Things to do
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Ghiacciaio del Miage
The largest debris-covered glacier in Italy, with a small lake at its snout that occasionally drains itself. The walk up from Val Veny is short and the moraine ridge above gives the whole view. The approach is on a marked path from the campsite at Cantina della Visaille.
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Mont Blanc
At 4,806 metres the highest mountain in the Alps, with its steepest and most serious flank on the Italian side. Courmayeur looks straight up at it, and the Skyway is the way most visitors reach its glaciers without climbing. Guided ascents from the Italian side go from the Gonella hut.
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Skyway Monte Bianco
A cable car in three stages to Punta Helbronner at 3,466 metres, with rotating cabins that turn through the ascent. The terrace at the top stands among the Mont Blanc glaciers and looks across to the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa. Cabins run year round and the top station holds a garden of alpine plants.
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Val Ferret
A glacial valley running northeast from Courmayeur under the Grandes Jorasses, closed to cars in summer and served by a shuttle. It is level enough to be a walk rather than a climb and is where the Tour du Mont Blanc passes.
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Val Veny
The valley on the other side of Courmayeur, running under the Brenva and Miage glaciers. The Miage is debris-covered and dark, which is why it looks like a rock river rather than ice. The road in is open in summer and a bus runs up from the town.
