This guide to the Tour du Mont Blanc Stages 3 and 4 will help you plan the route from Ville des Glacier to Courmayeur.
After a challenging Stage 2, our third day on the Tour du Mont Blanc presented us with a new set of big goals. Scary goals.
Somehow we needed to cover 16 miles (although at the time we thought it would be 14 miles), plus lots of elevation gain and descent.
I’d never hiked that far in one day before. Here’s how it went!
Tour du Mont Blanc Stages 3 and 4: Activity Profile
- 16 miles
- 4,367-foot ascent
- 6,181-foot descent
The Goals for Tour du Mont Blanc Stages 3 and 4
We’d be combining Stages 3 and 4 in a single day.
Stage 3: We planned on hiking from Ville des Glaciers up to Col de la Seigne, where we’d cross from France into Italy. Next, we’d go down the col into Val Veni, past Cabane du Combal (where Refuge Elisabetta is).
Stage 4: From there, we’d begin hiking up to Col Chécrouit. Then we’d descend to Maison Vieille, and then begin the extra steep descent into Courmayeur.
Ville des Glaciers to Col de la Seigne
The previous day, after hiking Col des Fours, we’d taken a bus from Ville des Glaciers to the Les Chapieux campground. This morning, we took an early bus back to pick up the trail where we left off.
The shuttle bus operates only during the summer, and it can be a good way to shorten the route a little bit.
After about a mile we passed Refuge des Mottets (but didn’t stop), and the TMB continued on a steady incline. The views were amazing from the very start.
The trail continued on a steep incline, going up and up. This incline didn't feel as difficult as yesterday's Stage 2 hike though. I'm not sure if it was actually easier or if I was getting my trail legs.
As we got closer to the Col de Seigne, we began walking into a cloud.
When we reached the col, we also crossed from France into Italy!
Descending into Val Veni
It was pretty cold at the col, so we didn’t linger before beginning the descent.
This was a relatively easier, gentler descent that I really enjoyed! I thought it was gorgeous in the drizzly moody weather.
There’s a brief fairly flat section where you can walk more quickly (until you reach Elisabetta), then more downhill again. We'd initially planned to stop at Elisabetta for lunch, but opted to get a sandwich from last night's campground instead.
And then, another flat section, which was quite a nice way to cover lots of miles.
Hiking to Col Chécrouit
Next came our second uphill ascent of the day. The trail to Col Chécrouit goes up, up and up.
Views of glaciers in the distance are amazing, but they are behind you so you have to pause and look behind often. (Not just because you’re out of breath, although that’s also a great reason to pause.)
When we reached the col, the views continued to impress.
The trail goes around the mountain shoulder and then begins dropping down. I really enjoyed this downhill section, and even trail-ran part of it to cover more miles more quickly.
We took a short break at Refuge Maison Vieille for a beer just before our big descent. Read more about food and drink on the TMB.
The Descent to Courmayeur
From this point, you can opt to either take a chairlift and then a gondola down to Courmayeur, or hike.
We opted to hike. It was quite steep. The chairlifts and gondolas went right overhead, reminding us we could’ve chosen the easy route. On one of the gondolas, I even spotted a hiker we'd been leapfrogging, and was a little bit jealous.
Either way, you’ll end up in Courmayeur. The trail goes right through town.
Once we descended into town, we checked into our hotel (the wonderful Hotel Bouton d’Or) and got amazing pasta at Pizzeria La Remisa. The best part was that our next day was a zero day (a rest day)!
This was one place along the TMB where it made more sense to stay at a hotel rather than camping the whole way. You might want to check out our other lessons learned, as well as backpacking gear recommendations!
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