Tour du Mont Blanc

Most of our tours run between June and September, and our Classic Tour du Mont Blanc (Centre-based) tour runs between mid-June and late August. They start booking up a year in advance sometimes. The earlier or later in the season the better to avoid busy stretches, and also to ensure that we get the best accommodation possible for you. The weather is cooler in June and September, (see question ‘What are the weather conditions on the Tour du Mont Blanc?) and the trails are also quieter. In some places, buses run on limited schedules, so you may have to take private transfers instead when necessary. We can organise these for you, but it might involve a supplemental cost.

A heads up for hikers – our Tour du Mont Blanc tours book up early and quickly. Your best bet is to get a booking in before Christmas, if you want to guarantee accommodation. We do open bookings almost a year in advance, but for trips that have mountain hut stays, we won’t be able to confirm these accommodations until December or January, as the huts wait until the depths of winter to do their admin! But we do encourage you to get your booking in with us before mid-October for hut to hut tours, and then we will keep you in the loop. In short, first come first served when it comes to booking mountain huts!

To take on the whole 170km circuit, you need 12 days on walking holidays, although only 10 of these are walking. We can always build rest days into your itinerary if you’d like to take a break along the way. Our various TMB highlights tours, where you take on some of its most iconic treks, take eight or nine days. We are also very flexible and can add a few days into your itinerary here or there, if you want to have rest days or hang out somewhere heavenly for a bit longer.

Although most of the itineraries start and end in France, the TMB is actually a multinational massif, inviting you into Switzerland and Italy en route. This is one of the best three for the price of one offers you can get in the hiking world. 

The traditional route is anti-clockwise, starting in the Chamonix Valley in France, and we have two TMB circuit holidays setting off from either Chamonix or nearby Les Houches. We also offer an itinerary that starts and finishes in Martigny in Switzerland, which is a quieter starting point. We have one centre-based option, staying in two of the TMB’s gorgeous gateway towns, Chamonix in France and Courmayeur in Italy, from which you take on some of the finest hikes of the TMB, without doing the whole circuit. 
Similarly, we have two other highlights options: one that starts in Les Contamines or Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, (depending on accommodation availability) but it still finishes in Chamonix. And the other one, which is more of a budget version, starts in Les Houches and finishes in Chamonix. For more information, see our blog, Everything you need to know about the Tour du Mont Blanc hike.

It’s all about endurance really. Unlike the climbs to the summit of Mont Blanc, which we don’t offer at The Natural Adventure, the TMB is not a technical climb. However, you do need an excellent level of fitness and some experience of other multi-day hikes. The highest you climb on the TMB is 2,665m and, if you are opting for a more budget version, staying in huts rather than hotels, then your sleep may be compromised a little, so you need plenty of stamina. In general, you walk anything from five to nine hours a day and, if you take on the whole circuit, you are trekking every day for ten days. There are ascents every day too, varying from 500m and 1,200m, depending on the day. And there are some exposed, steep sections, so a head for heights is a must.

As this is a long, strenuous trek, we regret that we are not able to accommodate travellers under the age of 16 on our Tour du Mont Blanc trekking holidays.

As long as you have a good level of fitness, we support all adventurers over the age of 16, and those under 18 must be travelling with someone over that age. We have also welcomed many older travellers on the TMB, some in their late seventies. 

Although we don’t run a small group tour with a guide, you can upgrade any of our self-guided tours to include a private guide if necessary. And, as the cost of a private guide is shared between your travelling party, the more the merrier! Please discuss with our adventure specialists for more details.

You rarely lose sight of it, but you don’t summit it. The Tour du Mont Blanc is a 170km circuit around the highest peak in Europe (4,810m). You don’t climb to the top of it on this trek, you circumnavigate it. We don’t offer summit treks of Tour du Mont Blanc at The Natural Adventure. 

Only one of our Tour du Mont Blanc walking holidays is open to solo travellers at this time, and that is the Classic Tour du Mont Blanc, based in two central points of Chamonix in France and Courmayeur in Italy. Otherwise, the minimum group size on our self-guided tours is two people, for safety and logistical reasons. Unless you hire the services of a private guide, as mentioned above.

We know that many of our adventurers love canine companionship on their travels, and we do have lots of dog-friendly holidays at The Natural Adventure. For now, the TMB is not one of those, sadly. 

It’s a vast trail, so you will have plenty of space to yourself once you’re out walking but it’s also one of the most famous long-distance trails in the world, which is only doable in summer. So it does get hiker-heavy particularly in August. If you choose an option with mountain huts as accommodation, these will be busy but also buzzing with TMB camaraderie at the height of the season. It’s worth noting that availability may be limited before, during and after big events such as the Marathon du Mont-Blanc at the end of June and the UTMB trail running event at the end of August. 

The one thing we don’t want you to stress about is stuff. You don’t need to splash out on lots of new gear but there are a few key things that you need to ensure you are comfortable and safe. It’s a big subject though, and we know that our adventurers want to get it right, so we’ve written a special blog on What to pack for a hiking trip. 

Just like the trail itself, there are ups and downs with the weather, depending on the elevations. In general, temperatures range from 21-30C between June and September, but this tends to be in the valleys. Nights are cooler, between 10-15C. At higher elevations temperatures can drop as low as 5C, going up to average highs of 15C. At all elevations, sun exposure can be intense, so always stay protected. Afternoon thunderstorms are common, so many people start hiking early in the morning to avoid those. Mountain weather can be unpredictable, and you might encounter fog, clouds, or sudden weather changes even on a clear morning. For more information see our blog, Hiking safety tips for mountain landscapes and always keep an eye on updated weather forecasts for the area, available on the Chamonix tourism office website and Mountain-forcast.com.

While most of the snow melts by July and August, there can be a lot of snow in June and September. It may just be at higher elevations, but you can go for a whole day when the trail is snow-covered in June or September. So, if you are doing the Tour Du Mont Blanc during these times, we do recommend that you have experience using crampons and, ideally, bring your own with you. We also recommend that you bring microspikes (not cleats), which aren’t as tricky to use and are easy to put in your day pack, no matter what time of year you are hiking on the Tour du Mont Blanc. As there is always the risk of snowy patches at higher elevations or shady areas. 

If you choose one of our itineraries that includes nights in a mountain hut, yes you do. On these nights accommodation is in mixed-gender dorms, with shared bathroom facilities. Read more in our blog, Staying in a mountain hut on hiking holidays. However, we have five Tour du Mont Blanc holidays where you don’t stay in mountain huts and have your own room in hotels and guesthouses. These are our Tour du Mont Blanc circuit in comfort (to and from Chamonix) tour, our Classic Tour du Mont tour (centre-based), the Hiking Tour du Mont Blanc (to and from Martigny) tour and our Tour du Mont Blanc highlights in comfort tour.

On our complete circuit tours, whether you’re starting and ending in Chamonix, Les Houches or Martigny, you walk for the majority of the tour, with a few short transfers to and from your accommodation, depending on your accommodation. There is a cable car journey on day one from Les Houches or Chamonix to get you started and a transfer on day one if you choose the Tour du Mont Blanc circuit starting and ending in Martigny.

Yes, on some days there are options to take shortcuts with private or public transport, and these alternatives are clearly marked on our tour pages and trip notes. However, it’s worth noting that skipping days in some places, when not built into our itineraries, can be costly, as we need to book transfers that aren’t included in your package price. Days that are very hard to skip are between Les Contamines and Les Chapieux/Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Les Chapieux/Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Courmayeur, or between Courmayeur/Val Ferret and La Fouly/Champex. Please note that if you want to have more rest time, our Classic Tour du Mont Blanc holiday, based in two centres of Courmayeur and Chamonix has a lot more flexibility built into it. It’s also suitable for solo travellers. 

The amount of meals included in your walking holiday price varies per tour. Breakfast is always included on all tours and, on our range of mountain hut tours, dinner is included on most nights. Lunch packs can usually be pre-ordered at each accommodation for the next day’s hiking, and they cost around €12-20. On days where you pay for dinner, three course meals are between €25-30 or lunch in a mountain hut is usually between €12-25. You also need to budget for some public transport and/or cable cars, around €5 per day, per person for buses, and €10-18 for cable cars. Although this will be more if you decide to take additional transfers to those suggested in our route notes. 

In France and Italy, you need euros, and in Switzerland, the currency is Swiss francs. You often see prices displayed in both Swiss francs and euros in Switzerland, just for convenience. If you’re stuck, some shops may accept them, but will probably give you change in Swiss francs. So it’s best to keep to the official currency when possible. 

Most don’t, so do bring cash in euros or Swiss francs to pay for meals along the way, when not included in your chosen package.

This also varies depending on the day, and how remote the TMB takes you. We won’t ever let you go hungry, however, and we provide detailed trip notes on shops or cafes en route. When a place is particularly remote, we make sure that you can order a picnic lunch at your accommodation. All the mountain huts, for example, offer picnic lunches.