Tour du Mont Blanc / Tips

Tips and advice for hiking the TMB.

The Tour du Mont Blanc is a 108 mile (174km) hiking loop around the Mont Blanc range, passing through Italy, France, and Switzerland. People typically walk it in 10-12 days.

I first did the walk in 2017 over 11 days.This year I returned and did the first 5 sections again, from Les Houches to Rifugio Bontatti. On both trips I spent most nights camping, but did stay in some refuges too. For people thinking of camping, I recommend the following blog post:

https://annapaxton.com/2015/08/09/tour-du-mont-blanc-camping-a-guide-to-campsites-on-the-route-of-the-tmb/]

It's a few years old so some of the info might be out of date but it's a good starting point. The guidebook I used for my most recent trip (Tour du Mont Blanc by Andrew McCluggage) has good info for campers. I recommend it. The Cicerone guide by Kev Reynolds is good too but not as much info for campers.

Below is a list of the places where I stayed.

- Les Houches - there is a campsite (Camping Bellevue) but as of 2019 it seems to be closed for renovations. I stayed in a hotel (Rockypop)

- Day 1: Les Houches to Les Contamines. I stayed in Camping le Pontet which is about 20-30 mins after Les Contamines. Nice campsite with good facilities, small shop, and food van. Les Contamines has a good supermarket, restaurants, hotels etc..

- Day 2: Les Contamines to Les Chapieux. Free campsite at Les Chapieux, with use of a toilet block too. Small shop, selling locally made cheese and baguettes (and also a small selection of other food). Hotel nearby, with a bar / restaurant. Shuttle bus to Refuge des Mottets too.

- Day 3: Les Chapieux to Lac Combal. I couldn't find any campsites here so I stayed at a Refuge: Cabane du Combal. Expensive (70 euros) but probably the best refuge I've stayed at. Campers can divert off the TMB and go to Camping Monte Bianco la Sorgente. I haven't stayed there but it gets good reviews. It does involve a significant diversion though.

Day 4: Lac Comabl to Courmayeur. I stayed in a hotel in Courmayeur. It's a beautiful town and a good place to take an extra day (rest day). Lots of shops, hotels, restaurants, bars...

Day 5: Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti. In 2017 I walked this section in reverse. You can get a cheap bus from Courmayeur up Val Ferret close to Bonatti, then hike up to it. I then walked back to Courmayeur. If doing it again, I would try to stay in Bonatti (but it's very popular)

Day 6: Bonatti to La Fouly. Long day, but very nice campsite in La Fouly. Decent supermarket too. And a few bars / hotels / restaurants.

Day 7: La Fouly to Champex. Champex has a campsite at the end of the village. Small supermarket, hotels, bars, restaurants.

Day 8: Chapmpex to Trient (Le Peuty). At Le Peuty there is a basic camp ground right beside the TMB.

Day 9: Le Peuty to Le Tour. At Le Tour I got the bus to Argentiere and stayed at the very nice campsite - Camping des Glaciers. The next morning I got the bus to Col des Montets and resumed the walk

Day 10: Col des Montets to La Flegere. In 2017 I stayed at refuge La Flegere but in 2019 it seems to be closed. Very problematic for TMB walkers as the cable car there seems to be closed too. Might need to descend to the valley to find accommodation.

Day 11: La Flegere to Les Houches. Very long day! Stayed at a hotel in Les Houches.

To book refuges yourself, check out www.montourdumontblanc.com (but not all refuges / rifugios are listed e.g. Bonatti) - you'd need to try booking those refuges directly - see their websites.

Music:

All from Youtube Audio Library:

- Aretes (Kevin Macleod)
- A Quiet Thought (Wayne Jones)
-Flickering (VYEN)
-Neither Sweat nor Tears (Dan Bodan)
-One Step Closer (Aakash Ghandi)
-Serenity (Audionautix)
- Runaways (Silent Partner)

Видео Tour du Mont Blanc / Tips канала Richard Rambles