Experience the best of Courmayeur

Courmayeur lies in the Aosta Valley in north-west Italy, close to the French and Swiss borders, at the foot of the south side of Mont Blanc, the highest summit in the Alps at about 4,800 metres. The village centre is built around the pedestrian Via Roma, with old stone houses, shops and a church with a bell tower. The Mont Blanc Tunnel to Chamonix in France begins a few kilometres up the valley.

A cable car rises from the valley to Punta Helbronner, at 3,466 metres on the Mont Blanc ridge, with views of glaciers and the Grandes Jorasses, and at Pavillon du Mont Fréty a high-altitude botanical garden shows alpine plants. Val Veny and Val Ferret, two glacial valleys, offer easy walks and are both part of the Tour du Mont Blanc trail. At Pré-Saint-Didier, a short way down the valley, there are thermal baths.

Valle d'Aosta cooking is rich and hearty, with fontina cheese, fonduta, polenta with melted cheese, carbonada beef stew and lardo d'Arnad, cured pork fat. The white wines of nearby Morgex come from some of the highest vineyards in Europe. Winter skiing runs from December to April, hiking suits July to September, and autumn is quiet.