Where to Stay

The Tour du Mont Blanc

Courmayeur, Hotel Berthod

Comfort, Recovery and Family Hospitality at the Foot of Mont Blanc

Every summer, walkers from all over the world arrive in Courmayeur with one clear goal: to complete one of Europe’s most iconic treks, the Tour du Mont Blanc. Around 10,000 people finish it every year, from every corner of the planet — heavy packs, trained legs and that particular look in the eyes of someone who has chosen to measure themselves against something truly great. And all of them, sooner or later, set foot in this small Valdostan village.

After days spent crossing alpine passes, eternal glaciers, breathtaking panoramas and mountain huts where you sleep close together but happily, choosing where to stay in Courmayeur is not simply a practical decision. It becomes part of the experience itself — a chapter of the journey, not just a logistical footnote.

Courmayeur, Hotel Berthod

Why Courmayeur is a Fundamental Stage of the TMB

At 1,224 metres above sea level, at the foot of the Italian side of Mont Blanc, Courmayeur combines alpine authenticity and comfort in a rare balance. It’s not a city, but it has everything a walker needs — and offers it on a human scale, without the chaos of mass tourist destinations.

The historic centre is a maze of stone alleyways, artisan shops, bars where locals gather early in the morning, and restaurants that smell of melted fontina and polenta. There is something genuine in the air of Courmayeur — perhaps because it’s a village that has respected the mountains for centuries, long before they became fashionable.

What You Really Need After Days of Walking

The Tour du Mont Blanc covers around 170 km and 10,000 metres of positive elevation gain, spread across 7 to 11 days depending on pace and chosen variants. It’s an extraordinary experience, but also a physically demanding one — and recovery is not optional, it’s an integral part of the performance. Those who underestimate it usually find out the hard way, halfway up the next big climb.
Quality rest. Deep, silent sleep is not a luxury — it’s physiology. During sleep, the body repairs the micro-muscle damage accumulated on the ascents, rebuilds glycogen stores and consolidates the motor memory of the trails walked. One good night’s sleep is worth more than any supplement. And sleeping in a real bed, in a quiet room, after nights in crowded mountain huts, has a quality that every walker knows well.
Wellbeing and relaxation. Sauna, hot tub and steam room are not post-trekking indulgences — moist heat promotes the drainage of lactic acid, improves peripheral circulation and prepares the muscles for the next climbs more effectively than any hurried stretching. Half an hour in the spa can be worth an extra day of recovery. Time well spent.
Practical services. An energising breakfast with protein and complex carbohydrates to replenish reserves, a heated space to dry shoes and technical clothing, real-time updates on weather and trail conditions — these are details that seem small until they’re missing. And when they’re missing, you feel it.
Central location. Being in the heart of Courmayeur means being able to stroll through the village in the evening, sit in a café and watch the world go by, observe local life — the same alpine life that the TMB lets you glimpse only in passing, and which here you can finally savour at leisure, with no destination and no schedule.

A Family Hotel in the Heart of Courmayeur
At Hotel Berthod, walkers find something that goes beyond a simple overnight stay.
Since 1882, we have welcomed mountain lovers: mountaineers, skiers, hikers, and always the great walkers passing through. Generations of travellers have crossed our threshold with the same spirit — that of those who choose the mountains not to escape, but to find themselves. Anyone who has walked the TMB knows this better than most: some journeys aren’t made to arrive, they’re made to understand.
Our story began long before the Tour du Mont Blanc became the global phenomenon it is today. When Jean Laurent Berthod opened the doors of his Maison in 1882, the travellers arriving in Courmayeur were pioneering mountaineers, explorers, men and women who approached the mountains with respect and humility. That spirit has never left this house.
Our location in the historic centre of Courmayeur is a concrete, everyday advantage: a short walk from the start of the main trails, from outdoor gear shops for anyone needing to replace something — a pair of socks, kinesiology tape, a waterproof jacket — and from the village restaurants. No transfers, no stress, no wasted minutes.
For those completing the Tour du Mont Blanc, we offer comfortable rooms designed for genuine recovery, a heated equipment storage room where backpacks and trekking poles can be left safely, a wellness area with hot tub, sauna, steam room and a relaxation zone housed in the original stone cellars of the building. And we offer personalised advice from people who live in the mountains every day — not as tourist guides, but as home. We know which trails get crowded, where snow lingers longest in spring, which variant is worth the detour.
Many guests choose to stay two nights: the first to truly rest, sink into bed and let the silence do its work. The second to experience Courmayeur at a slower pace, explore the village, perhaps take the Skyway Mont Blanc cable car up to 3,466 metres and look down at the route just walked — before setting off the next morning with fresh eyes and fresh legs.

Rest, Recharge, Set Off Again
The Tour du Mont Blanc is not just a trek. It’s a journey through three countries — Italy, France, Switzerland — different cultures, different languages, landscapes that shift character at every pass but maintain the same silent majesty. It’s a personal challenge, certainly, but also a deeply emotional experience: those who have walked it know that certain ascents teach things about oneself that no book could ever say. And certain descents — with burning quadriceps and the panorama ahead — stay with you forever.
Along the way, you meet extraordinary people: someone walking alone for the first time, someone who does it every year as a ritual, someone who dedicates the journey to another. The TMB is also this — a temporary community that forms on the trails and dissolves at the mountain huts, leaving something behind.
Courmayeur is often described by walkers as a turning point along the route: not only geographical, but inward. A place where stopping makes sense, where breathing comes easily, where accumulated exhaustion finally finds a space to settle and transform into satisfaction. Many come back the following year — not for the Tour, but simply because Courmayeur stayed with them.
Choosing where to stay in Courmayeur means taking care of your body and giving depth to your journey. Because sometimes the difference between finishing the Tour and truly living it lies in the quality of the silence in which you fall asleep in the evening — and the light in which you wake up in the morning, ready to go again.

A Door Always Open to Walkers
If you’re planning your Tour du Mont Blanc and looking for where to stay in Courmayeur, we’d be delighted to welcome you.
At Hotel Berthod, we know the value of effort, of silence, and of that quiet satisfaction felt at the end of a stage — the same that has accompanied our family for over 140 years. We have watched thousands of backpacks leave from our door, and we know that each one carries a different story.
Send us a message, tell us where you’ll be on the Tour, how many nights you need and what you’re looking for. We’ll do our best to have everything ready — because someone who arrives after days of walking deserves not to have to think about anything, at least for one night.

Rest well. Recover your energy. Then set off again — with the same enthusiasm that brought you here, and something more.