- 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 amInterested in this hike…
Werner Van der Straten
July 2, 2022 at 2:12 pmHello,
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
tourdumontblanchike
July 14, 2022 at 8:53 amHi Werner I’ve just come back from an 8 day camping TMB trek. It was my first time so I will be writing it up on the website shortly. If you’d like me to look at your itinerary and give advice I offer zoom consultations. You can book on this link https://tourdumontblanchike.ck.page/products/tmb-planning-consultation