Bourg-St-Pierre is the gateway to Italy and last village before the Great St. Bernhard Pass and the tunnel. The village’s history is dominated by the pass crossing; manifest in many of the historic houses in the well-preserved village centre, the restored mill and the ruins of the Château du Bourg, the so-called «La Garette». Ancient armies crossed the Great St. Bernhard as early as the 3rd century BC.

Saint Bernard of Menthon founded the monastery and hospice at the pass summit in the 11th century, paving the way for what became an imposing and austere building of great importance to travellers. The renowned St. Bernhard dogs are bred here, the most famous of them being the legendary Barry, said to have saved the lives of 40 travellers in distress on the snowbound pass between 1800 and 1812. There are two museums at the complex; the hospice museum exhibiting Roman artefacts, sculptures and coins and a collection of minerals, rock crystals and insects native to the region, and the ecclesiastical museum exhibiting relicts and manuscripts.

Bourg-St-Pierre is at the centre of beautiful hiking and mountain-biking terrain and offers many winter sports activities and ways of exploring unspoilt nature such as snowshoe trekking. The region is famous for its particularly rich fauna and flora. The «La Linnaea» Alpine Garden, opened in 1889, exhibits an interesting cross-section of Alpine plant species.