Geneva Airport to Courmayeur is roughly 102 km and takes about an hour and thirty-five minutes in good conditions, crossing into Italy through the Mont Blanc Tunnel. Montivo runs this crossing as a private transfer, with just your group on board, from the terminal to the door of your hotel or chalet; the price is per vehicle, set when you book, and includes the tunnel toll.
Before you land: passports and the right exit
Courmayeur is in Italy, and the road reaches it through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, so every passenger needs a passport or national identity card, as for any border crossing. For most British travellers that means the passport, children included. Keep them in hand luggage rather than packed away under the ski bags.
Geneva airport sits on the border and can be left on either the Swiss or the French side. Send the flight number with your booking and the driver will be inside the terminal on the side your flight actually uses, ready to walk you to the vehicle. The pick-up follows the real landing time, not the one printed on the ticket.
Along the Autoroute Blanche
The first part of the journey is the A40, the Autoroute Blanche, running east up the Arve valley past Bonneville, Cluses and Sallanches. Near Le Fayet the motorway ends and a fast main road carries on past Les Houches towards Chamonix. Just short of the town, the tunnel road climbs away from the valley floor to the French entrance at the foot of Mont Blanc.
Compared with the long ascents into the Tarentaise, the climb here is brief, and the road is wide and in heavy use all winter, which keeps it more predictable than the valley roads further south. Snow in the Arve valley still slows things down, and the drivers plan for it.
Under Mont Blanc
The Mont Blanc Tunnel is about 11.6 km long, and the border between France and Italy lies inside it. It is a toll tunnel; the toll is part of your transfer price, so there is nothing to pay at the barrier. Vehicles go through at a controlled speed with fixed gaps between them, which makes the crossing steady rather than quick, and at busy times there can be a wait to enter.
The Italian portal is at Entreves, at the head of the Aosta valley. From there it is a short run down the road into Courmayeur, at about 1,220 m, so after the long approach through France the Italian end of the journey is over almost as soon as it starts.
Saturdays in the Mont Blanc valleys
On a winter Saturday the Autoroute Blanche carries the changeover traffic for Chamonix, Megeve and the Morzine turn-off at Cluses all at once. It is heavy but it flows more predictably than the Tarentaise, and the tunnel entrance is where a queue is most likely to build. Courmayeur also draws weekend skiers from northern Italy, so the Italian side is at its busiest at weekends as well. Saturday has its own rate because the vehicle is out for longer.
Transfer to Courmayeurfrom €240 per vehicle, Saturday €300
Price for your datePicking the vehicle
There are two choices: Standard, for up to eight passengers, and VIP, a higher-specification vehicle for up to seven. When the group outgrows one vehicle, the booking adds another.
Child seats, skis and big packs
Child seats cost nothing extra; request them when booking, with each child's age. Declare skis, snowboards and anything oversized at the same stage, so the vehicle that turns up has room for it. If you are coming to walk rather than ski, large trekking packs count too - the Tour du Mont Blanc passes through Courmayeur.
Where the drive ends in Courmayeur
The heart of the town is Via Roma, a pedestrian street, so for hotels right in the centre the driver stops at the closest point a vehicle can reach. Accommodation also spreads out to Dolonne across the river, to Entreves and La Palud near the Skyway cable car, and along the side valleys of Val Veny and Val Ferret. Include the full address and the property name, because a booking that just says Courmayeur could end in any of them.
The way back to Geneva
Going home, we set the pick-up by working backwards from your flight: the short climb to the tunnel, the crossing itself, the run down the Arve valley and the time Geneva needs for check-in with ski bags. Passports are needed on the way home as well. On a Saturday, or after heavy snow, the pick-up is set earlier to allow for it.
