Auberge la Grande Ourse

In Trient at the foot of the Col de Balme climb.

The place

In Trient, at the foot of the Col de Balme climb. A small auberge in a small village, with the kind of dining room where everyone ends up talking to everyone because there is nowhere else to go.

By this point in the Tour most people have worked out who else is walking their schedule, and Trient is where those paths converge for the last time — after the Col de Balme the route splits between Tré-le-Champ, Vallorcine and the valley, and the group disperses. It is also your last chance to spend Swiss francs. Anything you have left is better used on breakfast here than carried over a col into France.

Getting there

Booking

Book on montourdumontblanc.com

This hut sells its beds through the Tour du Mont-Blanc booking portal, so the planner can show you its live availability night by night — and warn you the moment a full night frees up. Every night on the Tour must be booked; there is no walk-in option in season.

Other places to stay nearby

• Auberge Mont-Blanc Auberge · 1300 m
  0.0 km further along the Tour, at 1300 m. Bookable on the Tour du Mont-Blanc portal, so the planner shows its availability night by night.
• Refuge Le Peuty Refuge · 1328 m
  1.2 km further along the Tour, at 1328 m. Bookable on the Tour du Mont-Blanc portal, so the planner shows its availability night by night.
• Hôtel du Col de la Forclaz Hotel · 1527 m
  2.2 km back down the Tour, at 1527 m. Bookable on the Tour du Mont-Blanc portal, so the planner shows its availability night by night.
• Refuge du Col de Balme Refuge · 2191 m
  5.6 km further along the Tour, at 2191 m. Takes its own reservations — contact it directly.

For when this stop is full. These book themselves and are not on the Tour du Mont-Blanc portal — contact each directly and confirm before you rely on it.

Stages passing this stop

• Stage 9: Trient → Tré-le-Champ