Please sign in to post.

Refuge du Lac Blanc

Hello! Has anyone out there stayed in the Refuge du Lac Blanc near Chamonix/Argentière? I'm trying to find out if they have individual bunk beds or sleeping platforms (where multiple people sleep together on one big platform). I'm hoping for the former, and definitely too old for the latter. Thanks!

Posted by
3387 posts

We hike to this refuge for lunch whenever we're in Chamonix...it's one of my favorite places in the world because of the view - I've seen fewer places that are this spectacular! Although we've never actually slept at this refuge, we have stayed at many others in the alps and haven't encountered sleeping platforms. The only places we've encountered them are sleeping barns in northern England, although maybe they exist in the alps as well?
What I do know about this refuge is that the sleeping areas are contained in three different buildings; the main lodge where the restaurant is, a smaller, newer building right next to it, and a tiny stone hut across the creek. The hut looks quite primitive - when we were there this summer there were lots of Eurohippy guys staying in it. The main lodge and adjoining building had quite a few Japanese tourists who were staying there so I'm sure there are bunk-style beds.
Reserve as soon as you know your dates...it only sleeps 30 or 40 people and this is one of the most popular refuges in the alps.
There are two ways to get to the refuge, both require hiking. From Flegere it is a strenuous hike up a trail with a significant elevation gain and several very steep sections with steel pins in the rock. If you go from Flegere, up the second chairlift, you approach the refugio from above it, on an easier trail that is downhill and not nearly as steep. If there is snow, as there was this summer (we were there in late July), this approach is hazardous and not recommended.
Either way, it's well worth the effort!

Posted by
5 posts

Thank you, Anita, for your detailed reply. I, too, suspect this refuge would have bunks; but while browsing the refuges in the Mont Blanc area on the OHM website, I saw photos of several accommodations with sleeping platforms. Since we've never stayed in huts in Europe, I don't know what is the norm - so the sight of rows of adjacent mattresses in some of the Mont Blanc huts got me worried.