Free Walking Tour Aosta: Roman Arch to Sant'Orso Cloister

Through Aosta Stop by Stop, from Roman Gates to a Medieval Cloister

1. 1

   Arch of Augustus

   

   The walk begins at the Arch of Augustus, Arco d'Augusto in Italian and Arc d'Auguste in French, a free-standing monument you can walk up to and around at any hour without paying anything. Take a few minutes here: it is the first sign that Aosta was a Roman foundation, and the emperor whose name the arch carries is the same one in the name of the Roman town, Augusta Prætoria Salassorum.

   The French name on the plaques is no accident either. You will meet it again at almost every stop, because Aosta's places have long carried both languages side by side.

   From the arch it is 390 m and about 6 minutes to Porta Praetoria, the gate that let travellers into the Roman town.

   Local name

   Arco d'Augusto

   Hours

   Freely accessible, no fixed opening hours

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Arch of Augustus on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Porta Praetoria

   

   Porta Praetoria, Porta Pretoria locally and Porte Prétorienne in French, was the eastern entrance to Augusta Prætoria Salassorum. Where the arch stood outside the town, this gate marked the moment you were inside it, and you still pass through the same opening on foot today. It is open at all hours and free.

   Stand inside the gate for a moment and look along the street ahead: the road leading in follows the line of the old Roman main axis, which you will meet again at the main square.

   The Roman Theatre is only 130 m on, about 2 minutes away, the shortest leg of the walk.

   Local name

   Porta Pretoria

   Hours

   Freely accessible, no fixed opening hours

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Porta Praetoria on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Roman Theatre

   

   The Roman Theatre is the first ticketed stop and the one where paying pays off first. This is where the Roman town gathered for performances, and walking into the remains gives you a sense of scale that the gate alone cannot.

   Entry is on the combined ticket you buy here, which also covers the museum and the cryptoporticus later on the walk, so the decision is really about all three. If Roman Aosta is why you came, buy it. If you only have an hour, the theatre alone is the one to choose.

   From here the longest leg of the route follows: 750 m and about 10 minutes to the cathedral. On the way you pass the Cathedral Treasury Museum.

   Local name

   Teatro romano di Aosta

   Hours

   Summer (Apr–Sep): daily 9:00–19:00 | winter (Oct–March): daily 10:00–13:00, 14:00–17:00. Closed 25.12 and 1.1

   Price

   10 EUR combined ticket (Roman Theatre, Forensic Cryptoporticus, Early Christian Basilica of San Lorenzo, Regional Archaeological Museum, MegaMuseo; one entry each, valid for six months); ages 19–25 3 EUR; under 18 free

   Website

   valledaostaheritage.com ↗

   Location

   Roman Theatre on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Aosta Cathedral

   

   Aosta Cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta and called Notre-Dame de l'Assomption in French, is the seat of the local diocese. Together with Sant'Orso, where this walk ends, it is the most important witness to the history of sacred art in the Aosta Valley, and it has been an Italian national monument since 1940.

   Its history runs back more than a thousand years, and you read it in the building itself: generation after generation altered it in a different architectural language, and the artworks kept inside add further layers. That makes it a church to walk through slowly rather than glance into. Entry is free.

   Timing matters here more than anywhere else on the route: arrive in the morning and you will not stand in front of a locked door.

   The Regional Archaeological Museum is 290 m away, about 4 minutes on foot.

   Hours

   Mon–Sat: 06:30–12:00, 15:00–19:00 | Sun: 07:00–12:00, 15:00–19:00

   Price

   Free

   Website

   diocesiaosta.it ↗

   Location

   Aosta Cathedral on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Regional Archaeological Museum

   

   The Regional Archaeological Museum of the Aosta Valley, known as MAR, is where the finds of this region are gathered. After the gate and the theatre in the open air, this is the place to see the objects behind the ruins up close.

   It is the second site on the combined ticket. With the ticket in hand, give it about 45 minutes; without it, this is the stop to leave out if your time is short, since the cryptoporticus and the theatre show Roman Aosta where it actually stood.

   The next leg is 460 m, about 6 minutes, to the Roman forum.

   Local name

   Museo archeologico regionale della Valle d'Aosta

   Hours

   Summer (Apr–Sep): daily 9:00–19:00 | winter (Oct–March): daily 10:00–13:00, 14:00–18:00. Closed 25.12 and 1.1

   Price

   10 EUR combined ticket (Roman Theatre, Forensic Cryptoporticus, Early Christian Basilica of San Lorenzo, Regional Archaeological Museum, MegaMuseo; one entry each, valid for six months); ages 19–25 3 EUR; under 18 free

   Website

   valledaostaheritage.com ↗

   Location

   Regional Archaeological Museum on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   Roman Forum Cryptoporticus

   

   The Roman Forum Cryptoporticus, Criptoportico forense in Italian, is the quietest stop on the walk and the easiest to underestimate. A cryptoporticus is a covered corridor sunk partly into the ground, and this one formed the underground level of the forum, the civic heart of Roman Aosta, with the modern town built over it.

   It is a ticketed site, the third and last one on your combined ticket. The theatre announces itself and a museum is a museum, but a sunken forum corridor is something you only find because a route put you on the street right over it. If you have the ticket, do not skip it.

   From here it is 250 m, about 3 minutes, into the main square, where nothing costs money until the cloister at the very end.

   Local name

   Criptoportico forense

   Hours

   April–September: 09:00–19:00; October–March: 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–17:00. Closed 25 December and 1 January.

   Price

   10 EUR combined ticket (Roman Theatre, Forensic Cryptoporticus, Early Christian Basilica of San Lorenzo, Regional Archaeological Museum, MegaMuseo; one entry each, valid for six months); ages 19–25 3 EUR; under 18 free

   Location

   Roman Forum Cryptoporticus on Google Maps ↗

7. 7

   Piazza Émile Chanoux

   

   Piazza Émile Chanoux is Aosta's main square, a long rectangle at the centre of town and free to cross at any hour. Two of the streets leading off it, Via Jean-Baptiste de Tillier and Via Porta Praetoria, run along the course of the ancient decumanus maximus, the Roman main street you entered at the gate.

   The name tells a newer story. The square used to honour Carlo Alberto of Savoy and was then rededicated to Émile Chanoux, a notary and partisan who coordinated the Aosta committee of the National Liberation Committee. Here the Roman grid and twentieth century history meet in one place.

   The last leg is 470 m, about 6 minutes, to the Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso.

   Hours

   Freely accessible, no fixed opening hours

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Piazza Émile Chanoux on Google Maps ↗

8. 8

   Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso

   

   The Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso, dedicated to Saints Peter and Orso, is the cathedral's partner in the story of sacred art in the Aosta Valley, and a fitting place to end. The church itself is free to enter.

   Two things set it apart. Between the roof and the ceiling of the nave, ancient Ottonian frescoes have survived, and the cloister is known for its medieval capitals. That cloister is the reason to pay the small entry fee here: if you enjoy carved detail, it is the best value entry of the day, and it rounds off a walk that began with Roman stone.

   The route ends here. If you want to return to the Arch of Augustus, the GPS navigation in your browser leads you back.

   Local name

   Collegiata di Sant'Orso

   Hours

   Church: daily 9:00–18:00 (year-round). Cloister: Apr–Sep 9:00–19:00 | Oct-2 Nov 9:00–18:00 | 3 Nov–Feb 9:00–17:00 | March 9:00–18:00. Tours daily at 11:00 and 16:00 (Apr-2 Nov) resp. 15:00 (3 Nov–March). Closed 25.12.

   Price

   Church: free. Cloister (Chiostro): 2 EUR adults / 1 EUR children (self-guided); 10 EUR adults / 5 EUR children museum pass (tour); under 6 free.

   Website

   lovevda.it ↗

   Location

   Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways to Walk Aosta

You can join the route at any stop, and the order here is the recommended one. If the full walk with every interior is too much, these cuts hold together well.

Roman Aosta in an hour

Stops: 1, 2, 3

For a short visit or a first look: the arch, the city gate and the theatre. That is 520 m and 8 minutes on foot, and the only entry is the theatre on the combined ticket. With a proper look inside the theatre you are done in a little over an hour.

Free outside, all eight stops

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

For a tight budget: walk the whole 2.7 km route in 38 minutes of walking, see the theatre, museum and cryptoporticus from the street, and go inside only the cathedral and the church of Sant'Orso, both free. Count on about an hour and a half.

Cathedral to Sant'Orso

Stops: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

For a second half day, or if you already saw the Roman gates: 1,470 m and 19 minutes of walking from the cathedral to Sant'Orso. Entries are the museum and the cryptoporticus on the combined ticket, plus the cloister if you want it.

How Long the Aosta Walk Takes, With and Without the Ticketed Sites

Pure walking time is 38 minutes over 2.7 km, the longest leg being the 750 m from the Roman Theatre to Aosta Cathedral. The real time is set by the interiors: about 40 minutes in the theatre, 20 in the cathedral, 45 in the museum, 20 in the cryptoporticus and half an hour at Sant'Orso, plus a few minutes at each open-air stop. That adds up to roughly three and three quarter hours.

Start at the Arch of Augustus at 9:30 and the timing works all year, with the cathedral and the Roman sites all visited in the morning: you reach the theatre at about 9:58, the cathedral around 10:48 and the cryptoporticus around 12:03. You arrive at Sant'Orso around 12:42 and finish shortly after 13:10.

The Roman trio takes a little over an hour, the free outdoor version about an hour and a half, and the stretch from the cathedral to Sant'Orso around two hours with the museum, the cryptoporticus and the cloister.

Before You Set Out in Aosta

• Start and finish: The recommended start is the Arch of Augustus and the walk ends at the Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso, but you can begin at any stop. The route is a one-way line; the GPS navigation in your browser takes you back to the start if you want.
• Best time: Go in the morning, so you reach the cathedral and the ticketed Roman sites well before midday.
• Costs: The arch, the gate, the square and both churches are free. The theatre, the museum and the cryptoporticus share a combined ticket, with reduced entry for young adults and free entry for minors. The Sant'Orso cloister charges a small fee, with a lower price for children and free entry for the youngest.

Common Questions About Walking Aosta