Auberge-Refuge de la Nova

In the hamlet of Les Chapieux at 1554 m, at the bottom of the long descent from the Croix du Bonhomme.

The place

At the bottom of the long descent from the Croix du Bonhomme, in the handful of buildings that make up Les Chapieux at 1554 m. La Nova does meals, beds and a small shop, and after four hours of dropping 900 m on stony path it is a genuinely welcome sight.

Les Chapieux is the last easy exit before Italy: a shuttle runs down the Vallée des Glaciers to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, from where trains go everywhere. If the weather has broken or a knee has gone, this is where you make the call. If it hasn't, the valley road walks gently up to Les Mottets in a couple of hours, and the Col de la Seigne — and Italy — waits beyond it. There is a cheese dairy in the hamlet worth the detour of about forty metres.

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

• Les Chambres du Soleil Gîte · 1550 m
  0.1 km further along the Tour, at 1550 m. Bookable on the Tour du Mont-Blanc portal, so the planner shows its availability night by night.
• Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme Refuge · 2443 m
  5.4 km back down the Tour, at 2443 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 2: Les Contamines-Montjoie → Les Chapieux
• Stage 3: Les Chapieux → Rifugio Elisabetta