Tour du Mont Blanc hiking guide: route map, stages & where to stay

The Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) is a long-distance hiking loop around the Mont Blanc massif, the highest mountain in Western Europe. It crosses three countries, France, Italy and Switzerland, and links seven valleys over a series of high passes. Most hikers walk it in 10 or 11 days and sleep in mountain refuges, gîtes and village hotels along the way.

The route

The classic start is Les Houches, at the foot of the Chamonix valley, and most people walk anticlockwise: south to Les Contamines and Les Chapieux, over the Col de la Seigne into Italy's Val Veny and down to Courmayeur, along the Italian Val Ferret, over the Grand Col Ferret into Switzerland, through La Fouly, Champex and Trient, and back into France over the Col de Balme to finish along the balcony paths above Chamonix.

This guide follows the main route as mapped on OpenStreetMap and splits it into 11 stages, about 15.1 km each. The total climb is around 10,000 m. The highest point on the main route is the Grand Col Ferret at about 2,537 m, with the Col de la Seigne and the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme close behind. Popular variants, such as the Fenêtre d'Arpette between Champex and Trient, the Col des Fours and the detour to Lac Blanc, are higher and steeper and need good weather.

Highlights

• Col de la Seigne: the border pass into Italy, with the first full view of the south face of Mont Blanc
• Val Veny and Val Ferret: the Italian side, with balcony paths opposite the Grandes Jorasses
• Grand Col Ferret: the high point of the loop and the border between Italy and Switzerland
• Champex-Lac: a small Swiss lake village halfway round
• Col de Balme: the way back into France, with the Chamonix valley spread out below
• Lac Blanc and the Aiguilles Rouges: the famous reflection of the Mont Blanc range, on a short detour near the end

When to walk the Tour du Mont Blanc

The season is short: roughly mid-June to mid-September, when most refuges are open. Snow can lie on the high passes until early July, and the first autumn snow can come in September. July and August are the busiest months, and refuges are often fully booked for them months ahead. Late August also brings the UTMB trail-running races, which use the same paths and fill accommodation in Chamonix and Courmayeur.

How many days do you need?

Ten or eleven days is the standard pace. Fit hikers do it in seven to nine days by joining stages; others take twelve or more and add rest days in Courmayeur or Champex. You can also walk just one part of it, for example the Italian and Swiss sections from Courmayeur to Champex, as buses and lifts connect many of the villages.

Getting there and logistics

Geneva airport is the usual way in; buses and trains run from Geneva to Chamonix and Les Houches. France and Italy use the euro and Switzerland uses the Swiss franc, so carry some of each. Most refuges offer half board (dinner, a dormitory bed and breakfast) and many can make a packed lunch. Mobile coverage is good in the valleys and patchy on the passes; Switzerland is outside the EU roaming rules, so check your phone plan.

The Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme, a classic overnight on the way to Les Chapieux, is closed for rebuilding; the French Alpine Club expects it to reopen in 2029, so plan to sleep in Les Chapieux or before the climb.

Difficulty

The Tour du Mont Blanc is a demanding mountain walk but not a technical one: there is no climbing on the main route, though a few short sections have ladders, chains or steep, rocky steps. What makes it hard is the climbing: most days go up and down 800 to 1,400 m, at altitudes where the weather can change fast. You need to be used to long days on mountain paths and to carry a pack with rain gear and warm layers.

History

People have walked round Mont Blanc for more than two centuries: in 1767 the Genevan naturalist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure travelled round the massif to study its glaciers, and the route he took became a classic tour for mountain travellers. Today the TMB is one of the most popular long-distance walks in the Alps, waymarked in all three countries.