The Tour du Mont Blanc with a tent: where you may pitch it, and where to book
You can walk the Tour du Mont Blanc with a tent, but you cannot pitch it where you like. In France every commune has its own rule, and in summer the Contamines nature reserve allows tents only on two areas you book in advance. On the whole Italian side camping is banned, and bivouac too below 2,500 m. In Switzerland you camp on campsites. Here are the rules stage by stage, at the source, with the campsites along the way.
The rules in one minute
- France: decided commune by commune. Chamonix bans camping and bivouac except a high-altitude bivouac from sunset to sunrise. Les Houches and Saint-Gervais tolerate one night. In the Contamines reserve, from 15 June to 15 September, only Pont de la Rollaz and La Balme, booked in advance.
- Italy: all camping banned across the Aosta Valley, even for less than 24 hours. Bivouac banned below 2,500 m, which is almost all of the Italian section. Fine: €566.
- Switzerland: bivouac generally banned. The exceptions are one night, not in a group, above the tree line, or an emergency. In Valais you camp on campsites or official pitches.
Stage by stage
| Where | The rule | Where to pitch |
|---|---|---|
| Les Houchesstart and finish | Bivouac tolerated for one night, from sunset to sunrise. | Camping Bellevue, about 100 m from the start. Tents cannot be reserved. Closed for the winter, back during May 2027. |
| Saint-Gervaisday 1, Col de Voza | Until the commune adopts its own order: tolerated for one night, sunset to sunrise, not on private land or at high-altitude farms. | None named in the sources we read. |
| Les Contaminesnight 1 | Outside the nature reserve. | Camping Le Pontet, open from 12 December 2026 to 3 October 2027; it asks you to book ahead. In June 2026 the commune announced a bivouac area of about 2,500 m² in the Pontet leisure park, at the foot of the reserve. |
| Contamines-Montjoie reserveday 2, Nant Borrant to the Bonhomme cols | From 15 June to 15 September, no bivouac below 2,500 m except the two official areas, which must be booked on reserve-bivouac74.fr. Tent up after 19:00, down before 09:00. | Pont de la Rollaz (La Giettaz) and La Balme. |
| Les Chapieuxnight 2 | An official bivouac area. | The Chapieux bivouac area. |
| Vallée des Glaciersday 3, towards the Col de la Seigne | No bivouac: the valley is alpine pasture and private property. | None. |
| Italynights 3 to 5, Col de la Seigne to Grand Col Ferret | All camping banned, even for less than 24 hours; bivouac banned below 2,500 m; fine €566. Rifugio Elisabetta writes that you may not pitch a tent around the hut. | Official campsites, refuges or hotels. The Treksup safety brief points to the campsites in Val Veny and Val Ferret. |
| La Foulynight 6 | Valais: campsites or official pitches only. | Camping des Glaciers: walkers on the Tour du Mont Blanc may arrive without a booking. In 2026 its upper part was closed for a hydrological risk; the season ran to 4 October. |
| Champexnight 7 | Valais: campsites or official pitches only. | Camping Les Rocailles, open 1 June to 30 September: no booking for stays, and priority to walkers in tents in July and August. Above the village, the Relais d’Arpette has a campsite that needs a booking; it reopens in June 2027. |
| Trient and the Col de la Forclaznight 8 | Valais: campsites or official pitches only. | The Camping de l’Arpille at the Col de la Forclaz, listed by the Vallée du Trient tourist office. The Treksup safety brief also names a site at Trient. |
| Vallorcineday 9, near the Col des Montets | Order 34/2024: wild camping and fires banned day and night. Outside the nature reserves, one night with the landowner’s permission, 19:00 to 09:00; above 1,700 m the permission is given automatically. | None named in the sources we read. |
| Chamonixnights 9 and 10, day 11 | Camping and bivouac banned since 1992, except a high-altitude bivouac from sunset to sunrise, and never at Lac Blanc, the Montagne de Chailloux, the Alpages de Blaitière or around the Col des Posettes. | In the Aiguilles Rouges reserves, only the bookable zones, such as the Lacs des Chéserys, Bellachat and the Lac du Brévent, 19:00 to 09:00, booked on reserve-bivouac74.fr. |
Booking a bivouac: reserve-bivouac74.fr
reserve-bivouac74.fr is the booking site for the bivouac areas of the Haute-Savoie nature reserves. On the Tour du Mont Blanc it covers two things: the two areas of the Contamines-Montjoie reserve, Pont de la Rollaz and La Balme, compulsory from 15 June to 15 September, and the bivouac zones of the Aiguilles Rouges reserves above Chamonix.
The site is a web app that gave our reader no text on 19 October 2026, so its prices and the date it opens for 2027 are not given here. Check it before you set your dates.
What 2027 may change
On 16 September 2026 the seven French communes on the route approved the principles of a charter: wild bivouac banned, bivouac areas with toilets and water, a set capacity and a fee per pitch, and a booking for every night, aiming for spring 2027. It was not signed when we wrote this; the communes expect to sign before the end of 2026. If it comes in, the tent rules on the French side above get stricter, not looser. More in do you need to book the Tour du Mont Blanc?
Carrying the tent
The Treksup readiness check puts a refuge pack at 7 to 9 kg and a camping pack at 13 kg or more. The app’s month table treats May and October as tent months for experienced walkers only: most refuges are shut, and the cols can hold snow. For the full kit list, see the TMB packing list, with real weights.
What the app says
The Tour du Mont Blanc’s safety brief in Treksup sums it up in one line: no permit and no fee to walk the TMB; sleeping outside is decided commune by commune, and on most of the circuit the answer is no, so plan on refuges, gîtes or campsites. It then gives the rule per commune and per country, as in the table above. The booking screen lists reserve-bivouac74.fr as a channel only for walkers with a tent.
The bivouac rules, free in the app
The safety brief with these rules is free in Treksup on every route, like the trail conditions, alerts and weather. On the Tour du Mont Blanc, a paid route, the stage detail and where to sleep come with the paid tier. 7 routes are open in full for free.
Get Treksup on the App StoreRather sleep in refuges? The TMB 2027 booking plan gives every night, how it books and when it opens, for €29.
Questions
Can you wild camp on the Tour du Mont Blanc?
Mostly no. Camping is banned across the Italian side and bivouac too below 2,500 m, Switzerland allows campsites only, and in France each commune decides: Chamonix bans it except a high-altitude bivouac from sunset to sunrise, Les Houches and Saint-Gervais tolerate one night.
Do you need to book a bivouac on the TMB?
In two places. From 15 June to 15 September the Contamines-Montjoie reserve allows a bivouac below 2,500 m only at Pont de la Rollaz and La Balme, booked on reserve-bivouac74.fr. The bivouac zones of the Aiguilles Rouges reserves above Chamonix book on the same site.
Where can you camp in Switzerland on the TMB?
On campsites: the Camping des Glaciers in La Fouly, which takes TMB walkers without a booking, Les Rocailles in Champex, the Relais d’Arpette above Champex, and the Camping de l’Arpille at the Col de la Forclaz.
Is camping allowed on the Italian side of the TMB?
No. All camping is banned across the Aosta Valley, even for less than 24 hours, bivouac is banned below 2,500 m, and the fine is €566. Use the refuges, hotels or official campsites.
Read next
Sources
- Le Tour du Mont-Blanc (montourdumontblanc.com), “Bivouacking on the Tour du Mont-Blanc”, rules per commune and country: montourdumontblanc.com/en/wild-camping, read 19 October 2026
- FFRandonnée, new bivouac rules in the Contamines-Montjoie reserve, published 13 June 2026: ffrandonnee.fr, read 19 October 2026
- Fondazione Montagna Sicura, camping and bivouac not allowed along the TMB in Courmayeur, notice of 3 July 2026: fondazionemontagnasicura.org, read 19 October 2026
- Rifugio Elisabetta: rifugioelisabetta.com, read 19 October 2026
- Camping des Glaciers, La Fouly: camping-glaciers.ch, read 19 October 2026
- Camping Bellevue, Les Houches: camping-bellevue-leshouches.com, read 20 October 2026
- Camping Le Pontet, Les Contamines: campinglepontet.fr, read 20 October 2026
- Camping Les Rocailles, Champex: champex-camping.ch, read 20 October 2026
- Relais d’Arpette: arpette.ch, read 20 October 2026
- Vallée du Trient tourist office, Col de la Forclaz: valleedutrient.ch, read 20 October 2026
- Réserves naturelles de Haute-Savoie, bivouac booking: reserve-bivouac74.fr, opened 19 October 2026 (no readable text)
- Communauté de communes de la Vallée de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, press release of 22 September 2026 on the charter: cc-valleedechamonixmontblanc.fr, read 19 October 2026
- Treksup route data, Tour du Mont Blanc: bivouac rules per commune from La Chamoniarde, “Campsites and bivouac areas on the Tour du Mont-Blanc” (2025 guide), read 11 September 2026; Chapieux bivouac area and Contamines reserve from the Mairie des Contamines-Montjoie notice of 4 June 2026, read 11 September 2026; Italian side from the Fondazione Montagna Sicura notice of 3 July 2026, read 11 September 2026; pack weights and month table as in the app on 19 October 2026
Rules change from one summer to the next, and the 2027 charter was not signed when this was written. Check the commune and the campsite before you go. Page written 19 October 2026, campsites read 20 October 2026.