Tour du Mont Blanc

The tour du Mont Blanc is about 8 hours of mountain hiking per day for more than a week with significant elevation changes .
Not sure than a 100 mile mountain hike is the favorite activity of the Rick Steves forums visitors, but you never know... :))

Thank you JoLui. I have found a bit on here as there have been a few brave RS followers who have gone, but the posts are a bit old.

As I research of course I’m finding more information but having the words of advice from those who have gone before is always helpful.

Hopefully, someone will respond with current info. Our friends did this through a guided REI tour before Covid. It was 10 days of approximately 10 miles per day with different types of huts each night. Their luggage was shipped ahead of them so they only had to hike with a day pack. They said they got up early, hiked all day with elevation gains, the scenery while hiking was incredible but they were exhausted by the end of the day where all they wanted to do was eat and go to bed. They were in their mid sixties and trained pretty extensively for 3 months ahead of time. They never mentioned bathroom facilities along the trail but you need to consider that you are hiking in a wilderness area and a toilet is not going to be just around the bend. Being able to find a bush and pack out your toilet paper is part of hiking. I might add that they thought it was a trip they will never forget.

Thank you Margie. I suspect that your friend might be on here as Lola? I’ve read her posts. It is too bad that REI doesn’t have the tour any longer as that would be an easy choice. I did the 3 Day Susan G. Komen and I know that feeling of eat and fall into bed! My friend and I trained for that too.

As far as the toilet situation or outhouse or whatever, it seems there must be something as it is difficult to think that allowing the pee and pack out is feasible as one would know that packing it out might be a rare thing hence too much TP scattered near the trails. We will, however, prepare for just that situation! In reading tour site information, there has been no mention of either scenario. Maybe that comes up when a tour is booked and finalized. Rick S post did mention that there were commerce stops conveniently located, yet he only did a few days rather than 10 or 11, so may have been on a more travelled section. Certainly, the pack out will not be a surprise or cause us to not do a tour.

I have sent private messages to two others who will be doing the TMB this season, so hoping they will share their experiences.

I too am looking into the hike around Mount Blanc. I love the idea of not getting into a car and just enjoying the countryside every day. I'm trying to find a service that reserves the chalets and treks our stuff for you too. I've found: innwalking.com *anyone have a company to recommend?

There are quite a number of companies that book accommodations and do luggage transport. I think I googled Tour du Mont Blanc and lots of companies came up. I think the hardest for me and those traveling with me is trying to find ‘the one’ that offers what you want and keeps their cost to $250-300/day. We’re currently looking at a 14 night/13 day tour-I’ll NEED the rest days-with more hotel style bookings than all huts.
Lots of different ways to do the TMB.
Good luck researching c.miller9!

A friend of mine has done TMB a few years ago. It is fairly late here in Oz but I will see if I can find out a bit of info from her over the next few days.

From my previous research it is pretty civilised with refuge accom. available and other refuges in between so toilets should be available fairly often.

I am curious to know if the 4 of you are regular multi day hikers?

Tintaldra- thank you!
No post I’ve seen anywhere complains about lack of facilities, so they must be available in some format! Any info your friend can supply will be useful.

This isn’t until fall of 2025, so we are starting our walking/hiking regimen now. Hopefully by then, it will feel doable. I have trained for multi day walks, including elevation, but know personally, I’ll have to start including more elevation as we move forward. Lots of that on the TMB!

Our trip begins in one month from today!

We booked self guided through Macs Adventures since we do not want or need to use a guide being experienced mountain hikers. However, I quickly decided that the benefit of having experienced bookers coordinate lodging, luggage transport and route selection was well worth the 30-40 % premium over self booking. We chose their Highlights in comfort tour as we have limited time and I personally will never sleep in dorm style rooms again after three nights of hell on the Routeburn Track in NZ.

Our friends who have done it said the refuges are mostly fine to excellent. In fact, we have one booked that offers private rooms. If you book a year ahead (almost mandatory now) the larger tour companies may be able to get you in one of those if you prefer.

Each day has potential alternate routes or the tour company can tailor the route based on your comfort and abilities. Many routes also have option for taking transport to knock out long sections of boring hiking.

I recommend Kev Reynolds book The Tour of the Mont Blanc for general information.

Also, we are staying an extra day in Courmayer to enjoy the town and it seemed that the most common complaint is that people did not have more time there to relax.

Feel free to pm me with any questions.

My husband and I did the TMB 9 years ago, in our 60’s. We hiked the traditional route. There are many variations. We averaged 10 miles and 3000 feet of climbing each day for 10 days. We were self guided without luggage transfer and used a company called Alpine Exploratory. Friends we made along the way used Macs Adventures with luggage transfer. Either company will provide maps & route notes/phone apps. And the trail is very well marked. We requested a private room where available. At most we shared a room with 3 other people. We also stayed in a few small family run hotels. In terms of facilities, we usually had a hut or small cafe to stop at while having coffee or lunch. And often found what tree or bush was available elsewhere. Not a big deal. It was a fantastic adventure! Prepare your hiking legs, bring trekking poles, and enjoy some of the most beautiful hiking in the world! We are returning to the area this summer to repeat some of our favorite sections!

@jasonindenver-thank you. I will be sending a pm.

kathryn.holbrook-thank you. Sounds like you may be around our age, so I’ll be interested to hear your take on the sections you do again. None of the 4 of us are wanting to schedule this on our own, so we’ll be using a company. And, we do want assurance of a hot shower and privacy at the end of the day. We know there is the possibility it won’t be every night, but we’ll take as many as we can get. Plus the luggage transfer is a must! Not too enthused about the bush or tree part.

Lots of physical work to do yet to get prepared and we still have lots of reading/research to do. Please do pm me (if you remember) when you return so I can add your experiences to our notes.

Enjoy!