Sondrio - Chiuro

This Wine Bike Tour, about 26 km long, crosses vineyards and apple orchards, as well as beautiful villages like Ponte in Valtellina and Chiuro. Along this route, you will find numerous wineries to visit and where you can taste the excellent Valtellina wines.

ITINERARY PROFILE

Length: 26 km  Travel time (without stops): 3-4 hours  

Terrain: all asphalt  

Elevation gain: 400 m

Type of route: on a panoramic provincial road up to Ponte in Valtellina; then on lightly trafficked municipal roads; finally return on the Sentiero Valtellina cycle path (initially some mixed sections). Note: Initially a steep climb up to 10/13% gradient up to Colda locality

WHAT TO SEE ALONG THE ROUTE

CASTEL GRUMELLO

FAI property, the medieval Castello de Piro al Grumello dominates a terraced rocky knoll (“grumo”) in a strategic sunny position just a few kilometers from Sondrio. It is a rare example of a twin castle, consisting of two distinct parts (a military one to the east, and a residential one to the west) surrounded by walls. Built between the late 13th and early 14th century by the Ghibelline Corrado de Piro, it was dismantled, like most fortified structures, in the 1520s by the Grisons.

CHURCH OF SAN GIORGIO A MONTAGNA IN VALTELLINA 

The San Giorgio complex, around which the historic center of Montagna in Valtellina is organized, consists of religious buildings from different eras. The Church of San Giorgio, dating from the 15th century, features a gabled facade and frescoes from the 15th-16th centuries on the sides of the portal, in the lunette above, and on the nave walls. At the rear is the Oratory of Madonna del Carmine (15th century), with a Greek cross plan and covered by ribbed vaults. Important is the cycle of Renaissance frescoes by Sigismondo de Magistris (1515) in the presbytery. From an inner courtyard, you can access the 17th-century Oratory of the Annunciation, beneath which is an ossuary that overlooked the cemetery through a beautiful serliana, replaced in the mid-18th century by the Church of the Blessed Virgin Addolorata with a baroque facade and a beautiful 18th-century painting inside.

CHURCH OF SAN FEDELE IN POGGIRIDENTI   

The building features a facade characterized by an unusual portico protecting a small staircase; notable are also the Romanesque bell tower modernized in Baroque style and the 17th-century architrave of the main portal on which is carved the coat of arms of the Nobili family, a prominent local family, featuring some interesting bas-reliefs. Inside, the church, divided into three bays with four side chapels, preserves precious 18th-century artifacts. Facing its forecourt is a structure composed of three buildings from different periods, remodeled and connected, including a 16th-century chapel housing a large fresco by Fermo Stella (1528) depicting the Madonna enthroned with Child and Saints.

SANCTUARY OF TRESIVIO

The Sanctuary, commonly called Santa Casa, with its grandeur suggests a grand project by an as yet unknown Lombard architect, possibly linked to the nearby Jesuit college in Ponte. The facade, wide and very tall, is the most majestic part of the building and features a Baroque soapstone portal, carved by G. Maria Tamagnino of Bormio (1714), with doors covered in embossed copper sheets. Under the dome is the small temple representing the Holy House built in 1701 explicitly referencing the Loreto model: it is a small chapel with two side entrances, covered by a barrel vault frescoed with a starry sky. In a niche is preserved a Black Madonna.

HISTORIC CENTER OF PONTE IN VALTELLINA

Located a few km from Sondrio, this village exuding history and culture is considered one of the most suggestive and charming in the entire province. Not to be missed are the Parish Church of San Maurizio, the church of Sant'Ignazio, and generally the historic center of the village, characterized by stone buildings and large wooden doors.

HISTORIC CENTER OF CHIURO

Besides the beauty of its historic center, Chiuro is famous for its artisanal tradition linked to the working of wood, iron, and the characteristic pezzotti. This small village also hosts numerous important wineries, to the point of being considered the wine capital of Valtellina.

BOSCO DEI BORDIGHI

The Bosco dei Bordighi natural reserve, spanning 47 hectares among the municipalities of Albosaggia, Faedo, and Montagna in Valtellina, is one of the very few remaining riparian forest patches, on the alluvial plain of the Adda river, rich in wildlife and tree diversity.

WINE TASTINGS IN CELLARS

Along the route and/or in the immediate vicinity, some wineries can be found where you can discover and taste the characteristic wines of Valtellina (reservation recommended):

Pizzo Coca Winery (along the route, loc. Ponte in Valtellina)

Dirupi Winery (along the route, loc. Ponte in Valtellina)

Marino Lanzini Winery (near the route, loc. Ponte in Valtellina)

Sasso Vivo Winery (near the route, loc. Ponte in Valtellina)

Le Strie Farm (near the route, loc. Ponte in Valtellina);

Nino Negri Winery (along the route, loc. Chiuro)

Folini Winery (along the route, loc. Chiuro)

Luca Faccinelli Winery (along the route, loc. Chiuro)

Balgera Winery (near the route, loc. Chiuro)

Nera Winery (near the route, loc. Chiuro)

Rainoldi Winery (near the route, loc. Chiuro)

Marsetti Winery (near the route, Sondrio)

Visit the website of the Valtellina Wine and Flavors Road and book your winery experience

BIKE WINE TOUR AND MORE: OTHER ACTIVITIES

RAFTING AND CANOEING

The Adda river is ideal for water sports such as rafting, canoeing, and hydrospeed. Navigating the river rapids surrounded by the Alps, vineyards, castles, dense forests, and ancient rural villages allows you to immerse yourself and experience the nature of Valtellina from a completely different, exciting, and evocative perspective.

WALKING/CYCLING AMONG APPLE ORCHARDS 

Besides its wines and other food and wine excellences, Valtellina, particularly the area around Ponte in Valtellina, is characterized by numerous apple orchards that produce high-quality apples with intense flavor. Along the proposed route, therefore, you will have the opportunity to pedal among terraces, apple orchards, and villages, always surrounded by the Rhaetian and Orobie Alps: a mix of landscapes that will make you fall in love with Valtellina!

BIKE RENTAL POINTS

CICLISPORT via Stazione 21, Poggiridenti | tel 0342 564231    

VALTELBIKE Albosaggia | tel. 393 8220777

DUE RUOTE piazza Carbonera 2, Sondrio | tel. 0342 515213