Gran Paradiso Tour — Stage 5: Pont → Rifugio Città di Chivasso

From Pont climb to the wonderful Nivolet plateau, one of the widest high-altitude plains in the Alps, dotted with lakes and peat bogs, to the Col del Nivolet (2,612 m). Minutes beyond the pass, already in Piedmont above the Orco valley and the Ceresole lakes, you overnight at the Città di Chivasso hut (2,604 m).

The climb to the Nivolet is a revelation: past the rocky step of the Croix de l’Arolley, the trail emerges onto one of the widest high plateaus in the Alps, where the Dora meanders lazily among peat bogs and lakes. The landscape feels more Scandinavian than alpine, protected and almost flat for kilometres. You pass the Nivolet lakes and the Savoia refuge before the col, where you enter Piedmont: the Città di Chivasso hut, a former customs barracks, overlooks the Serrù and Agnel reservoirs. On summer weekends the Nivolet road below is closed to cars and taken over by cyclists.