Crossing the Great St Bernard Pass

The Pass at a Glance

The Great St Bernard Pass (Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard, 2,469 m) is the single most dramatic moment of the Via Francigena — the point where you walk out of Switzerland, over the spine of the Alps, and down into Italy. It's the highest point of the entire route, the section walkers worry about most, and, asked afterwards, the one nearly everyone names as their favourite.

The reassuring truth: in season, in reasonable weather, it's a long mountain walk, not a mountaineering objective. The path is clear, waymarked and walked daily all summer. Pilgrims have crossed here for over a thousand years — Sigeric came this way in 990 AD, and Napoleon took an entire army over in 1800.

When the Pass Is Open

The walking route over the pass is normally snow-free and safe from roughly mid-June to late September, though this varies by a couple of weeks either way each year. Outside that window the trail is buried under metres of snow and the crossing becomes a serious alpine undertaking — genuinely dangerous without winter mountain skills and equipment.

• June: early in the month expect snow patches on the upper section; check conditions before committing
• July–August: the reliable window. Long days, warm valleys, alpine flowers — and afternoon thunderstorms (start early)
• September: usually still fine and beautifully quiet, but the first autumn snowfalls can arrive late in the month
• October–May: do not attempt the walkers' route. Take the tunnel bus (see alternatives)

The Route: Martigny to Aosta

Most walkers take four to five days for the full crossing, and the stages arrange themselves naturally around the villages:

• Martigny → Orsières (~17 km): up the Val d'Entremont on good paths, gaining height steadily. Orsières has shops, a pilgrim-friendly hostel and the last proper resupply
• Orsières → Bourg-Saint-Pierre (~14 km): shorter but steeper, climbing through Liddes to the last village on the Swiss side (1,632 m). Stop here — sleeping at Bourg-Saint-Pierre sets up the summit day perfectly
• Bourg-Saint-Pierre → Hospice (~12 km, ~800 m up): summit day — see below
• Hospice → Aosta (~30 km, all downhill): many walkers split this at Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses or Etroubles to save their knees

Summit Day: Bourg-Saint-Pierre to the Hospice

Twelve kilometres, about 800 m of ascent, and typically five to six hours of walking. Start early — by 8 am at the latest — so you're over the exposed upper section before any afternoon weather builds.

The trail climbs above the Lac des Toules reservoir, then leaves the road environment behind and enters the Combe des Morts — "the valley of the dead", named for winter travellers of past centuries, not for anything that should worry a summer walker. This is the wildest stretch: rock, marmots, snow patches lingering into July, and the path picking its way up the combe with the road tunnel traffic far away and out of earshot.

The final zigzags deliver you suddenly onto the pass: a small dark lake, a statue of St Bernard, the Italian border marker, and the great stone bulk of the Hospice that has stood here since 1049. Walking up to that door with a stamp-filled credenziale in your pack is one of the route's great moments.

Staying at the Hospice

Do not cross the pass without sleeping at the top — the Hospice du Grand-Saint-Bernard is the spiritual high point of the whole Via Francigena. Founded by St Bernard of Menthon nearly a thousand years ago, it is still run by its community of canons, whose vocation is exactly what it was in 1049: welcoming travellers over the pass.

• Beds: simple pilgrim dormitories and some private rooms. Book ahead in July and August — it's popular with hikers as well as pilgrims
• Dinner: communal, hearty and one of the best evenings on the route — you'll share a table with pilgrims, alpinists and tourists from everywhere
• Evening prayer: optional, in the crypt, and moving whatever you believe
• The dogs: yes — the famous St Bernards. In summer the historic kennels (the Barryland foundation) keep dogs at the pass, and there's a museum telling the rescue story
• Your stamp: the Hospice stamp is the most coveted timbro in the whole credenziale

The Descent into Italy

From the pass you step into Italy and everything changes within an hour — language, architecture, coffee, prices (pleasantly). The path drops steeply at first to Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, then eases through larch forest and pretty villages: Etroubles and Saint-Oyen both have pilgrim accommodation and make a sensible overnight if you stayed at the Hospice.

The full descent to Aosta is nearly 1,900 m down over ~30 km — more punishing on the legs than the climb was. Use your poles, and don't be proud about splitting it. Aosta itself deserves a half rest day: Roman walls, an arch of Augustus, and the first proper Italian piazza life of your walk.

Weather, Kit and Safety

On top of your normal kit (see the packing list), for the crossing you want:

• A genuine waterproof shell and a warm mid-layer — it can be near freezing at the top in August
• Hat and gloves (lightweight ones earn their place for this one day)
• Walking poles for the descent
• Enough food and water for the full day — there is nothing between Bourg-Saint-Pierre and the summit
• A charged phone; the European emergency number is 112 on both sides of the border

Solo walkers cross safely every day in season. If it reassures you, leave Bourg-Saint-Pierre when others do — in July and August you will rarely have the trail entirely to yourself.

Bad-Weather Alternatives

There is no shame in the bus. If the weather turns or the season has closed the trail:

• The tunnel bus: regional buses run from Orsières/Bourg-Saint-Pierre through the Grand St Bernard road tunnel to Aosta (change at the border in some timetables). It's the standard route October to June
• Wait it out: alpine storms are usually one-day events. Bourg-Saint-Pierre and Orsières are pleasant places to be weather-bound
• Road walking is not the fallback: the pass road above Bourg-Saint-Pierre is narrow, busy in summer and has tunnels/galleries — the footpath or the bus, not the tarmac

However you cross — on foot over the top in sunshine, or by bus in a blizzard with a coffee at the far end — the Alps behind you is the moment the Via Francigena starts rolling downhill to Rome. From Aosta it's pasta, vineyards and 43 more stages south. See the Italy stage guide for what comes next.