In July we came back from one of the most celebrated long-distance treks in Europe, the Tour du Mont Blanc, which passes through three countries in total. The trail is recommended for people new to long-distance walking, and we can only confirm that. We walked the 165 km trail with almost 10,000 metres of total ascent in 10 days, and we want to share a meaty article with you including a complete itinerary. Ready? The Tour du Mont Blanc circuit starts here!
About the Tour du Mont Blanc
The Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB for short) is one of the most famous treks in the world. On a single circuit you pass through three countries – France, Italy and Switzerland – and experience changing landscapes from dramatic glaciers through mountain meadows to villages that look like they’ve been cut out of a postcard. First-hand experience genuinely confirms it!
The whole route encircles the Mont Blanc massif (4,808 m), the highest mountain in the Alps. The official length of the circuit is about 170 km, and the ascent exceeds 10,000 metres. Well, your legs will ache a bit.
📌 Are you planning to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc? Don’t waste time searching for information. Prepare effectively with our complete guide—route, stages, campsites, and a detailed map. Everything is described in detail. I want that!
Where to find extra information and ask questions about the Tour du Mont Blanc
More than once while planning I needed a piece of information that wasn’t in any online guide. All it took was asking a relevant question in one of the Facebook groups, where I always had an answer within about 20 minutes. I’d recommend using the search function so members don’t get annoyed by repeated questions. 🙂
Useful Facebook groups and links:
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/1522208881889396
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/13615483101
- Timetables – a phone app from Seznam
Where to park?
The advantage of the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB for short) is that the route is a loop. You can start wherever you like and wherever suits you. We strategically chose Trient as our start because of the long drive from Czechia. That saved us at least 30 minutes of hairpin bends up to Les Houches, the official start of the TMB.
We had the car parked all week at Col de la Forclaz (Trient), where we started the route. We got the tip about the car park from friends who walked the route 2 years earlier. It’s free, partly shaded and also safe thanks to the busy restaurant right there on the TMB route, where you’ll probably finish your walk too. 🙂
📌 Are you planning to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc? Don’t waste time searching for information. Prepare effectively with our complete guide—route, stages, campsites, and a detailed map. Everything is described in detail. I want that!
Accommodation on the TMB
Campsites and mountain huts. At every campsite we used you could pay by card and no booking was needed. You can charge electronics everywhere too. Only at the Les Chapieux campsite is there no phone signal. Above all we’d recommend the Hobo campsite. That was a genuine emotional and physical lift on the route. So much so that we left them a 5-star review on Google Maps. There are huts on the route too, but we’d venture that your own tent and the campsites offer more comfort.
Tip: at the campsites, order bread for the morning, ideally baguettes. Fresh and crusty, they’ll be waiting for you the moment you wake up. 🙂
When to set off on the Tour du Mont Blanc
The best period is July to September.
- June: patches of snow in the higher sections, quieter trails
- July – August: ideal weather, but plenty of people
- September: fewer walkers, colder mornings, gorgeous colours
The trek can also be walked in May or October, but many huts are closed out of season and you may hit leftover old snow or the start of new snow.
Tour du Mont Blanc – the route, stages, campsites and a detailed map
| Day | Start | Finish | Kilometres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Trient – Col de la Forclaz | Camping du Glacier d’Argentière | 14.1 km |
| Day 2 | Camping du Glacier d’Argentière | Bivouac by the artificial lake near La Flégère | 8.6 km |
| Day 3 | Bivouac by the artificial lake near La Flégère | Camping Bellevue | 18.5 km |
| Day 4 | Camping Bellevue | Camping du Pontet | 18.6 km |
| Day 5 | Camping du Pontet | Les Chapieux | 17.1 km |
| Day 6 | Les Chapieux | Hobo camping | 23.2 km |
| Day 7 | Hobo camping | Camping Tronchey | 18.0 km |
| Day 8 | Camping Tronchey | Camping des Glaciers | 23.8 km |
| Day 9 | Camping des Glaciers | Relais d’Arpette | 16.9 km |
| Day 10 | Relais d’Arpette | Trient – Col de la Forclaz | 12.1 km |
What did the TMB cost?
All in, the 10-day Tour du Mont Blanc trip cost us 30,000 CZK for two people. We diligently logged every expense in the Splid app. You can see all of them in our detailed guide. It has to be said, though, that we weren’t trying to travel low-cost; we treated ourselves. And if we hadn’t, if we hadn’t picked a luxury hotel for the last night and hadn’t bought a new stove and mess tin because I’d left ours in the car, it would have come to around 20,000 CZK for two people.
Comparing the Tour du Mont Blanc and the Walker’s Haute Route (TMB vs. HR)
Both trails are in the same area; while the Tour du Mont Blanc is 165 km, the Haute Route is roughly 221 km. Of that distance I only walked 154 km because of (again, I have the luck for it) unfavourable conditions. I rate the Haute Route as the more demanding, even though I didn’t walk all of it and was in significantly better physical shape for it. It’s harder physically, logistically and from a safety point of view. It’s a one-way trail, so you have to get back to your car by public transport. There are also fewer places to stay and restock along the route, and it has more exposed and remote sections. For anyone new to long-distance walking I’d recommend the Tour du Mont Blanc, where you’re practically never alone. There are other hikers and mountain guides around, which potentially makes you safer.
📌 Are you planning to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc? Don’t waste time searching for information. Prepare effectively with our complete guide—route, stages, campsites, and a detailed map. Everything is described in detail. I want that!
The Haute Route may be harder, but for me it was more beautiful. I loved that raw wilderness with nobody in it, and the loveliest of all was the final day, which makes up for absolutely everything and lodges itself deep in your memory. On that last day you come into the famous town of Zermatt, and as you walk the long traverse you take in views of the majestic Matterhorn. Nobody’s erasing that view from memory any time soon.
So if you’re more experienced, choose the Haute Route. But if you’re new to long-distance walking and moving in the mountains, choose the Tour du Mont Blanc.
Interested in other long-distance European treks? Take a look at our list of European treks for beginners.
