Anello Regina Margherita

The Queen Margherita Loop links Lago Gover, Castel Savoia, the chapel of Greschmatto and the historic centre of Gressoney-Saint-Jean, places associated with the queen's long summer stays in the valley.

Why it matters

Some trails cross country; this one crosses a story. Margherita di Savoia holidayed in the Lys valley from 1889 to 1925, and the loop gathers the places her presence shaped: the parish church square where the town gathered, Lago Gover under its firs, the mule track called the Sentiero della Regina that climbs to her castle at Belvedere, the wayside chapel of Greschmatto, and the villa that is now the town hall.

What to notice

The route links Lago Gover, Castel Savoia, Greschmatto, Villa Margherita and the Beck-Peccoz museum, joining the lakeside, royal and Walser-settlement landscapes of Gressoney-Saint-Jean.

Context and history

The loop is a modern waymarking of an old social geography. The Sentiero della Regina was the queen's own path between the town and the castle built for her between 1899 and 1904; the lakeside and riverside stretches follow the walks her court made fashionable. After Margherita's long tenure ended with her death in 1926, the valley kept the royal memory in its paths' names, and the regional trail network (numbers 14 and 15 among them) formalised the circuit.