Via Roma

Via Roma is the main street and social spine of Courmayeur, a pedestrianised lane lined with old stone buildings that house boutiques, cafes, and restaurants under low arcades. It is at its best in the early evening when the ski day is done and the village fills with people in good boots and expensive down jackets, doing what Italians do best: walking slowly, looking good, and stopping frequently for coffee or prosecco.

The architecture is genuinely old — several buildings date to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries — and the street has avoided the uniformity that afflicts many ski resorts. Small side streets branch off into the older parts of the village, and there are good views up to the mountains at several points. The whole centre is compact enough to cover on foot in twenty minutes, which is exactly the right size for an evening stroll before dinner.

things to do sight
A story
Courmayeur's town centre was pedestrianised in the 1960s, one of the earlier Italian ski resorts to do so, and the decision transformed the village from a transit point into a destination in its own right. The evening passeggiata — the slow promenade that Italians have elevated into an art form — arrived with it, and now draws as many as the slopes themselves on winter weekends.