished with Spa In Sernio, after Tirano in the direction of Grosio, there is the Ostello Il Seicento, with comfortable rooms in an old renovated seventeenth-century house (from 36 euros per person, for information see the link below). To get there better by train, also thanks to the I travel in Lombardy formula: 15 euros per day, 25 on weekends, 30 on long weekends, trains and public transport included.
FOR INFORMATION: Valtellina The Saracen Map Path Valtellina Sondrio - Grosio Palazzo Salis Tirano winery Open Restaurant Post office The seventeenth century
