The Tour du Mont Blanc, this legendary journey of 170 km106 mi, winding through France, Italy, and Switzerland, is an essential hiking adventure for outdoor enthusiasts. As you prepare to immerse yourself in the Alpine landscapes, a crucial question arises: What are the regulations regarding bivouacking along this route? In this article, we’ll explore the guidelines and laws specific to each country traversed by the Tour du Mont Blanc, providing essential tips for a responsible and memorable bivouacking experience. If you’re considering doing the tour du mont blanc without a guide, this information will be particularly useful.
2026 Regulation Update
In short: the 2026 season brings a clear tightening of the rules on the French side. In the Réserve Naturelle des Contamines-Montjoie, bivouacking is now prohibited everywhere below 2 500 m8 202 ft from 15 June to 15 September, under prefectoral order DDT-2026-0474: below that altitude, only the areas at La Giettaz / Pont de la Rollaz and La Balme remain open, and you must now book your spot online. Further south, bivouacking is prohibited throughout the Vallée des Glaciers, both around the Refuge des Mottets and on the climb to the Col de la Seigne, as the warden of Refuge des Mottets confirmed to us. Finally, above Chamonix, between Tré-le-Champ, La Flégère and the Col du Brévent, a second prefectoral order only tolerates bivouacking in the Aiguilles Rouges reserve from 7 PM to 9 AM, in designated zones that also have to be booked. In practice, turning up and pitching wherever you like is over on these French sections of the route: at Les Contamines and in the Aiguilles Rouges you book and places are tight; in the Vallée des Glaciers the answer is no. Booking has to be done in advance at reserve-bivouac74.fr, and pitching outside the permitted zones or hours is a third-class offence carrying a fixed fine of €68$79 (see the booking portal FAQ, in French).
This page covers the rules in force today. They are expected to change: in late September 2026, the mayors along the route agreed in principle on a charter that would make booking accommodation mandatory in summer and replace wild camping with managed areas from spring 2027, the French hiking federation FFRandonnée announced. The detail is in our article on what changes on the TMB in 2027.
Contamines-Montjoie Reserve: Bivouacking Banned Below 2,500 m
Update, 12 June 2026: under the prefectoral order DDT-2026-0474 of 4 June 2026, bivouacking is now prohibited throughout the reserve below 2 500 m8 202 ft, from 15 June to 15 September. Below that altitude, only the official bivouac areas at La Giettaz / Pont de la Rollaz (40 tents) and La Balme (50 tents) remain authorised during this period, and online reservation is now mandatory at reserve-bivouac74.fr. Swimming and boating are also prohibited year-round on all lakes and water bodies in the reserve (including for dogs). To ease pressure on these two areas, the Contamines-Montjoie town hall is opening a new bivouac area of around 2,500 m² at the Pontet leisure park in summer 2026, at the foot of the reserve.
Vallée des Glaciers: Bivouacking Prohibited
Update, 18 May 2026 (from the warden of Refuge des Mottets): bivouacking is prohibited throughout the Vallée des Glaciers, including around the Refuge des Mottets and on the climb to the Col de la Seigne. The communal bivouac area in the village of Les Chapieux is the only authorised spot on this stage.
Aiguilles Rouges Reserve: Reservation Required
Above Chamonix, from Tré-le-Champ to the Col du Brévent by way of La Flégère, the TMB runs along the slopes of the Aiguilles Rouges nature reserve, home to Lac Blanc and the Lacs des Chéserys. In this reserve, as well as in the neighbouring Carlaveyron and Vallon de Bérard reserves, bivouacking is tolerated from 7 PM to 9 AM between 1 June and 30 September, only in designated zones. Online reservation is mandatory there, at reserve-bivouac74.fr. Capacity is limited:
| Bivouac zone | Capacity |
|---|---|
| Lacs des Chéserys | 30 tents |
| Lac du Brévent | 25 tents |
| Ruines d’Arlevé | 15 tents |
| Combe du lac Cornu | 15 tents |
Order DDT-2026-0472 also grants a tolerance, from 7 PM to 9 AM, to mountaineers whose ascent (summit or ridge) requires a bivouac. The area around the Refuge de la Pierre à Bérard, in the Vallon de Bérard, and the Refuge de Bellachat, both outside the reserve, each take 15 tents, arranged directly with the refuge.
Bivouac zones and capacities in the Aiguilles Rouges, Carlaveyron, and Vallon de Bérard reserves
On this map, areas in red are closed to bivouacking and cannot be booked, while areas in green are tolerated and bookable. The green outline marks the reserve boundaries, where bivouacking is discouraged.
Order DDT-2026-0472 also prohibits all water activities, swimming and boating alike, in the Lacs des Chéserys and Lac Blanc from 1 June to 30 September.
One important point: both reserves are governed by prefectoral orders, and each order only lasts one season. The Contamines-Montjoie one runs until 31 December 2026; the Aiguilles Rouges one, DDT-2026-0472 of 4 June 2026, opens the window from 1 June to 30 September 2026, wider than last year. Dates shift from one year to the next: check the current season’s order before you travel.
How to Book Your Bivouac Night
Booking is done online at reserve-bivouac74.fr, the portal run by Asters, the Haute-Savoie conservatory of natural areas. It covers the Aiguilles Rouges, Contamines-Montjoie, and Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval / Passy reserves. The form even asks explicitly whether you are hiking all or part of the Tour du Mont Blanc.
What you need to know:
- Booking comes with no services: no water point, no bins. This is not a campsite.
- One booking per tent, not per person.
- Pitch at 7 PM, pack up by 9 AM. The idea is to set up at sunset and fold away at sunrise.
- You can string several nights together on the TMB, provided you take the tent down every morning by 9 AM and book each night.
- Outside the nature reserves, no booking is required - but individual communes have their own orders, so check each one.
- If checked by reserve wardens, pitching outside the tolerated zones or outside the permitted hours is a third-class offence under article R. 332-70 of the French environment code: a €68$79 fixed fine, and up to €450$522 if you contest it and lose before a judge (article 131-13 of the French criminal code).
One practical point that catches out many thru-hikers: refuges do not take bivouackers’ rubbish. Storage space is tight and everything has to be flown down to the valley by helicopter. Your waste comes back down with you.
On kit, plan for a sleeping bag rated for altitude, a sleeping mat, warm layers, and a head torch - nights are considerably colder up high. Fires are banned, but portable stoves are allowed. In the Contamines-Montjoie reserve, public toilets are available.
Before You Set Off
The reserve managers set out a few sensible habits on the portal’s “Before you set off” page (in French):
- Scout your route and check access conditions on the trails.
- Make sure the difficulty of the stage matches your fitness.
- Cross-check several weather sources before leaving.
- Tell someone close to you where you are going.
- Carry hiking boots, warm and waterproof layers, water, food, and sun protection.
- Leave no litter, toilet paper included, and light no fires.
- Don’t cut switchbacks: shortcuts accelerate soil erosion.
Take particular care early in the season, late June and early July: lingering snowfields can make col crossings tricky. The mountain rescue number is 112.
Why These Restrictions?
The Réserve Naturelle des Contamines-Montjoie sees around 200,000 visitors each summer, according to Asters, which manages it. On some evenings, wardens have counted more than 120 tents beside a mountain lake: over 250 people levelling earth and shifting rocks for the night, with lasting damage to the ground (Asters details it on its page on the impacts of bivouacking). Managers point to a build-up of pressures: noise that stresses wildlife and causes birds to abandon their broods, abandoned waste, wild toilets, sunscreen and washing-up liquid in the lakes, soil erosion and parallel trails that require heavy restoration work.
At 2 000 m6 562 ft, an apple takes several months to break down. The booking system, for its part, “is not meant to be repressive”, insists La Chamoniarde: the idea is to “make bivouacking sustainable in the long term” (translated from French).
France Télévisions report on bivouacking around Mont Blanc (in French)
Official Sources
- Prefectoral order DDT-2026-0474 of 4 June 2026 - Contamines-Montjoie nature reserve (bivouac and swimming)
- Prefectoral order DDT-2026-0472 of 4 June 2026 - Aiguilles Rouges, Carlaveyron and Vallon de Bérard nature reserves (bivouac and swimming)
- Article R. 111-32 and following of the code de l’urbanisme - the general camping regime in France
- reserve-bivouac74.fr - official booking portal, Asters CEN-74
- Bivouac and swimming in nature reserves - French State services in Haute-Savoie
France: Where to Camp and Bivouac on the TMB
The French planning code sets no bivouac hours. Article R. 111-32 of the code de l’urbanisme provides that camping is freely practised, outside the right of way of roads and public thoroughfares, with the agreement of whoever has the use of the land. The 7 PM to 9 AM window comes from the prefectoral orders governing the reserves and from municipal orders, not from general law.
So it is the local texts that govern: each commune and each reserve has its own orders, and these vary considerably from one valley to the next. Here is the detail commune by commune, in anti-clockwise order. For refuge stays, see our full list of refuges and hostels.
Les Houches
Bivouacking is tolerated from sunset to sunrise, for one night, as La Chamoniarde’s 2025 practical guide (in French) explains.
- Camping Bellevue
Les Contamines
Bivouacking is allowed in the dedicated areas and in certain zones of the Contamines-Montjoie nature reserve. Swimming is prohibited year-round on the reserve’s lakes and ponds, including the Jovet and Plan Jovet lakes.
Note that the old rule specific to the Jovet lakes disappeared in 2026, replaced by the order covering the whole reserve. Around the lakes, the rules in the 2026 regulation update at the start of this article apply.
- Camping Le Pontet
- Auberge du Truc (GR variant) - bivouac to be arranged with the refuge.
- Refuge de Miage (GR variant) - bivouac to be arranged with the refuge.
- Pont de la Rollaz bivouac area - 10 minutes above the Refuge de Nant Borrant.
- La Balme bivouac area - online reservation mandatory at reserve-bivouac74.fr. See the Refuge de la Balme page.
Bourg-Saint-Maurice (Les Chapieux)
There is an official bivouac area at Les Chapieux, with toilets and waste collection.
As the Vallée des Glaciers consists entirely of alpine pastures and private land, bivouacking is not permitted there.
Vallorcine
Wild camping and campfires are strictly prohibited, day and night, across the whole commune. Outside the nature reserves, bivouacking is allowed with the landowner’s permission, for one night, from 7 PM at the earliest until 9 AM the following morning at the latest. Above 1 700 m5 577 ft, permission to bivouac is granted automatically.
- Camping des Montets (GR variant)
- Auberge La Boerne - 30 places, half-board compulsory.
Aiguilles Rouges Massif
Bivouacking is tolerated in certain zones only. Online booking is mandatory before bivouacking in any of the massif’s reserves (Carlaveyron, Aiguilles Rouges, Vallon de Bérard). Swimming is prohibited by prefectoral order in the mountain lakes.
Chamonix
Camping and bivouacking have been banned across the whole commune since 1992. The only possible exception is bivouacking at altitude, between sunset and sunrise.
- Wide choice of campsites in Chamonix and the surrounding villages (Argentière, Les Bois, Les Bossons).
Source: practical guide “Campings et aires de bivouac autorisées sur le Tour du Mont-Blanc”, La Chamoniarde, June 2025.
Italy: Bivouacking Banned Below 2,500 m
In the Aosta Valley, the rule is set by regional law no. 8 of 24 June 2002, published on the Aosta Valley Regional Council website. Its article 20 provides that “all forms of stopping or camping are prohibited, even for periods of less than twenty-four hours” (translated from the official French version), outside the temporary camps the mayor can authorise for non-profit associations (article 19).
The only exception for hikers is in article 19, paragraph 4 of this regional law: mountaineering tent bivouacs above 2,500 m8,202 ft. As the official Autour du Mont-Blanc website, run by the Fondazione Montagna Sicura, points out, that threshold covers almost the entire Aosta Valley territory crossed by the Tour du Mont Blanc. Under article 21, offences carry an administrative penalty of €300 to €1,700$348 to $1,972, issued by the commune where they take place.
The Region’s official tourism website, lovevda.it, adds two practical conditions: wild camping is only allowed above 2,500 m8,202 ft and from sunset to sunrise, and tent bivouacs are always banned near mountain huts.
On the TMB itself, the Fondazione Montagna Sicura, a body set up by the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, issued a reminder on 3 July 2026 that wild camping and bivouacking are not permitted along the Tour du Mont Blanc trails in Courmayeur and the Aosta Valley.
In practice, on the Italian section, plan to sleep in a refuge, a campsite, or in Courmayeur. For anyone considering the tour du mont blanc in 7 days, this constraint directly shapes how the stages are cut. What Italy is planning for 2027 is covered in our article will Italy and Switzerland require bookings too?.
Where to Camp in Italy
The Courmayeur tourist office map, published by the Region, lists five campsites open in summer, all of them off the GR route, as the TMB campsite guide by La Chamoniarde points out:
- Val Veny: Camping Aiguille Noire, Camping Monte Bianco La Sorgente, Hobo Camping.
- Italian Val Ferret: Camping Grandes Jorasses, Camping Tronchey.
Switzerland: General Ban, Limited Exceptions
According to the official Autour du Mont-Blanc website, run by the Fondazione Montagna Sicura, bivouacking and wild camping are generally prohibited in Switzerland. Exceptions: sleeping one night, not in a group, above the tree line, or in an emergency. Bivouacking is also banned in some protected areas, in danger zones and on forest roads.
The Swiss Alpine Club adds a nuance: the legal situation is not uniform, many communes have their own rules, and unless a regulation says otherwise, “a single night spent by a small number of people in the mountains above the tree line is generally not a problem” (translated from French). On the TMB, what counts is therefore the rules of the Valais communes, set out below from their official texts.
Orsières
Article 59 of the Orsières police regulations states that “camping and caravanning may only be practised in the places reserved for this purpose” (translated from French). The Autour du Mont-Blanc website specifies that wild camping is banned throughout the commune and names three campsites:
- Camping des Glaciers - La Fouly.
- Camping Les Rocailles - Champex-Lac.
- Camping du Relais d’Arpette (GR variant).
La Chamoniarde’s guide also lists the campsite at the Gite Bon Abri in Champex d’en Haut.
Trient
Wild camping is banned, according to the Autour du Mont-Blanc website. The Trient commune camping page lists where to sleep:
- Le Peuty rest area: no booking, “first come chooses their spot” (translated from French).
- Campsite at the Hôtel du Col de la Forclaz, called Camping de l’Arpille on the Autour du Mont-Blanc website.
The Stand rest area, still listed in some guides, is closed: on 28 April 2026 the commune announced that access to the Couvert du Stand is formally prohibited. The “Trient communal campsite” still listed in La Chamoniarde’s guide (June 2025) does not appear on the commune’s official page.
Bovernier and Martigny-Combe
The police regulations of Bovernier and Martigny-Combe ban camping “outside authorised sites expressly designated as such by the Authority” (translated from French). According to the Autour du Mont-Blanc website, no official campsite exists in either commune.
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Tips for Responsible Bivouacking
For responsible bivouacking, it’s essential to take all waste with you, use suitable equipment, respect other hikers, and use potable water sources. Practicing ecological toilets is also crucial to minimize environmental impact.
The best period to do the TMB is worth considering, as are the alternative routes: the Fenetre d’Arpette, Col des Fours, and Col de Tricot all add to the experience.
