Val Viola

Alta Valtellina

The valley is surrounded by the imposing mountains of the Cima Piazzi and Corna di Campo group: the most important summits are the Cima Piazzi (3.439 metri), Cima Viola (3.374 metri) and Cima Dosdé (3.280 metri).

Completely immersed in green, Val Viola is still today a real natural oasis, with its many shieling and traditional housing units, still used by farmers to bring their herds grazing and to produce alpage cheese.

What to do in Val Viola

A lot of excursion possibilities are available thanks to the more than 30 kms of tracks and 10 kms of roads, ranging in difficulties from easy to hard. Hiking though is not the only activity available to turists in Val Viola: both during the summer and during the winter you will be able to enjoy a wide range of activities, wheter alone, in a couple or with all your family.

Discover all of the activities

Flora and fauna

In 2003 Val Viola Bormina was recognized by the EU as a Site of Communitary Importance (SCI); it is therefore a protected natural area belonging to the Natura 2000 network(CEE 1992/43), focused on guaranteeing the long term survival of animals and plants in Europe.

The SCI “Val Viola Bormina – Ghiacciaio di Cima dei Piazzi” presents an extremely high natural and landscape value. Spanning about 6000 acres, it presents 14 natural habitats, thanks in parts to the traditional alpine activities still persisting in the area.

The area is particularly rich in wild fauna and is home to a lot of species which are becoming increasingly rare or even extinct in similar areas. 62 species of nesting birds can be found, like goshawks (Accipiter gentilis), sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus), white partridges (Lagopus mutus), mountain pheasants (Tetrao tetrix) rock partridges (Alectoris graeca saxatilis). The SCI is also home to four different species of ungulates: deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and ibex (Capra ibex).

Floral diversity is very high and it is possible to observe more than 400 vascular species, of which 37 are extremely rare in the alps and are protected at international level. Some of the most interesting ones are Trientalis europaea, Aquilegia vulgaris, Trichophorum alpinum, Sparganium angustifolium e Linnea borealis.