Aosta Valley · Aosta Valley
Bard
A 102-person village under the great Savoy fortress that guards the mouth of the Aosta Valley.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Bard is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Subscribe and you get Bard's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 12 min from Turin
- Population
- 102
- J9°
- F11°
- M12°
- A16°
- M20°
- J24°
- J27°
- A27°
- S22°
- O17°
- N12°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Bard sits at the entrance of the Aosta Valley, its single medieval street wedged between the Dora Baltea river and the rocky prominence that carries the fortress above it. The rock has been fortified since late antiquity: an Ostrogothic garrison held it in the sixth century, in Theodoric's time, and a record of 1034 already calls the castle impregnable. That older fort was razed after the 1800 siege, and the Savoy engineer Antonio Francesco Olivero rebuilt the current three-tier complex on the same ground between 1830 and 1838.
The village below is compact by design: one main street, noble houses from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and a parish church rebuilt several times over the medieval core. The rock and the river leave no room for the town to spread, so fortress and village occupy the same narrow footprint, one stacked above the other rather than side by side. What the place adds up to is a defensive chokepoint that never had space to become anything but a single street and the walls above it.
How to get there
From Turin (TRN), about 1 h 9 min by car.
Milan Bergamo (BGY) is about 2 h 24 min away.
By car from the center of Genoa 2 h 33 min.
Coming by train into Torino Porta Susa? Bard is about 1 h 9 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Turin airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Forte di Bard
Three terraced levels climb the fortress rock above the village. The current structure replaced an older fort that Napoleon ordered demolished after taking it.
Museo delle Alpi
Permanent museum inside the fortress, dedicated to the Alps as a geographical, cultural and human space, with rotating contemporary art exhibitions.
Borgo medievale di Bard
Medieval village stretched along a single main street, lined with fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mansions and noble houses below the fortress rock.
Palazzo Nicole
Eighteenth-century mansion on the main street, built by the Nicole family, the last counts of Bard.
Chiesa parrocchiale dell'Assunzione
Parish church of the borgo, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, rebuilt several times above the medieval village core.
Fairs and festivals
We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the organizer before you plan a journey around one.
Marché au Fort
Usually held in October
The lanes of the medieval village directly below the fortress fill with Valle d'Aosta producers, there to explain and sell what they make, from Fontina and Lard d'Arnad to the region's wines and grappa. Entry is free.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Ad GalliasRistorante
Ad Gallias carries a Gambero Rosso listing.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Bard is at the end of the road.
- A village of 102. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Ivrea, is 41 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Aosta, a city of 33,096, is 52 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 102
- Nearest city Aosta, 52 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Ivrea, 21 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,050 to €1,550 per m² to buy
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 97% of homes
- No primary school in the comune's register
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Turin airport (TRN), 1 h 9 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Aosta, 52 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, against 9% across Italy. There are 278 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 66% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Aosta province ranks 13th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Ivrea, 21 km as the crow flies. It has a children's emergency room too. The nearest major one is in Aosta, 38 km away. The nearest IB school is World International School of Torino, 57 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.86% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Aosta Valley spends about €2,570 a month, €530 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €313 a year for water, on the Aosta Valley average. In Aosta, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.12, a meal in a pizzeria €13.45 and a man's haircut €20.20.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 2% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. 95% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
FORTE DI BARD
Three-tier Savoy fortress rebuilt 1830-1838 between 400 and 467 meters above the village, now Museo delle Alpi and exhibition complex.
1800 SIEGE
Around 400 Austro-Piedmontese soldiers held the older fort for two weeks against Napoleon's 40,000-strong Army of Reserve, delaying the descent on the Po Valley.
102 RESIDENTS
One of Italy's smallest Borghi più Belli, a single medieval street with fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mansions and roughly a hundred people.
Common questions
- What is Bard known for?
- Bard is a 102-person village under the great Savoy fortress that guards the mouth of the Aosta Valley.
- Where is Bard?
- Bard is a comune in the Aosta Valley, at 400 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Bard?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Turin (TRN), about 1 h 9 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Genoa to Bard?
- About 2 h 33 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Bard?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 27 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 17 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Bard?
- Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena, Montesegale and Percile.
- How many people live in Bard?
- 102 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Bard a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Bard is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Ivrea, is 41 min away. The nearest city, Aosta, is 52 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Ivrea, 21 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 97% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 400 m
- Population: 102
- Surface area: 3.03 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Similar
Towns like Bard
What all six share with Bard: inland, away from the coast · under 1,000 people · hill towns
The letter
Read a sample letter
Chioggia | Everyone is wrong about this town
It’s not an alternative to Venice
Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.