forte di bard

Having lived nearby for some years in the 1980s I was curious to see what this very lengthy restoration and installation of exhibits in this striking but formerly closed off landmark had produced. I wasn't disappointed. Stunning vertiginous views and a really good way of getting a fresh perspective on the Valle D'Aosta. The Alpine museum is highly recommended. The interactive children's museum is also a good family experience but was only available in Italian and French at the time of our visit. This is great shame as the Valle D'Aosta is an underestimated place that fully deserves more tourist activity and the addition of English would open this up to a much wider audience.

The prisons which have been open since 2012 make the whole experience of the fort so much more realistic. Exhibitions however only available in Italian and French. Since I understand Italian ,I was able to enjoy the rambling of Count Cavur and the Fort's surrender to Napoleon.The lift up to the top of the Fort are free and one can then enjoy the overwhelming views but obviously the other parts inside are at a cost, just a few euros though.

In a somewhat out of the way destination, positioned majestically on a high rocky spur at the entrance into the Valle d'Aosta (78 km from Torino and mid way point on the A5 motorway between Milano and Geneva). We had seen the intriguing forte off in the distance on a number of our Switzerland journeys and decided to spend the time and take a look one Sunday in September. We parked about 1 km away for free and walked up to the attraction but the website notes that there is a parking station close by as well as the following information:From the web site (http://www.fortedibard.it/en/informations/how-to-reach-us) The Fortress of Bard is accessible by car taking the Valle d'Aosta's state road (SS. 26), or by motorway (A5) with exit points at Pont-Saint-Martin to the south and Verrès to the north (6 km and 9 km respectively from Bard).There is a multistorey car park at the foot of the fortress (hourly rate 3,00 € - night rate 1,50 €), the Lieron car park and the San Giovanni car park (free of charge) along the SS. 26 approximately 200 m from the fortress, and the Viadotto car park (free of charge) approximately 600 m from the fortress with a free shuttle bus service to and from the fortress on Sundays and public holidays. The nearest train stations (along the Turin-Aosta route) are Pont-Saint-Martin and Verres. It was a wonderful afternoon exploring a medieval castle and forte and was very well organised and run. It was clean and new and the operation was efficient. There was a minimal fee of $8 Euros to view the exhibition in the Museum at the time which was a selection of Picasso's works otherwise you could just walk around and look at the fantastic scenery from various vantage points while pretending that you ruled as Royalty! or a significant Military ruler.At the furthest point of access there was a bar with meals and ample toilet facilities to sustain your wandering activities whether you are the occasional tourist or a more regimented historical buff. This is in addition to the working hotel at the top level. This would be an excellent day out for families with children or teenagers, and or visitors and friend groups. Please see the pictures for opening times (closed Mondays only) as well as the web-site that is mentioned above and is in both English or Italian. At the Forte the shops on the second level, the forte reception, the ticket counters all spoke at least English and Italian with German and French depending on the individual serving. Heralding from the Bronze Age, the forte has been mainly used for miltary purposes since the 6th century, many french assaults, and during the spanish wars it is said to have been surrendered to Napoleon. There is a lot of fun to be had exploring and viewing the scenes from the vantage points or just having a quicker look at a major historical icon. We enjoyed immensley and hope that you do to!

The fort has a tremendous history related through very well designed installations , and doubles as a wonderful art museum.

Forte di Bard is famous for having resisted Napoleon for two weeks in 1800 when he was coming down the Aosta valley to defeat the Austrians in Marengo. 400 Croatians kept 40 000 french soldiers at bay. For this feat Napoleon ordered the fort destroyed, so the fort which is now there is a very modern construction, not very beautiful but austere and imposing. The stands on a mountain in the middle of the narrow valley, with a small one street town on its foot. The museum is recently modernized andf you get to the top with the help of three different funiculars, one after another (it is also possible to walk, but then you must first go to the end of the Bard main street, to the hotel Stendhal and go round the whole cliff. Beautiful walk, and not too steep. Once you get up, you'll buy your tickets, thre price depends on how many exhibitions you wish to see. There is a permanent one of the prisons in Fort du bard with shows about the Napoleon siege and other important events in the history of the fort (which used to be quite beautiful before its was destroyed and rebuilt). The temporary exhibitions can be quite interesting. We visited an impressive Picasso exhibition and the small bookshop. All in all, very much worth a visit, and I would believe smaller children would like it too (especially the prison cells!)

An amazing huge defensive fortress designed to protect the valley and now a cultural centre with various museums and exhibition spaces. 3 wonderful small glass funiculars take you to the top - these are free and you can wander the building for free - you only pay for exhibits and museums. Appeared to be fairly good facilities for those who are less physically able e.g lifts, golf buggies wheelchair ramps etc. Museums of the Alps was absolutely brilliant; very modern and sensory with lots of videos, pictures, moving exhibits and worked well even though we speak no Italian. Check what art is on display, at the time we visited they had a Picasso lithograph exhibition which was first class. We spent three hours and saw just over half the site.. Small nice cafe and plenty of toilets. Make sure to get off at the middle level on the way down and take the easy downhill walk through the pretty medieval village back to the car park. Multi storey car park was easy and virtually empty in Sept. Take a drive up towards Mont Avic National Park after for perfect photos of the fort and valley. One of our best days out in Aosta Valley.

Fantastic museum of the Alps, spent 3 hours there but could have stayed longer. The shop has plenty of souvenirs and nice books, T shirts...The "prisoner" exhibit is for the Napoleon aficionados.

Excellent view. Easy accessible owing to the lift. Nice info panels orund the forth with themes from history, geology, botany... Interesting Museum of the Alps. Problem = museum is lacking signs in english. Everything is written in Italina and French only. Be aware since the ticket is not cheap...

Forte di Bard looks impressive from the motorway, but up close it is even bigger. The 4 funiculars take you up to the top and the top floors host the museum of the Alps. it is a modern museum with computer displays, projections on the walls, but also has historic stuff like old buildings, equipment used for climbing before the modern age etc.

My husband and I took our two grandchildren, ages 5 and 6, to the Forte de Bard for the day. We live in Switzerland and the drive took almost two hours - and it was well worth it ! We have a sort of history project going on with the children and are visiting as many local castles as we can, and keeping records of each visit. When the lady at the reception heard this she gave us lots of brochures both on the castle and the Val d'Aoste which we all appreciated. And doubtless we shall be visiting some of the other 23 castles in the region soon.The children loved the outside lifts - they are used to télécabines but thought that an outside lift with a view which was also attached to a castle was magic - and they absolutely loved the two exhibitions we paid entrance fees for which were the Prisons and the Alpine Museum. The "Prisons" isn't so much about a prison but more the history of the castle and there is a very imaginative film showing how it grew from Roman times to today. The Alpine Museum is extremely well done and captured the attention of two small people (and two big!) for an hour. Of course we all live in the Alps but nonetheless we learnt a lot from it.You can take the lifts up and down free of charge. You pay for entrance to whichever exhibition you choose.The staff of the museum are incredibly nice. A lady at the ticket booth suggested that we only visit the prisons and the Alpine Museum. I had asked for a ticket to cover everything and she thought that perhaps the art exhibition might not be so interesting for the children. I appreciated her candour - and she saved me money. Being in the Val d'Aoste all the staff speak French but many also spoke very good English.My only criticism of the museum was that it was somewhat hard to find the entrance to the Alpine Museum when leaving the Prisons. But a staff member walked us in the right direction.Sadly the Children's Museum was not open to individual visitors. It is on weekends and in the summer so next time we will plan better.We had a "sort of" lunch at the bar. There is a nice looking restaurant there but we only want a snack. The food at the bar is really not very good. The "toasts" - ham and cheese toasted sandwiches - were OK but the little pizzas that the children chose were not. My granddaughter said "yuck!" and when I tried it, I agreed! The man serving there was very nice - only spoke Italian I think but that wasn't a problem for us. It might be for others. The "Bourg" of Bard which is easily accessible from the first lift offers far more in the way of food and drink and next time we will go there.There is on-site parking (3 levels) at the castle. However I found the ramp between levels to be extremely narrow and overly steep. You enter on the middle level which fills up first so I recommend an early morning visit if possible so you do not have to negotiate the ramps!The Forte de Bard is really worth a visit and is extremely educational. We loved it!

Visited Forte di Bard on the way from the mountains to Malpensa. Have seen the fort many times before as it can be easily spotted from the highway A5. Easy access by car and multiple lifts. Visited the Alpine and photography exhibitions, but you can visit the place even free of charge and take photos to the valley until the ticket office at the top of the fort.

In the Middle Ages anyone going into and out of the Aosta Valley passed through Bard and its wonderful to see how a Fort like this and its predecessors completely dominated all of this traffic. Now a lot of money has been spent on this facility. The location is impressive, the glass lifts give great views. I suspect though that the staff have now turned the whole thing around to suit themselves. Most of the attraction was closed and there were at least 60 people in the ticket office with two people handling tickets and explaining why the different parts were closed. We gave up and walked down the five levels. A walk which was very interesting thanks to the notice boards at many points explaining the history, architecture, geology and location of a fascinating fort.

The Bastion of Bart is something of huge:the location creates something of Majestic around this massive architecture.It's extremely fascinating, but the interior is modern: the bastion is used like art gallery, not always related to the castle life. Be always careful in case of congress.It's just my point of view, but it's a shame that the interior have been modernized.

I had for years meant to visit this fort in the middle of Val d'Aosta in northwestern Italy on the road to France and the tunnel under Mont Blanc. Being the castle was over run, after a long siege by Napeleon and virtually distroyed, much of the historical features were lost, and now is a cultural center. The village at the bottom still shows bullet holes in the building that survived the battle. Transversing the road to the top is worth the time; ride up and walk down.

at the top of a mountain, stunning fortress with modern exhibitions, often concerts and good food