Aosta is a Roman town with the Alps standing around it like a stage set. The Romans founded it in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria, after subduing the local Salassi tribe, and they laid it out on a neat grid that still shapes the old centre. The Arch of Augustus, the Porta Praetoria gate, and the remains of a theatre with a surviving wall nearly twenty metres high stand among cafes and shops, and snow-capped peaks rise at the end of every street. It has been called the Rome of the Alps.
The reason for all this is the pass. The Great St Bernard, at about 2,470 metres, is one of the oldest crossings of the Alps, used by Celts, Romans, medieval pilgrims and, famously, by Napoleon's army in 1800. At the top, on the Swiss border, the hospice founded in the eleventh century by Bernard of Menthon has sheltered travellers ever since, and its monks kept the large rescue dogs that took the saint's name. The road from Aosta climbs the valley past old stone villages and the new tunnel entrance, then leaves the tunnel traffic to wind up through hairpins to the pass, with stone avalanche galleries and steep meadows. The old road is only open in summer, usually from June to October, and weather can bring snow even in July, so check conditions. Surface quality is generally good but narrow, with tight corners and occasional rough patches.
Valle d'Aosta is a small, autonomous region where French is an official language alongside Italian, and the food reflects the double heritage. Fontina, a soft, nutty cheese made from the milk of cows grazed on high pastures, is the signature, and it appears melted in fonduta, baked in soups and stuffed into cutlets. Local rye bread, cured lard from Arnad and sturdy red wines from steep terraced vineyards fill out the table. Castles crown many of the nearby hills, and those at Fénis and Aymavilles are especially fine.
Aosta is a town of thirty thousand with fuel, restaurants and hotels, and plenty of parking near the centre. Fill up here before heading into the mountains, because the stations get sparser the higher you go, and prices in Switzerland are higher. Carry your passport for the border and check whether you need a Swiss motorway vignette if you plan to continue on motorways. Warm clothes are a must for the pass, even on a sunny day.