Planning

What is the ‘Tour du Mont Blanc’? 15 quick facts

  • The Tour du Mont Blanc goes through 3 countries – France, Italy & Switzerland
  • The entire Tour du Mont Blanc trail is 170km or 105 miles in length
  • Tour du Mont Blanc‘ is French for ‘around Mont Blanc’
  • The hiking trail is segmented into 11 ‘stages’
  • Most trekkers hike one stage a day, but the hardcore often do it quicker
  • The official start & end point is the village of Les Houches in the Chamonix Valley
  • The nearest international airport to the start point is Geneva in Switzerland
  • With several access points to the trail, hikers don’t have to hike the entire trail but can complete shorter sections
  • The Tour du Mont Blanc can only be hiked in Summer from mid June until the end of September
  • There are refuges every 5km along the trail
  • Accommodation is in high mountain huts called refuges which serve hearty 3 course dinners each night
  • Refuges have basic dormitories whilst many have private rooms available
  • There are plenty of water fountains & fill up stations along the route however stages 10 and 11 are DRY. You will need to carry extra water.
  • Hikers do not need mountain climbing skills to trek the Tour du Mont Blanc
  • There are plenty of public transport options (cable cars/shuttle buses) to cut your trail times. However these ONLY run in July and August
  • There is a refuge bottleneck at Les Chapieux. This is your accommodation you should book first & plan your whole trip around. Les Chapieux can be interchanged with Refuge Les Mottets 1 hour further.
  • Book the refuges EARLY! Unprecedented demand in Oct, Nov, Dec 22 have seen 90% of beds sell out already for summer 2023

3 Comments

  • John Metzner
    February 6, 2022 at 2:24 am

    Interested in this hike…

    Reply
  • Werner Van der Straten
    July 2, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    Hello,
    I made an itinerary to cover the TMB in eleven days.
    I’m going by a guide : ‘Tour Du Mont Blanc’ by Noes Lautier ISBN: 978-90-823345-1-7
    As I want to do the trek by tent I’m counting on camping grounds.
    I’ve also installed a TMB-app by Hikeorama with plenty of info as with regards to huts, campings, food, transport, etc…
    However the guide has several variations not included in the app.
    So it was quite a puzzle planning a hike/camp route around Mont Blanc.
    Here’s a draft (comments more than welcome)
    Dagtocht #1
    Variant 1
    Les Houches
    Téléphérique de Bellevue
    Refuge de Miage 0033(0)450932291
    Kamperen kan
    Refuge du Truc 0033(0)450931248
    Beperkt kamperen
    Dagtocht #2
    Variant 2
    Tresse
    Aire de bivouac La Rollaz
    Bivakplek
    Refuge de la Balme 0033(0)450470354
    Kampeerterrein/Toilet gemeentebestuur
    Dagtocht #3
    Officieel + Variant 4
    Refuge Col de la Croix du Bonhomme
    La Ville des Glaciers
    Refuge des Mottets 033(0)479070170
    Kampeerplek in de buurt
    Dagtocht #4
    Officieel + Variant 6
    Lac de Combal
    La Visaille
    Peuterey
    Kampeerterrein
    Dagtocht #5
    Officieel + Variant 8
    Courmayeur
    Rifugio Bertone
    Testa Bernarda
    Rifugio Walter Bonatti
    Arnouva
    Refugio Elena 0039(0)165844688
    Kampeerplek 500m voorbij Ref. Elena
    Dagtocht #6
    Officieel + Variant 9
    Grand col Ferret
    La Léchère Dessus
    La Fouly
    Camping des Glaciers 0041(0)277831826
    Kampeerterrein
    Dagtocht #7
    Officieel + Variant 10
    Champex – Lac
    Fenètre d’Arpette
    La Forclaz
    Camping de l’Arpille 0041(0)277222688
    Kampeerterrein
    Dagtocht #8
    Variant 11 + Officieel
    Chalet du Glacier
    Refuge de col du Balme
    Tré-le-Champ
    Camping Pierre Semard 0033(0)450540029
    Kampeerterrein
    Dagtocht #9
    Variant 13
    Refuge Lac Blanc
    Le Flégère
    Refuge de Bellachat 0033(0)450534323
    Kampeerterrein
    Dagtocht #10
    Variant 14
    Les Houches

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.