Tour du Beaufortain: 5 stages and when to book
A loop round the quiet massif between Mont Blanc and the Tarentaise: alpages worked for Beaufort cheese, dammed lakes, and the Pierra Menta standing over the Lac de Presset at 2,514 m. There is no cable and no ladder on the whole round: the difficulty is the shape of the days. Walked in five it is 95 km and 5,500 m of climbing, which is a real week; the same loop is normally taken in six to eight, and the refuges in between are there for exactly that.
Start and finish: Queige.
The 5 stages
| Day | Stage | Distance | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queige → Refuge du Lachat | 14.8 km | 1,231 m |
| 2 | Refuge du Lachat → Refuge de la Balme | 25.5 km | 1,175 m |
| 3 | Refuge de la Balme → Refuge de Presset | 18.2 km | 1,645 m |
| 4 | Refuge de Presset → Refuge les Arolles | 21.5 km | 1,006 m |
| 5 | Refuge les Arolles → Queige | 15.2 km | 452 m |
The line is the Tour du Beaufortain relation in OpenStreetMap, assembled into one loop and cut at the refuges; the drops off the ridge to refuges below it are routed through the walkable network. Measured at 95.2 km against a published 99. Elevation comes from a terrain model, so the ascent figures are computed rather than surveyed.
Book these first
Refuge de Presset is the pinch point: thirty beds in five dormitories at 2,514 m, in front of the Pierra Menta, and it is a destination in its own right rather than just a stop on this route. FFCAM opened summer 2026 booking on 5 January.
- Refuge de Presset
- Refuge de la Balme
- Refuge les Arolles
Refuge de la Balme is booked through the Tour du Mont Blanc’s own system at montourdumontblanc.com, because it is a Tour du Mont Blanc refuge. You are competing for beds with a far busier route than this one.
Refuge les Arolles is staffed in July and August only. A five-day plan in June or September has to end day 4 somewhere else. Refuge de la Coire, staffed 15 June to 30 September, is the usual answer and lands 15 km earlier.
When to go
June to September, and the ends of that are decided by the refuges rather than the snow: Refuge les Arolles is staffed in July and August only, and most of the rest stop at the end of September.
- JanuaryClosed
- FebruaryClosed
- MarchClosed
- AprilClosed
- MayToo early
- JuneOpening, with old snow
- JulyPeak season
- AugustPeak season, and full
- SeptemberQuieter, and closing
- OctoberClosing
- NovemberClosed
- DecemberClosed
Tour du Beaufortain in Treksup
Tour du Beaufortain is a paid route in Treksup: its full plan, with every stage, water, where to sleep and weekly trail conditions, comes with the paid tier. 7 routes are open in full for free.
See Treksup on the App StoreYour first multi-day trek
More routes
Page updated 30 September 2026.