I still have to pinch myself now!
Imagine running over 106 miles, 35,000ft of elevation.. thats higher than Everest, waking up in the mountains and seeing the beauty of France, Italy and Switzerland all on your own two feet!
Tour du Mont Blanc is probably the most iconic hike to do in the Alps.
It has been on my bucket list for a few years, and I remember looking into it with with a couple of companies during lockdown, but I never imagined I’d be fit enough to run it!
Is it ended up just sitting on my bucket list and I never really gave it another thought until some friends got chatting about it 18 months ago.
And from then on, it took us that long to plan it and get it booked.
Lake Chécrouit at 2,000m high with the stunning views of the Mont Blanc Massif and Glaciers
So where to start?
It took 18 months of planning.. mainly due to the availability of the refuges.
We decided not to use a company because we wanted to do this self guided, plan and book everything ourselves.
Booking accommodation is probably the hardest part, and my one bit of advice is, book your refuges early, and I mean early, as in, start this as soon as the refuges get released, which is typically from October for the following year, and some are even as late as January before you will hear any form of confirmation, and even then we couldn’t get all the places we wanted too, so had to keep adapting the plan.
This is a great website to use to book your Rifugio’s on - it gives you al the details you need.. TMB refugios
There’s also a good Facebook page (Tour du Mont Blanc) with so many helpful posts to help you with planning.
We went with the traditional route, which is anti clockwise, starting in Les Houches and did some of the variations.
Everyone breaks up their mileage differently, we met a couple from Colorado who were doing their trip over 11 days, with a short day of just 5km at day 6, whilst some do it in 3 days and have huge 60km days, but we had a great mix of some big days, whilst having those shorter days (and by shorter I mean 14ish miles) with some lower elevation.
As I said there are also lots of variations you can take to the route too (which I will go into more detail on the itinerary).. But I highly recommend getting the Kinglsey Jones Tour du Mont Blanc book and map if you’re thinking of doing it.
Like anything, you can make this as easy or as hard as you like.. It’s not a highly technical route, but there are some sections where there are fixed ladders, chains / cables attached to the mountainside on the more exposed sections, as well as some scrambling and river crossings.
We were lucky with the river crossings and nothing more than ankle deep, as we didn’t have any rain, but I can only imagine what it would be like after an afternoon storm.
Also, even in July we had a few small snow crossings (nothing too much / unmanageable), but only two weeks prior to that crampons were still needed, so if you are planning to go, also look into the snow conditions too.
Day 1 - Les Houches to Les Contamines
Miles: 12
Elevation gain / loss: 3,290ft
Accommodation: Gai Soleil Hotel, Les Contamines
Day 2 - Les Contamines to Rifugio Elisabetta
Mile: 22 miles
Elevation gain / loss: 8,170ft
Accommodation: Rifugio Elisabetta
Day 3 - Refuge Elisabetta to Dolonne / Courmayeur
Miles: 14
Elevation gain / loss: 2,330ft
Day 4 - Courmayeur to Gite Alpage de la Peule
Miles: 18
Elevation gain / loss: 6,520ft
Day 5 - Gite Alpage de la Peule to Gite Bon Abri
Miles: 16
Elevation gain / loss: 2,040ft
Day 6 - Refuge le Peuty to La Tour
Miles: 19
Elevation gain / loss: 6,434ft
Day 7 - La Tour to Les Houches
Miles: 19
Elevation gain / loss: 5,400ft
Tour du Mont Blanc, Les Houches Arches
Day 8 - Chamonix
I fell in love with Chamonix!
As I sit here trying to find cheap flights to go back for a long weekend.
There are so many places on the route I would love to go back to and explore more of. Switzerland totally took my heart as did Dolonne.
My hiking bucket list has grown even more and there’s so many day hikes or hikes to Rifugio’s you can do, without going on the TMB route if you wanted.
Navigation - as with any mountain hiking, what are your skills and abilities and do you have basic navigation? On the whole it is well signposted, as long as you know where you are aiming for / what points are further along.. For example, one sign post will say Refuge Elisabetta 3h 30m the next post you come too will have e.g. Col de Seigne and no mention of Refuge Elisabetta, which could leave you quite confused.. That’s why I say, as long as you know your route and your what you are looking for it is achievable, but also be mindful these signposts could also send you on variation routes that you may not want to go on.
Also, know your escape routes. Do you know where / or an alternative route if a storm comes in? Where you can escape down if you need to get back earlier? There are buses and cable cars available in certain sections to help you adapt your route.
Weather - I used Meoblue which was pretty accurate. Swiss side I used MeteoSwiss and this was the best one I found for the mountain forecast. And they got the thunder absolutely spot on. There were two days when it said it was going to start at 3pm and 5pm and it did on the dot - thankfully both those times we were off the tops and it didn’t affect us.
Accommodation - as I said if you are booking / planning on using Rifugio’s you need to start booking this as soon as they are released, which is usually around October - December and can even be as late as January. Waiting for confirmation from the refuges is quite nerve wracking and you won’t always get a reply. All ask for a deposit when booking, and most have you pay cash for the remainder when you arrive (typically payment is made as soon as dinner has finished). It is also possible to camp on the route too.
Terrain - it’s pretty much rocky trails all the way round, with some woodlands trails and roads too. I used Hoka Speedgoats and by far the best footwear for what I needed (and much comfier than my previous Hoka Torrent’s).
Transfers - We used Mountain Drop Offs to get to and from the airport (from Geneva to Les Houches). This isn’t cheap, but when you have a late flight, it’s your only real option. They were brilliant with keeping us updated and kept an eye on our arrival times.
Luggage Transfers - we booked private luggage transfers so we could have our bags moved around to accommodation (when they could reach Rifugio’s). Out of the 6 nights, we carried for 3 nights / 4 days.
On the second night I packed completely differently to what I’d taken on the first night. Not that I carried much, and I think it probably only weighed in at 5kg (carrying water too), but it’s just a case of wash and re-wear what you can day to day.
Water - this is easy to come by and I think the last day was the first time we had to buy any water. It is easy to grab some from a running stream (which I would filter) but there is also plenty of natural water stops en route. The refuges all have clean water in the bathroom taps for you to use (and no one got ill not filtering).
Food - again this is so easy to come by, but by no means cheap. The refuges provide dinner and breakfast (if booked) and you can get lunch boxes to take away. We opted to eat on the move so we could experience the different refuges. There are lots of along the route (marked on the map) so you know how and where to break your day up. We learnt this lesson the hard way on the first day. Some of the food was amazing, I had the best croissant I’ve ever tasted in my life, but you may also get a bit sick of cheese (no words I ever thought I would share in my life!!).. But also be mindful some breakfasts are literally only one slice of bread for breakfast.
Fast packing kit
We aimed to pack as light as we could, so we could move quickly, but equally we got chatting to people who were carrying everything (tents, sleeping bags etc) and weighing them 14kg (I don’t think I could even imagine carrying that weight on top of that route)..
I always pack everything in dry bags to help keep everything dry from both sweat and if there is any rain.
Sleeping bag liner - an absolute MUST if staying in Rifugio’s, you just don’t know how often (or not) they change the sheets.. You really have to try not to think about that!
Toiletries - I cut these down on our fast packing days and just took absolute essentials, shower gel, toothbrush / paste, deodorant - which were all travel size. I could cope without washing my hair for a few days.
Laundry sheets - I swapped out the travel wash for laundry sheets, and these were an absolute godsend. I got away with wearing just two outfits for the whole trip that I rotated / washed day in day out, this made life so much easier. You soon get used to putting on damp clothes every morning, but know anything will quickly dry, or hang your kit off your pack to dry.
Trainers - I couldn’t be any happier than making the move to Hoka Speedgoats. I took 2 pairs (will send one pair back as I didn’t use them). Although I may keep them as the grip on my new pair for a battering from the terrain and by the last day I could tell the grip had worn a lot, I was slipping all over the place - it could have been a lot of user error too as I was fatigued by the last day and my glutes were definitely not working!
Running vest and bumbag. Again I didn’t expect to use the bumbag and thought I would end up sending it back, but it was also one of the best things I’m glad I bought for the trip. You have to carry your passport, cash, insurance documents and every valuable you own with you day to day, so you want to know everything is safe.
Charging packs - absolutely needed! I had a large pack and two mini ones and this lasted me the whole trip. There is a possibility to charge at the refuges, but it seemed a fight for space on a stacked up extension lead in reception.
Sliders - I took these out for the second night and decided to just use to the ones available in the refuges (whilst trying not to think about it too much), but this saved so much awkward space in my pack (even had to shower in my socks and these crocs)..
Running poles - I’ve never used poles before, but I am totally converted! A lovely friend lent me hers, as I didn’t really want to buy a pair, thinking I wouldn’t actually use them, but from day one they were in my hand, and I shall be looking for some now!
Cap and Buff - dip it in some water and wear it around your neck, it helped keep you so cool, it felt amazing! As most days we were hitting 30 degrees.
Clothes - I took 3 sets (shorts, teeshirt, vest top and a sun protection layer), on the route, I wore two pairs, so it felt nice for the last day to have proper clean clothes to put on, so glad I saved those! But you literally wash everything through at the end of the day, to me thats all part of the adventure.
PJ’s - the refuges (and in fact hotels we stayed in) are so blooming hot! You literally sleep in the minimum you can because they are swelteringly hot with no air.
First Aid kit / Emergency bivvy / Whistle
Headtorch / spare batteries
Microfibre towel
Down jacket / gloves / sunglasses
Pen knife - although I didn’t use mine as we didn’t end up buying any cheese on the route to eat, they do say it’s useful if buying your baguette / cheese on the go (yep that really is a thing!)
Waterproof jacket / trousers
AirTags - this was so good to know where your luggage was, as we found out in La Tour.
Water bottles
Map / Compass
European adaptor
Sun cream
Eye mask / ear plugs - also needed as the rifugio’s can be noisy.
Dry bags
Paperwork - passport / insurance document printed off / cash (Euros and Swiss Francs)
Electrolites, haribo
Cost - Gulp… I still need to do this part, but at a quick calculation, it worked out about the same price (maybe a tiny bit more) than using a company. Refuges are anything from 60 euros+ per night and some were coming out at 100+ per night. Food also isn’t cheap (we did half board where we could) but you still need food on the way round. But equally you can stop at shops in the towns and grab your essential items.
Cash / Card - a lot of the refuges don’t accept card, so carry cash round with you to pay for your accommodation (a lot you have only paid a deposit for).
Insurance - I got mine through the BMC and cost me around £55. If using BMC, you do need to become a member too.
Sleep - don‘t expect much of that! I don’t think any of us even managed a decent night sleep until night 5 and I got to the point I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and think I fell asleep about 8:30pm and slept pretty much solidly until 5ish the next morning.
The Flora and Forna was absolutely incredible. I honestly wish I’d taken more photos of it!
I’m going to share more details of our day to day itinerary separately, otherwise it will make for a long blog!
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