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00 Courmayeur
Stemma di Courmayeur

Aosta Valley · Aosta Valley

Courmayeur

The Italian base of the 4,810-meter peak, a Roman waystation on the Via delle Gallie that became the country's highest commune and its best-known ski address.

Best time
Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
By car
2 h from Turin
Population
2,602

Known for

  • MONT BLANC

    4,810 meters, shared with Saint-Gervais-les-Bains across the French border and linked to Chamonix by the 1965 tunnel.

  • SKYWAY

    The 110-million-euro cable car opened in 2015, lifting visitors from 1,300 to 3,466 meters in rotating cabins.

  • SKI RESORT

    One hundred kilometers of pistes spread across Plan Chécrouit and Val Veny, a year-round mountaineering and ski capital since the early twentieth century.

When to visit

Best · Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar

  • J3°
  • F6°
  • M7°
  • A9°
  • M15°
  • J21°
  • J24°
  • A24°
  • S19°
  • O14°
  • N8°
  • D4°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Pantaleone di Nicomedia, 27 July

Why come

Courmayeur sits at 1,224 meters, at the foot of the southern face of the peak it shares with Saint-Gervais-les-Bains in France. The Romans called the place Curia Major and used it as a stop on the Via delle Gallie, the road running over the Little Saint Bernard pass. The tunnel to Chamonix, opened in 1965, runs eleven kilometers and turned what had been a remote valley head into a year-round border town.

Above the village, two side valleys open on either side: Val Ferret to the northeast and Val Veny below the Brenva and Miage glaciers, each carrying a stretch of the Tour du Mont Blanc and the Tor des Géants. Via Roma, the old pilgrim route, still runs through the center between them, its line unchanged even as cafés and hotels have filled in around the church and the medieval tower that predate the resort.

What holds the town together is that layering: a Roman crossing, a pilgrim street, a mountaineering village, and a modern lift system all occupying the same narrow ground at the base of one mountain, each era built over rather than replacing the last.

The Sunday letter

Courmayeur is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Courmayeur comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Courmayeur in our articles

How to get there

From Turin (TRN), about 2 hours by car.

Milan (BGY) is about 3h 13m away.

By car from the centre of Genoa 3h 22m.

Every town within reach of Turin airport.

Courmayeur, photo 1
Courmayeur, photo 2

What to see

  • Skyway Monte Bianco

    Two-stage ascent from Pontal d'Entrèves to Punta Helbronner, the cabins rotating slowly as they climb so the panoramic terrace on the Mont Blanc massif comes into view from every side before arrival.

  • Val Ferret

    Side valley running northeast along the Italian flank of the massif, traversed by the Tour du Mont Blanc and Tor des Géants.

  • Val Veny

    Parallel side valley below the Brenva and Miage glaciers, with road access in summer and the Notre-Dame de Guérison sanctuary.

  • Chiesa di San Pantaleone

    Parish church on Via Roma, dedicated to the town's patron and standing among the cafés and hotels that now line the old pilgrim street.

  • Tour Malloquin

    Medieval residential tower on Via Roma, the surviving fragment of the village that existed before the resort grew around it.

  • Giardino Botanico Saussurea

    Alpine botanical garden at the Pavillon du Mont Fréty station, reached by the cable car partway up, one of the highest gardens in Europe with around 800 species growing at 2,200 meters.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Courmayeur fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

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We recommend

Where to eat and stay

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Living here

  • Population 2,602
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy in town
  • Nearest airport Turin, 1 h 58 min drive
  • Regional capital Aosta, 42 min drive

Common questions

What is Courmayeur known for?
Courmayeur is the Italian base of the 4,810-meter peak, a Roman waystation on the Via delle Gallie that became the country's highest commune and its best-known ski address.
Where is Courmayeur?
Courmayeur is a comune in the province of Aosta Valley, in Aosta Valley, at 1224 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Courmayeur?
Turin (TRN), about 2 hours by car.
How long is the drive from Genoa to Courmayeur?
About 3h 22m by car.
When is the best time to visit Courmayeur?
Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 24 degrees, and June the wettest, with about 17 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Courmayeur?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: Pantaleone di Nicomedia, 27 July.
Which other towns are like Courmayeur?
Limone Piemonte, Ovindoli and Andalo.
How many people live in Courmayeur?
2,602 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

  • Elevation: 1224 m
  • Population: 2,602
  • Surface area: 209.61 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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