Tour du Mont Blanc Eight Days, Three Countries
The walk that circles a mountain
A hundred and five miles around the roof of Western Europe, sleeping in mountain huts, crossing a border on foot twice, and never once carrying a tent. Counter-clockwise from Les Houches, mapped col by col.
Excellent itinerary planner! Detail oriented with thoughtful tips for my family’s trip.
22 stops on a real mapEvery stop pinned in order→Every stop is a real pin, in order.
The counter-clockwise circuit, Les Houches to Chamonix
Plan and book your 8 days in the TMB, one step at a time
How 8 days in the TMB split up
The Tour du Mont Blanc is a loop of roughly 170 km around the Mont Blanc massif, crossing from France into Italy over the Col de la Seigne and out of Italy into Switzerland over the Grand Col Ferret, before coming back into France at the Col de Balme. You end up almost exactly where you started, having walked around a mountain rather than up it.
Day 1: Les Houches to Les Contamines-Montjoie
4 stops · Day one
Day 2: Over the Col du Bonhomme to Les Chapieux
4 stops · Day two
Day 3: Into Italy over the Col de la Seigne
3 stops · Day three
Day 4: The Mont de la Saxe balcony to Rifugio Bonatti
2 stops · Day four
Day 5: Into Switzerland over the Grand Col Ferret
2 stops · Day five
Day 6: La Fouly to Champex-Lac
2 stops · Day six
Day 7: Champex to Trient, by Bovine or the Fenêtre d’Arpette
2 stops · Day seven
Day 8: Back into France over the Col de Balme
3 stops · Day eight
Les Houches to Les Contamines-Montjoie
A gentle opening by TMB standards. Take the Bellevue cable car out of Les Houches if you want to save 800 m of climbing on day one, which almost everyone does, then traverse under the Bionnassay glacier and drop through the Chalets de Miage to Les Contamines.
Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.
- Travel from
Shuttle to Chamonix, about 1h15 · Drive - Les Houches
The start of the loop · ViewpointThe traditional start and finish, a few minutes down the valley from Chamonix.
- Col de Voza
1,653 m · Hike - Les Contamines-Montjoie
Night 1 · lodge
Over the Col du Bonhomme to Les Chapieux
The first big day, and the one that tells you what the next week will be like. A long steady climb up the Montjoie valley past the Notre-Dame de la Gorge chapel, then up to the Col du Bonhomme at 2,329 m and on to the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme at 2,479 m.
Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.
- Notre-Dame de la Gorge
Roman road and chapel · Viewpoint - Col du Bonhomme
2,329 m · Hike - Col de la Croix du Bonhomme
2,479 m · Hike - Les Chapieux
Night 2 · lodgeA hamlet with a refuge and a dairy. That is the whole place.
Into Italy over the Col de la Seigne
The best day of the first half. Up the Vallée des Glaciers to the Col de la Seigne at 2,516 m, where you step across the French Italian border and the whole south side of Mont Blanc opens in front of you in one go. People stop dead at this col. It is worth the stop.
Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.
- Col de la Seigne
2,516 m · France to Italy · HikeThe border col, and the first full sight of the Italian side of Mont Blanc.
- Rifugio Elisabetta
Books out first · lodge - Courmayeur
Night 3 · halfway resupply · lodge
The Mont de la Saxe balcony to Rifugio Bonatti
Short on distance, enormous on view. Climb out of Courmayeur onto the Mont de la Saxe and walk the Grand Balcon: a high traverse with the Grandes Jorasses, the Dent du Géant and the whole Italian face of Mont Blanc across the valley the entire way.
Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.
- Mont de la Saxe balcony
The best sustained view on the TMB · Hike - Rifugio Bonatti
Night 4 · lodgeThe most sought-after bed on the circuit, facing the Grandes Jorasses.
Into Switzerland over the Grand Col Ferret
The second border crossing, and the highest col of the route so far. A steady pull up the head of the Italian Val Ferret to the Grand Col Ferret at 2,537 m, then a long descent into the Swiss Val Ferret and the village of La Fouly.
Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.
- Grand Col Ferret
2,537 m · Italy to Switzerland · Hike - La Fouly
Night 5 · lodge
La Fouly to Champex-Lac
The easiest walking day on the circuit and a welcome one after two big cols. A gentle descent along the Dranse de Ferret through Praz de Fort and Issert, then a modest climb through forest to Champex-Lac, a small resort set around a lake.
Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.
- Praz de Fort
Swiss valley hamlet · Viewpoint - Champex-Lac
Night 6 · lodgeA small lake resort and the best place on the route to take a rest day.
Champex to Trient, by Bovine or the Fenêtre d’Arpette
The one real decision on the TMB. The Fenêtre d’Arpette at 2,665 m is the highest point of the whole circuit, a steep rocky scramble beside the Trient glacier, and the finest single stage on the route if the weather holds. It is also long, and unpleasant in rain or lingering snow.
Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.
- Fenêtre d’Arpette
2,665 m · the high point · HikeThe highest point of the circuit and the finest stage, in good weather only.
- Trient
Night 7 · lodge
Back into France over the Col de Balme
The closing day. Climb from Trient to the Col de Balme at 2,191 m, where you cross back into France and the entire Chamonix valley opens below you with Mont Blanc at its head. It is the view the whole loop has been building towards, because this time you have walked all the way around the thing you are looking at.
Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.
- Col de Balme
2,191 m · Switzerland to France · HikeThe whole Chamonix valley opens below, with Mont Blanc at its head and the entire loop behind you.
- Argentière
Valley train into Chamonix · Viewpoint - Chamonix
Night 8 · the loop closes · lodge
Book the 7 nights
Beds near the trailheads are the one thing on this trip that genuinely runs out. Everything else can be decided later.
Tell us your dates and we will do the calling. We check every booking site, put your points and card perks against the cash price, and email you this plan back with the best room we can find for each night. Nothing is charged and you decide at the end.
Request to bookWhat to pack for the TMB
Built from this route, not a generic list. Every line says why it is here.
On every day of this trip
On your feet
Because you are sleeping indoors
For the driving days
What actually decides your trip
Book the huts in January
Summer beds open in January and Bonatti and Elisabetta are gone within weeks. Book huts first, flights second. It is the only part of this trip that genuinely sells out.
Go counter-clockwise
The huts, the signs and the bus timetables all assume it, and you meet fewer people head-on. Clockwise works but you will be swimming against the current all week.
Ten thousand metres of up
The distance is manageable. The ascent is what breaks people. Train on hills with a loaded pack, and use poles on the descents from day one, not from day four when your knees complain.
You can bail almost anywhere
Valley buses run from Les Contamines, Courmayeur, La Fouly, Champex and Trient. A bad forecast or a bad knee costs you a stage, not the trip.
Take the half board
Dinner and breakfast at the refuge is usually the only food available and it is good. Carry lunch, snacks and cash. Some huts still do not take cards.
Three countries, two currencies
France and Italy are euros, Switzerland is francs. Swiss huts take euros at a rate that will annoy you. Draw francs in Courmayeur before you cross.
Tour du Mont Blanc questions
Everything you'll actually want to know before a the TMB trip.
It is a serious walk but not a technical one. No scrambling is required on the main route, the paths are well made and signed, and there is a bed and a hot dinner at the end of every day. The difficulty is cumulative ascent: around 10,000 m over eight days, which is roughly 4,000 ft of climbing per day. If you can walk uphill for six hours with a light pack and do it again the next morning, you can walk the TMB.
We'll find the cheapest way to do this trip.
Tell us your dates and we price the plan you just built: every booking site, the hotels direct, and your own points and card perks against the cash price. You get it back by email with a link for each night and what it saved you.
- It is free. The hotel pays us, not you. You pay their normal price.
- Nothing is charged and nothing is held. You decide at the end, or you walk away.
- Beds near trailheads are the part that runs out. Everything else can wait.
The figures below are estimates from local nightly rates, so you know the ballpark before you ask. The real number comes back once we have checked what is free.
- 7 nights, campsite near the TMB
Book directat source
- 7 nights, a room in Chamonix
7 × $210$1,470
- Everything in Glamped, plus a local guide for the trip
- Airport pickup and every drive handled
- All the gear rented and waiting, so you pack clothes and nothing else
- Weather turns and they rewrite the day while you are still at breakfast
Written and walked by Yulia Vasilyeva · Co-founder · Lead planner and guide
Builds every custom itinerary herself and leads guided hikes in the Pacific Northwest, rated 5.0 by 20+ verified guests. Based in Seattle.
Booking the TMB
Everything below is booked with the operators direct. We earn a commission on some of them, which is what keeps the itineraries free to read.
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What adventurers say about us.
All reviews are from verified guests. ★★★★★ 5.0 average from 20+ bookings.
"Felt like going out with a really knowledgeable friend who just happens to know everything about the area. No awkward tour-guide energy, just a magnificent day."
"Yulia is an incredible guide. She knew every trail, every viewpoint, and exactly how to pace the day for our group. The photos she took of us were stunning. 100% booking again."
"I was visiting Seattle solo and this was the best decision I made on the trip. Yulia picked me up, had snacks, and took us to a trail I never would have found on my own. Absolute must-do."
"We did this as a couple's trip and it was perfect. Yulia adapted everything to us, our pace, our interests, our photo obsession. The mountain views were unreal."
"Phenomenal experience. Yulia has deep local knowledge and a real passion for the outdoors. She went out of her way to show us the hidden gems tourists never see. Will remember this forever."
"I've done a few guided hikes and this was by far the best. Yulia is warm, funny, and genuinely expert. The trail she chose had the most insane wildflower bloom, we got so lucky."
Fees, reservation windows, shuttle dates and trail closures are planning estimates. Confirm hours, road status and any reservations with the land manager before you go.
What other travelers are saying
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One tap. It goes straight to Yulia and Margarita.
You can't hike it if you can't get the permit.
The best hikes in America run on lotteries that open once a year and sell out in minutes. Every trail runs on its own calendar. Pick the ones you want and we do the watching.
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How it works
- An email the morning each window opens, never the day after.
- A 14-day heads-up so you can line up your group and dates.
- Win odds and a ranked backup plan for every trail you pick.
Didn't win? We keep watching. We check recreation.gov every day for The Enchantments, Half Dome and Angels Landing, and email you the moment a sold-out date frees up. Cancellations are the second chance most people never hear about.
Excellent itinerary planner! Detail oriented with thoughtful tips for my family's trip.