THE HIGH TOBACCO ROAD

Route details Recommended period Spring, Summer Phone+39 0444 964380

Wear comfortable clothing and hiking shoes

This itinerary is often also referred to as the "Dispersed Museum of the High Tobacco Road", with the idea of going beyond the simple hike in order to understand its function as a high-altitude link between the settlements and terraces, enabling the inhabitants to enjoy the minimum social life that hard work allowed.

The memory remains of the centuries-old cultivation of tobacco, which is now practically extinct, in the characteristic terraces supported by high dry-stone walls, known by the locals as masiere. The masiere were built by hand on slopes that reach 500 metres above the level of the River Brenta, directed to capture as best as possible the scarce rays of sunlight that the walls of the Altopiano dei Sette Comuni and the Massiccio del Grappa allow the crops to enjoy. In the hope of generating an income from those little patches of land.

The trail can be divided into three parts, each of which can be closed in a loop by descending to the valley (always signposted on the main path) and walking back up to the starting point along the River Brenta.

The route details are as follows:

from Costa to Valstagna: altitude difference 600m, distance 10km, time approximately 3.5 hours;

from Valstagna to Campolongo: difference in altitude 700m, distance 9km, time 3 hours;

from Campolongo to Bassano: difference in altitude 400m, distance 7km, time approximately 4 hours.

The numerous signposted paths that cross the route also allow you to abandon or resume the hike as you like, offering quick ways back to the valley.


Tobacco Museum

This small museum is located in Carpanè and was set up to remember all the efforts, sacrifices, hopes and, often, the desperation of the people of Valbrenta in cultivating this plant (open Saturday and Sunday, booking only).