Stage 3: Les Chapieux → Rifugio Elisabetta

14 km from Les Chapieux (1560 m) to Rifugio Elisabetta (2194 m), with 1022 m of ascent and 452 m of descent.

Walking time by fitness profile

Times computed with the RandoNav planning algorithm. Breaks not included.

On the trail

A short stage with a great threshold in the middle of it. From Les Chapieux the Vallée des Glaciers is walked rather than climbed: a road, then a track, gaining height so gradually that you barely notice, with the Aiguille des Glaciers growing ahead. Les Mottets, an old dairy farm at 1864 m, marks the end of the easy part after about two hours.

Then the Col de la Seigne: 650 m of zigzag to 2516 m and the border. What happens at the top is the reason people walk the Tour anti-clockwise. You come over the col and the entire south face of Mont Blanc opens down the Val Veny — the Miage glacier, the Pyramides Calcaires, the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey — and you are in Italy. The descent to Rifugio Elisabetta takes under an hour. It is a genuinely short day by the Tour's standards, which is exactly why it is worth taking slowly: this is the view.

Start / end

Stops along the way

These places between the endpoints let you split the stage into shorter days:

About this stage

Stage 3 links Les Chapieux (1560 m) with Rifugio Elisabetta (2194 m) over 14 km, climbing 1022 m and descending 452 m. This stage is in the western half of the Tour, before Courmayeur — the French approach and the two big cols that take you into Italy. 2 stops punctuate the route, so you can split this stage into shorter days. Water is available at every stop on this stage. Along the way only snacks and meals are available — no full resupply until the end of the stage.