Best Dog-Friendly Hotels in Courmayeur and the Aosta Valley

Before you go

What happens when you get there

Getting there

The valley has no commercial airport. Most people fly to Turin or Geneva and drive, or take the train to Aosta on the line from Turin via Ivrea, with Pré-Saint-Didier the end of the branch for Courmayeur. The Mont Blanc tunnel from Chamonix has no pet rule, a dog in a car simply drives through. Standard EU pet passport rules apply for Italy.

Skyway Monte Bianco

Dogs go up to Punta Helbronner on the Skyway from Entrèves if they're muzzled and on a lead. The dog ticket is EUR 15 in low season and EUR 16 in high season. It's the one big-mountain day in the valley you can do with the dog.

Gran Paradiso National Park

Dogs are allowed only in the valley-floor areas of the park and always on a lead. From 15 July to 15 September a specific list of trails published by the park also opens to dogs. Everywhere else in the park is closed to them. At Cogne that means the Sant'Orso meadow, the path to Lillaz and the village lanes year round, and the hikes above Valnontey only in the summer window.

Seasonal closures

Courmayeur and La Thuile hotels typically shut between the ski season and summer in May, and again from October to late November. Le Massif reopens on 28 November for winter and Montana Lodge closes in May and October. Aosta town hotels are open all year, and Cogne works as a cross-country and ice-climbing resort in winter and a walking base in summer.

Fees

Free at Au Coeur des Neiges as long as the dog is insured. EUR 15 a day at the Duca d'Aosta, EUR 35 a day at Le Massif and the Bellevue, EUR 40 a day at the Grand Hotel Courmayeur Mont Blanc and EUR 50 a day at Montana Lodge. The Royal e Golf charges a fee but hasn't published the figure, so ask when you book.

Weight limits and numbers

The Duca d'Aosta takes adult dogs up to 25 kg. Le Massif takes one dog up to 30 kg. Montana Lodge takes one dog and won't have it left alone in the room. The Bellevue takes two dogs a room. The Royal e Golf, the Grand Hotel Courmayeur Mont Blanc and Au Coeur des Neiges publish no weight or number limit.

Dogs at dinner and breakfast

The Royal e Golf seats dogs in its restaurants and the Bellevue at its cheese bar, brasserie and terrace. The Duca d'Aosta keeps them out of the breakfast room but allows them everywhere else. Le Massif, Montana Lodge, the Grand Hotel Courmayeur Mont Blanc and Au Coeur des Neiges publish nothing about their restaurants or bars, so check before you go.

Best walks

In Courmayeur, the Dora Baltea riverside path towards Dolonne and Pré-Saint-Didier, the flat Val Ferret and Val Veny valley floors and the car-free Via Roma. In La Thuile, the Dora di Verney river path, the Rutor falls trail from La Joux and, in summer, the Verney lake at the Little St Bernard pass. In Cogne, the Sant'Orso meadow, the valley path to Lillaz and its waterfalls and the lanes of Valnontey. In Aosta, the Roman old town, the Parco Saumont and the Dora Baltea path, with the Pila cable car leaving from the edge of town.

When to go

Summer, from late June to September, for the valley-floor walks, the Skyway and the open roads to the passes. If Cogne and the Gran Paradiso are the point of the trip, aim for 15 July to 15 September, the only window when the higher park trails open to dogs. Winter from December to April is ski season and the Courmayeur hotels are open and busy. Avoid May and the stretch from October to late November, when most Courmayeur and La Thuile hotels are closed, unless you're basing yourself in Aosta town.