A further 25km down the valley from Sant'Ambrogio, SUSA is a possible stopover if it's late, a likeable, rather scruffy old town with a few one-star hotels , such as the du Park , Via Mazzini 15 (tel 0122.622.273; L120,000-150,000/?61.98-77.47), and the three-star Napoleon , Via Mazzini 44 (tel 0122.622.855; L150,000-200,000/?77.47-103.29).

While most of Italy was ruled by the Romans, Susa and western Piemonte remained in the hands of the Gauls. The best-known of its Gaulish leaders, Cottius, was much admired by the Romans, with whom he reached a peaceful arrangement, and there are a handful of Gaulish/Roman remains scattered around the town centre, notably in Piazza San Giusto , where there's a redoubtable defensive gate. The adjacent Romanesque Cattedrale has a fine campanile, but its most interesting features are the external frescoes - a Crucifixion and an Entry into Jerusalem . Just above the piazza, Cottius erected the Arco di Augusto in honour of the Roman emperor; its top is decorated with a processional frieze and gives views down into a small park laid out around the remains of some Roman Baths .

From Susa you can make an excursion to the Abbey of Novalesa , 10km away at the foot of Rocciamelone in the Cenischia Valley, close by the French border. The church here is a relatively recent, eighteenth-century structure, but part of the cloister and walls date back to the eighth century, while the four chapels, one of which is decorated with frescoes, were built in the tenth century.

In the opposite direction, southeast, at the end of the Chisone Valley, PINEROLO is worth a short stop. It's a small town with a medieval centre that was for centuries the seat of the Acaia princedom, precursors of the House of Savoy. You can walk around the frescoed courtyard of their palace , halfway up the hill, where you'll also find the church of San Maurizio , burial place of the Acaia princes, decorated with fifteenth-century frescoes. In the town centre, there's a Gothic Duomo and the huge covered Cavallerizza Caprilli or parade ground for horses. The Museo della Cavalleria (Tues-Thurs 9-11.15am & 3-5.15pm, Fri-Sun 9-11.30am; free) gives a good sense of the town's glory days, with displays relating to the prestigious former cavalry school of Pinerolo. There are lots of objects - uniforms, arms and spurs, trophies and documents, even a stuffed horse - pertaining to the brilliance of the horsemen and their steeds, as well as displays of bridles, horseshoes, tools and the like, and a rather sad section devoted to the tanks and jeeps that have come to replace horses in the military.