Tour du Mont Blanc — around the massif in eleven days
Eleven days circling Mont Blanc through France, Italy and Switzerland, sleeping in refuges.
The TMB is not technical but it is demanding — nearly 10,000 metres of climbing across 2,500 metre cols. Most people go anticlockwise, though the other way you meet fewer walkers.
The trip is decided by refuge bookings — they open in winter and by March there is little left for August. Without a confirmed bed the stage stretches or you drop to the valley.
How many km and how many days?
The full route is 170 km and about 11 days. Enter any km and days: if you are not doing it in one go, split it into several trips.
11 days, 170 km and 9999 m of climbing: about 15.5 km a day and 10 nights on the way.
- Les Houches → Les Contamines18 km · 1000 m D+
- Les Contamines → Les Chapieux19 km · 1300 m D+
- Les Chapieux → Rifugio Elisabetta13 km · 600 m D+
- Rifugio Elisabetta → Courmayeur13 km · 600 m D+
- Courmayeur → Rifugio Bonatti16 km · 950 m D+
- Rifugio Bonatti → La Fouly16 km · 950 m D+
- La Fouly → Champex-Lac15 km · 750 m D+
- Champex-Lac → Trient15 km · 750 m D+
- Trient → Tré-le-Champ15 km · 1033 m D+
- Tré-le-Champ → La Flégère15 km · 1033 m D+
- La Flégère → Les Houches15 km · 1033 m D+
Create your account and keep going with these 11 days.
It is free and takes a minute.
- Save the plan and pick up where you left off
- Carry it on your phone, map and times included
- Send it to your group with one link
- Download the itinerary and the calendar
Stages and sections
Approximate distances and climbing. Every guidebook and GPX varies by a few kilometres.
Stops along the route6
Four facts per village — what is worth a stop, where to sleep, where to eat and the practical warning.
Sleep — Les Contamines-Montjoie
Eat — Bellevue, Bionnassay
Good to know — Bellevue lift saves climbing
See on the map
Sleep — Les Chapieux or Croix du Bonhomme refuge
Eat — Refuge de la Balme
Good to know — Last big supermarket in the valley
See on the map
Sleep — Rifugio Elisabetta, Courmayeur
Eat — Col de la Seigne, Val Veny
Good to know — Refuges by reservation only
See on the map
Sleep — Rifugio Bonatti, La Fouly
Eat — Grand Col Ferret
Good to know — Bus through the tunnel to Chamonix
See on the map
Sleep — Champex-Lac, Trient
Eat — Bovine, Col de la Forclaz
Good to know — Switzerland — francs or card
See on the map
Sleep — Tré-le-Champ, La Flégère, Les Houches
Eat — Argentière, Planpraz
Good to know — Tiny hamlet — dine at the lodge
See on the map
Daily distance by level
Travel and paperwork
Season — Late June to mid September. Earlier there is snow on the cols and the refuges are shut.
Keep it in your calendar
Once you build this route as a plan, every stage is a card with time, duration and place. From the plan link anyone can download the calendar (.ics) or add it to Google Calendar and Outlook, with reminders before each day and before payment or confirmation deadlines.
What to lock before you leave
- Book the refuges before the flights, not the other way round.
- Carry cash — card payment fails in several mountain refuges.
- Three currencies and three countries — check your rescue insurance cover.
- Poles and a warm layer even in August — the cols are cold.
Frequently asked questions
In Keago this route becomes a plan — one card per stage with time and duration, the daily track, each night's accommodation with link and location, the meals, and both travel tickets where the whole group can see them. Everyone confirms and you know who is missing.
Create your account and keep building your Tour du Mont Blanc — around the massif in eleven days plan.
It is free and takes a minute.
- Save the plan and pick up where you left off
- Carry it on your phone, map and times included
- Send it to your group with one link
- Download the itinerary and the calendar