Gluten Free Tour du Mont Blanc Guide

It’s possible to do the Tour du Mont Blanc if you’re gluten free, with advance planning. I have celiac disease and trekked the entire TMB over 11 days, staying at refugios along the way.

These are my top tips for planning your trip.

1. Email your accommodation in advance

Assuming you are staying at refugios and not camping, be sure to mention that you’re gluten free when you book. Most refugios will reply, but not all.

I also recommend emailing a few weeks before your trip, to remind them again. I wrote something simple, such as:

2. Book some self catering accommodation

Staying at a few self catering accommodations will make your life as a gluten free TMB hiker a little bit easier.

Personally, I stayed at two self catering accommodations: this Airbnb in Courmayeur, and this stunning chalet in Champex-Lac (couldn’t recommend that one more!).

Breaking up your trek with a couple places where you’ll have your own kitchen and can safely cook for yourself, and prep a gluten free lunch for the next day, can be a real stress reliever.

3. Pack snacks wisely

Once your accommodation is booked, it’s time for packing. I recommend being very strategic about the snacks you take if you’re gluten free. Sure, there are occasional grocery stores along the trek. However, gluten free snacks (especially nutrient-dense ones) are rare, which is why it’s important to pack them in advance.

4. Pack dehydrated camping meals

I also recommend packing some dehydrated or freeze-dried camping meals. These meals just require you to add hot water (which is easily accessible at any refugio).

The question is, how many camping meals should you take?

I brought three breakfasts and two dinners. However, I only ate one breakfast and one dinner! Most people staying at refugios should also be good with around five meals.

Personally, I treated my camping meals as a back-up, safety option. I only wanted to resort to my camping meals when there was no other choice, so I wouldn’t go hungry (or be tempted to eat something giving gluten red flags).

5. Consider a luggage porter

With all those gluten free snacks and meals, you may be wondering about the weight of your pack. You can certainly carry all that food, as long as your pack is still less than 20% of your body weight. Or, you can consider a luggage porter service.

Personally, I have a history of back spasms and already wanted to wear as small of a pack as possible (I actually did the TMB with this 12-L hydration running vest – BEST choice ever!).

So, my friend Mary and I split one duffel bag between us and used the Taxi Mont Blanc portering service. This cost us €328, or €164 per person, for the entire trek.

Overall, I was really grateful for that option because I do feel that doing the TMB safely as a celiac requires packing more food than most people would want to carry on their backs.

6. Mention gluten free when you check in

Your TMB is now all booked and planned, so let’s talk about what to do once you’re actually hiking! Always mention that you’re gluten free as soon as you check in to your refugio.

Yes, if you followed my advice above (#1) you’ve already communicated twice about your dietary restriction. Well, these remote mountain huts have a lot going on, and third time is definitely the charm. (One hut even charged a €12 fee if you didn’t mention your dietary restriction at check in!).

Respectfully let them know about your celiac disease or intolerance, and ask about options at breakfast and dinner. In my experience, everyone was very kind and informative at this point.

7. Beware buffets, boullion, and bread knives

There are some pretty consistent sources of gluten that you’ll have to watch out for on the TMB. These include:

• Buffets: Most refugios do a buffet breakfast and some do a buffet dinner, too (Rifugio Elena comes to mind). Any seasoned celiac knows that buffets are a nightmare for cross contact, so be careful. This is a good time for a dehydrated camping meal.
• Boullion: Be cautious of soups along the TMB, and double check that the boullion / stock does not contain wheat (blé in French, or grano in Italian).
• Bread knives: There are charcuterie boards aplenty along the TMB, which can be delightfully gluten free when served sans bread (or plus sans gluten bread!). I always asked if a separate knife and board was used for cutting the cheese, separately from where they cut the bread. I was always assured yes, but I felt this helped further drive home my requirement for no cross contact.

8. What to expect for gluten free breakfasts

Breakfast was the most problematic meal along the TMB, because it almost always involved a buffet.

A surprising number of the refugios offered me gluten free bread from the back, though, which was so appreciated. Many of them also provided newly opened jars of jam when I asked.

Combined with the occasional apple, and my packed PROBAR meal replacement bars, I got by. I ate my dehydrated breakfasts when options were particularly sparse, and at our self-catering accommodations I usually had yogurt and fruit.

9. What to expect for gluten free lunches

Lunch could also be a bit hit-or-miss along the TMB, which is why I was grateful for the many snacks that I packed.

Many refugios offer packed picnic lunches for around €10-15, and I’ve heard from other travelers that this could often be done gluten free. However, I did not personally try the picnic lunches, for a couple reasons.

First, I felt that there was a higher risk of cross contact when they were also preparing sandwiches with normal bread in the kitchen, and the idea of glutening myself mid-day while on the trail was not appealing.

Second, we frequently passed shops or other refugios along our route, so I had other options.

My lunches were therefore a combination of refugio meals, snacks, and sandwiches made by myself. Refugio Walter Bonatti in Italy comes to mind for their incredible GF offerings! Refuge Miage, where we stayed overnight, was a standout as well with the best charcuterie board on the TMB by a long shot.

As far as my handmade sandwiches, I did this with extra gluten free bread from the refuge breakfasts, and meat/cheese bought from shops. I did not see gluten free bread in any shops along the TMB (although I did find gluten free pasta in Courmayeur!). However, the refugios often handed me a generous half to full loaf at breakfast, and I took advantage of this by packing any extra into a large plastic bag.

10. Ask for what you need

My final piece of advice for a celiac safe TMB journey is to advocate for yourself and ask for what you need. The worst they can say is no, in which case you use your emergency stash of dehydrated meals or snacks.

In my experience, most people working along the TMB are friendly and want to help you, but they’re also busy and overworked, which means it pays off to be concise and direct. Don’t beat around the bush. Be clear about your needs!

Best Refugios for Gluten Free on the TMB

Now, because refugios are such a big part of the Tour du Mont Blanc experience, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the refugios that we stayed or ate at. If you’re planning your own TMB far enough in advance, you can take this into account for your booking!

Refuge Miage

I absolutely recommend staying at Refuge Miage, or at the very least eating lunch here. Some of the best and most thoughtful gluten free food, and by far the best gluten free breakfast which included Schar bread, newly opened jar of blueberry jam, and gluten free cereal.

Refuge Tre la Tete

Refuge Tre la Tete is another stunner, on a variant but worth hiking and staying here. It’s a small refuge where I had a specially-prepared gluten free stew, and for breakfast I had gluten free bread, fresh jam, and gluten free brownies!

Hotel L’Angival

Hotel L’Angival is in Bourg Saint Maurice (it’s easy to take the bus from Les Chapieux, which we did due to Les Chapieux being fully booked up).

The hotel restaurant labeled gluten free choices and offered gluten free bread with our charcuterie board. The fries were also fried separately and the BEST FRIES OF MY LIFE. Seriously, stay here just to eat the gluten free fries!

Courmayeur Airbnb

There are many accommodation options in Courmayeur, and I’d recommend choosing somewhere self catering so you can take advantage of the plentiful grocery stores and make yourself a safe dinner. We stayed in this Airbnb and I made myself a huge plate of gluten free pasta with pesto!

Refuge Walter Bonatti

We stopped at Refuge Walter Bonatti for lunch, and it was the best of the trek. They took me through all the gluten free options (many) of which I chose an aubergine parmigiana dish that blew my mind. They were very careful and called out “senza glutine” with my order. I’d definitely consider staying here next time.

Rifugio Elena

Rifugio Elena was kind of a “meh” experience. Dinner is a big buffet, but they do change out the serving tongs for gluten free folks. They also brought me a gluten free LASAGNA from the back! I couldn’t believe it.

Breakfast, however, is also a buffet and there were no gluten free options, so I had a dehydrated camping meal. We also got the worst sleep here, on some platform mattresses, and I wouldn’t stay here again in a dorm room (although it was in a very nice position to break up a loooong ascent).

Auberge Maya-Joie

I would recommend Auberge Maya-Joie in La Fouly, despite getting glutened this day (from an unknown source – read the next section) and not getting to try their dinner myself. They serve a raclette dinner here with potatoes and pickles, and my friend Mary reported it was 100% gluten free so would actually be incredibly safe for celiacs.

I also had one of my best TMB breakfasts here: gluten free bread, a freshly opened jam, fruit, and hardboiled eggs.

Chalet Biolley

Chalet Biolley was our little self catering chalet in Champex-Lac (we took a short bus to reach it, but you could also walk). This was a big treat for us, with its stunning views and comfy beds, and I’d do it a million times over. We stopped at Edelweiss Market in Champex-Lac to pick up dinner/breakfast provisions first.

Auberge Mont Blanc

Auberge Mont Blanc in Trient was, for us, a lackluster stay but it did serve our needs. There are two dinner options, and one (the curry) is gluten free. It tasted bland, but I didn’t get sick! Breakfast is also a buffet, but they had Schar gluten free bread and separate butter packets.

Auberge La Boerne

We stopped at Auberge La Boerne for lunch, and I had a delicious gluten free tartiflette and even a cider (which was hard to find on the TMB)! The staff seemed knowledgeable and very willing to accommodate.

The food here gets rave reviews from everyone, gluten free and gluten eating alike. I’ve heard the rooms are extremely small, so maybe consider that if you want to stay here.

Refuge Alpin du Tour

Refuge Alpin du Tour is a large yet still quaint rifugio that seemed to take dietary restrictions quite seriously (just notify them in advance, or they charge €12!). I was served a separate chicken and potato dish for dinner, whereas others got pasta. There was also a cheese course and ice cream.

Breakfast came with gluten free bread, but they declined to open any new jam because it was nearing the end of the season. Fruit was also limited to one piece per person.

Refuge La Flegere

Refuge La Flegere was our final refugio on the TMB, and our least favorite – although they did a decent job for gluten free, so I can’t complain in that regard. For dinner I had a gluten free tartiflette with some meat, a salad, cheese course, and a chocolate mousse.

Breakfast was a buffet, but they brought me gluten free bread and even let me choose which Bon Maman jam they opened specially for me!

I’d recommend a private room here and not a dorm, because those were MASSIVE and very cold.

Chamonix

We stayed in Chamonix before and after our trek (despite starting and ending in Les Houches – which was an easy train journey). Both times, we stayed in Airbnbs and this gave me some peace of mind being self catering.

I did have some truly phenomenal gluten free meals at restaurants in Chamonix, though, so I want to shout them out:

• Yumidori: A Japanese restaurant that does takeaway, where every sushi roll is gluten free and they only use tamari sauce! I ate here three times.
• Bizes: One of the best gluten free meals of my life. The whole menu is gluten free, except for the bread. The flavors are astoundingly creative. This was our big treat meal post-TMB! Make reservations.
• Galerie Cafe des Aguilles: A somewhat oddly Asics-sponsored cafe, but I was overjoyed to find they had gluten free pain au chocolat, stored and prepped separately!
• ORGANIC Epicerie Petite Restauration: A health food shop and small cafe. When we visited almost all the salads and all of the desserts in the case were gluten free.

My Experience Getting Glutened on the TMB

I had an incredible experience hiking the TMB as a celiac. But, I have to mention that I did get glutened on this trek!

I am lucky, in a way, that the symptoms hit me around 5:30pm once we were already at our refuge (Auberge Maya-Joie, in La Fouly). Personally, I get a migraine and vomiting when I’m glutened, and it’s a very consistent response so I’m confident I’d eaten gluten – I’m just not sure what it is that glutened me!

My theory is some free water that was outside our refuge. It looked completely normal, but when I took a gulp it was very sweet and flavored. I wonder if it was flavored with barley syrup, but when I asked the next morning the person who’d made it wasn’t there.

My other theory is the soft serve strawberry ice cream from Alpage La Peule (but the timing doesn’t match up as well, and I did ask if it was sans gluten), or perhaps some crumbs that got on an apple I bought from the supermarket in La Fouly (but again, I was careful not to touch the apple to the table with crumbs on it, and my reaction seemed too strong for that).

In any case, after I spent some quality time with the refuge toilet, I passed out for a solid 12 hours, and felt much better the next day (although, sad I missed the raclette dinner).

Many of you can probably relate to the frustration of getting glutened, but not being able to trace the cause. I’m also disappointed that I can’t give you all a clearer direction on what to avoid (someone do me a favor and check on that ice cream at La Peule – they have no website so I can’t contact them myself!).

That’s the name of the game, unfortunately, for celiac travel. Despite getting glutened, I did have an overall wonderful experience on the TMB and the adventure was very much worth that one blip (although I hope it doesn’t happen to any of you!).

Takeaways

• Email your refugios in advance to notify them of your gluten free needs.
• Pack plenty of gluten free snacks and gluten free dehydrated camping meals.
• Consider using a luggage porter for your extra gluten free provisions.
• Beware boullion, buffets, bread knives, and other sources of cross contamination.
• Choose refugios that are especially good for gluten free (Refuge Miage, Tre la Tete, Walter Bonatti, and Auberge Maya Joie).
• Advocate for your gluten free needs and have an incredible journey on the Tour du Mont Blanc!