50.04 Isola (I) - Chiavenna (I), ViaSpluga

Our tips for the fourth stage

• San Guglielmo and Santuario di Gallivaggio: two pilgrimage churches that remind us that the Splügen Pass was also a place of pilgrimage.
• Chiavenna: Small town with Mediterranean flair.

Stage 4 / Isola - Chiavenna
We hike down the valley towards Portarezza-Campodolcino. The small plain in the middle of the steep mountain valley invites you to linger. The two pilgrimage churches of San Guglielmo and Santuario di Gallivaggio remind us that the Splügen Pass was not only a trade route, but also a place of pilgrimage. The last stop on the viaSpluga is the small town of Chiavenna. Even in Roman times, Chiavenna was an important junction for the routes that led over the Alps from Italy (Splügen, Septimer, Maloja and Julier). Chiavenna's ‘centro storico’ with its cobbled alleyways, arcades and squares, stone bridges and fountains, churches, chapels and stately town houses is well worth a visit. And for those who have had enough of walking, the wines from the neighbouring Valtellina taste particularly good in the numerous crotti and trattorie.

The viaSpluga is a cultural and long-distance hiking trail in the central Alps that has connected the German-speaking Grisons, Rhaeto-Romansh, Walser and Lombards and the two villages of Thusis and Chiavenna for centuries. The viaSpluga runs largely along historic mule tracks, many of whose original structures have been preserved or restored. The viaSpluga is around 65 kilometres long in total.

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Walk comfortably from accommodation to accommodation and benefit from the luggage transport included in the price. The tours can also be simplified using public transport.

The Museo della viaSpluga e della Val San Giacomo in Campodolcino, where the history of the valley and the transit route is documented, is well worth a visit. On the rocky slopes of the hamlet of Vho is the so-called ‘Scribaìta’ - an 8 x 12.5 metre gneiss slab with enigmatic, right-angled, staircase-like hollows (caution! Not signposted). The pilgrimage church of Gallivaggio with the highest church tower in the valley can be seen from afar. The Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to two girls at this spot in 1492. The historic centre of Chiavenna with its typical narrow alleyways enchants visitors with its southern charm.

The viaSpluga is signposted throughout from Thusis to Chiavenna as regional hiking route no. 50 and with brown viaSpluga signposts.

Stage 4: Isola - Chiavenna: Follow the course of the River Liro through the shady chestnut woods of Val San Giacomo to the southern-looking Chiavenna. On leaving Isola, a dirt track on the left edge of the equalising basin leads to the dam wall. A somewhat steep descent leads down to the Liro. As far as Ponte Ganda Rossa, stay on the left-hand side. Continue on the right side of the river, past Campodolcino (a visit to the viaSpluga Museum is recommended) and the equalising basin in Prestone and through one of the first large deciduous forests to the hamlet of Vho. After the plain in Vho, you cross the Liro and briefly change banks until you reach Cimagangda. From here, the trail runs along the right bank of the river again until San Giacaomo Flippo. You cross the village of San Giacomo Filippo and reach the hiking trail at the upper end of the village, which climbs again at the end. From here, you now reach Chiavenna via Bette on a ‘high path’. The last section offers a beautiful view of the small town.