Often undeservedly overlooked, Val Strona is one of the most fascinating of the dozen or so inhabited valleys in the area between Lago Maggiore/Lago d’Orta and the Swiss border. With its combination of natural and ethnographic interest and above all, its long-established woodworking and manufacturing heritage, this is a place where traditional lifestyles are still flourishing.

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The mountains flanking the road that winds its way up the valley floor rise to just over 2000 metres and are carpeted in forests all the way to enchanting Campello Monti, founded by Germanic Walser settlers in the fourteenth century. At 1305 metres above sea level, it is the last settlement in the valley and is uninhabited during the winter.

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The 1265 inhabitants of Val Strona, known as the Green Valley, have traditionally lived in symbiosis with their environment, eking out a living from the meagre resources available.

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There are around ten villages in the valley; some are situated in the valley bottom in order to exploit the river for powering mills and lathes. Val Strona is unique amongst local communities for having maintained its traditional crafts, especially its longstanding woodworking tradition.

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Its nickname is wooden spoon valley (Val di Cazzuj in dialect). Driving up the valley, everywhere you will notice piles of wood waiting to be turned into toys, chiefly painted Pinocchios, or articles for the kitchen such as bowls, pepper pots and chopping boards. Whilst operations are certainly not on an industrial scale, the many tiny workshops are not particularly prepossessing and neither are the post-war houses which have grown up alongside the only road up the valley.

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Much more alluring are the several picturesque villages clinging precariously to the valley sides, sometimes invisible from the valley bottom, but always striking when you glimpse them through the trees.

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In addition to Campello Monti (Kampel in the walser dialect), which is undeniably one of the most scenic villages in the area, albeit the most distant, being at the head of the valley, we would recommend mysterious Sambughetto for a quick visit.

Tumbling down a slope so steep it appears that the houses are stacked one on top of another, with its precipitous narrow stairways, its baroque church and well-preserved stone-roofed buildings, the isolated village is unlike any other in the valley. It has a melancholy fairy-tale quality.

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Even ethnically, Sambughetto is an anomaly, having been founded by settlers from northern Europe. Once the haunt of witches, the area is now famous for its fabulous caves, amongst the most interesting in Piemonte. 

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As the natural environment is still intact, there are a wealth of paths criss-crossing the mountains and connecting villages and alpeggi where cheese is still made. In fact, you can park your car in Campello Monti and continue on foot up to the head of the valley, eventually arriving at Europe’s highest nature reserve: Parco Naturale Alta Val Sesia and Alta Val Strona.

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One enjoyable hike takes you up to Lake Capezzone, at just over 2000 metres above sea level, whilst a more challenging route climbs up to Bocchetta di Rimella and down to Rimella whence the original Walser settlers arrived 700 years ago.

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If you are looking for authentic locally made souvenirs, the best bet is drive to the village of Forno, named after the furnaces which used to use the iron ore mined in the vicinity.

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Look out for roadside signs inviting you to stop and shop. You can buy wooden kitchen ware (pots, plates, spoons etc) and other assorted items. There is also a small intermittently open museum showcasing traditional woodworking skills. 

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One of the most beautiful villages in the Alps, Campello was once a Walser village at the head of the Strona Valley. It is no longer inhabited during the winter months.

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Campello Monti (Kampel in Walser) one of Piemonte’s most isolated villages, comes as a pleasant surprise. The long road up from Omegna through wooded Val Strona crosses several unremarkable villages where the main activity is woodworking; the road eventually comes to a halt at 1300 metres amidst a landscape of harsh terrain and high peaks. But instead of the archetypal Walser settlement made up of compact, sturdy stone and wood dwellings blending beautifully into their backgrounds, the tidy village is an incredibly photogenic ensemble of coloured stone dwellings, huddled together on a steep mountain side.

 

The stout, prosperous looking, pastel coloured houses lend the village an incongruous almost Mediterranean air, especially when the summer skies are a dazzling blue. In this area, wealthy homes usually mean that the owner made his fortune elsewhere, often abroad, returning to his village to invest a lifetime’s savings in an elegant house. For six months of the year, Campello is completely empty, a ghost town, isolated under a blanket of snow. But come spring and the village awakens from its hibernation. During the summer months, the village is buzzing with life and bustling with people many of whom are former residents or their families, descendants of the original Walser residents. There is an active cultural associations, which meets up with similar Walser associations and organises festivals.

 

Once you have explored the village, including its two churches, and had a bite to eat at the only bar/restaurant, there are plenty of hiking opportunities up and beyond Campello, including a wonderful walk to lake Capezzone. A shorter hike, well worth the effort, takes you to Alpe del Vecchio at 1465 metres above sea level. The alp only consists of ruined buildings but the views of the village on the way up are fabulous.

 

Europe’s largest nickel mine

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In addition to remittances sent home by migrant workers, Campello Monti presumably also owed its once relative prosperity to mining; in fact, another surprising fact about this pretty village is that it once boasted Europe’s largest nickel mine. Closed after the war, when more cost-effective mines were opened, the spoil tips, looking very much like natural scree slopes, can still be seen behind the town from the main up-valley hike and it is also possible to make out the entrance to several tunnels.

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