Tredici Laghi in a short Day

Monviso in the background looking into Val Pellice from Passo Roux

The summer may be winding down, but I'm still in summer mode. I can't resist another post about one of my favorite suggestions to our guests who visit during July and August, a trip to Tredici Laghi via 2 chairlift rides up to the top. The 13 lakes walk is tucked up in the back of the mountains of Val Germansca in an area called Prali, that we gaze across to every day here at Bella Baita, our view of the shared mountain border with France.

This alpine region is a gorgeously fun summer and winter playground. We love to ski here in the winter and tramp about these alpine meadows where the wildflowers are abundantly varied and the air is thin and crisp. All that hard uphill work made easy, thanks to the fine folks across the way, who run the Nuova 13 Laghi ski/chair lift summer and winter. We really enjoyed our day trip out and up there a couple of weeks ago. We especially appreciate the ease of getting up high, relatively quickly, since our time is limited to get up high as we usually need to get breakfast with our guests finished before we can slip away.
We've been sending all of our guests over to make the most of their time also and explore an area that use to be a military outpost for Italy built at the turn of the 20th century when Franco/Italiano relations weren't at their friendliest. The remains of the many buildings of the "casermette" that housed and sustained the soldiers and their horses when it was a thriving military operation are scattered about by some of the lakes. There are the remnants of a couple of old cannons by one of the upper lakes and several peaks and passes that give some breath taking views of Val Pellice and the wilds of France's edges. So, for the very modest price of 8 euros return, you can take the 2 chair lifts up, make a day of exploring the high alpine terrain on well marked trails counting off the lakes and buildings or making it up to one of said peak or a pass, before making your way back to the lifts before 5 pm and take the easy way down. It is a rather long walk down the home run but certainly another option. If you're not feeling so energetic, the "Capannina" mountain house will provide some mountain fare like polenta and sausages, or a simple panino, to sustain you and offers up a fabulous panoramic view from their deck, perfect for topping up your tan, or just soaking in the tranquility, before heading down into town. Ghigo di Prali is good for a bit of people watching and promenading about if you didn't get enough walking in earlier or just want to stretch your legs or have a refreshing drink or ice cream. If you didn't make it here for July and August, the lift is still open for three more weekends in September, so make sure you don't miss it this year. You could also mark it down on your "must do" list for next year and we'll be waiting for you here across the way.

View of the French border from the "Campanino" deck

Take a virtual tour of the Tredici Laghi area with the photo album below. We snapped these on our day out a couple of weeks ago.