Skip to product information
Tour du Mont Blanc Map Booklet - Front Cover
1/6

Tour du Mont Blanc Map Booklet

IGN maps and essential resources to plan your hike

Map booklet with 1:25,000 IGN mapping for hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc, one of the world's classic treks. The 170km (105 mile) TMB route typically takes 11 days and can be walked in anti-clockwise and clockwise directions. Trek planning resources, accommodation guide and 5, 7 and 9-day options. Companion Cicerone guidebook available separately.

The eBook is also sold by Amazon Kindle, Rakuten Kobo, Google Play Books and Apple Books.

Detailed overview

Discover the legendary Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB), a spectacular circuit around the Mont Blanc massif, covering 170 km (105 miles) through France, Italy, and Switzerland. Starting and finishing in Les Houches, this iconic long-distance trek takes you past picturesque alpine villages, glacial valleys, and breathtaking mountain scenery on a rewarding journey through the heart of the Alps.

This map book provides all the detailed mapping you need to walk the Tour du Mont Blanc:

  • Features 1:25,000 IGN maps with the full route line clearly shown.
  • Covers the entire TMB circuit, including alternative stages via Col de Tricot and Fenêtre d'Arpette.
  • Suitable for walking the route in either direction.
  • Compact and pocket-sized, ideal for your jacket pocket or rucksack.
  • Includes urban maps of Les Houches, Les Contamines, Courmayeur, Champex, and Chamonix.
  • Handy facilities planner, route summary tables, and accommodation listings to help you plan your itinerary.
  • For step-by-step route descriptions, an accompanying Cicerone guidebook, 'Trekking the Tour du Mont Blanc', is also available. GPX files are available to download.
  • Part of the Cicerone series for long-distance walkers.

Plan your Tour du Mont Blanc adventure with confidence and enjoy every stage of this world-renowned trek, brought to you by Cicerone, the trusted experts in outdoor guidebooks.

Where and when to go

Seasons

With high passes to negotiate, this is a summer-only route, best tackled between early July and end of September.

Centres

Chamonix (just off the route), Les Houches and Les Contamines (France); Courmayeur (Italy); La Fouly, Champex and Trient (Switzerland) are all on the route of the TMB.

Difficulty

Much of the TMB follows clear, well-graded paths suitable for fit walkers. But there are some very steep climbs (and descents), and two stages on which near-vertical ladders are used to scale cliffs (though alternative options are included). A demanding route for first-time trekkers and old hands alike.

Must See

Some of the world's finest mountain scenery; Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe; the Chamonix Aiguilles; the Mer de Glacier, second longest glacier in the Alps, a choice of seven or eight passes to cross, each with its own heart-stopping views.

Table of contents

Route summary tables

Overview profile/staging options – anti-clockwise TMB

Overview profile/staging options – clockwise TMB

Stage facilities planner

THE TOUR DU MONT BLANC

Stage 1 Les Houches to Les Contamines via Bionnassay

Stage 1A Les Houches to Les Contamines via Miage

Stage 2 Les Contamines to Les Chapieux via Croix du Bonhomme

Stage 3 Les Chapieux to Rifugio Elisabetta via Col de la Seigne

Stage 4 Rifugio Elisabetta to Courmayeur

Stage 5 Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti

Stage 6 Rifugio Bonatti to La Fouly via Grand Col Ferret

Stage 7 La Fouly to Champex

Stage 8 Champex to Trient via Alp Bovine

Stage 8A Champex to Trient via Fenêtre d’Arpette

Stage 9 Trient to Tré-le-Champ via Col de Balme

Stage 10 Tré-le-Champ to Refuge de la Flégère

Stage 11 Refuge de la Flégère to Les Houches via Le Brévent

Town maps

Accommodation listings

Camping on the TMB

Which format is best for me?

Printed book

A guidebook with detailed route descriptions, stage breakdowns, accommodation listings, profiles and maps — everything you need on the trail.

ISBN9781786312297
AvailabilityPublished
Published27 May 2024
Reprinted31 October 2028
Weight 100g

eBook

The complete digital edition of the guidebook, with full route descriptions, accommodation listings, profiles and maps, ready to use on any device.

Updates

  1. Updated

    Tour of Mont Blanc – important information

    Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme

    The summer of 2026 will be affected by the start of major renovation work at the Croix du Bonhomme refuge. The refuge will be open to host visitors from?early June to mid-August 2026. It is anticipated that the renovation work will take over two years to complete, with a planned re-opening for June 2029.

    What this means for your TMB trek

    Anti-clockwise route:

    Stage 2 Les Contamines to Les Chapieux

    If you want to split this stage, then there are options at Nant Borrant, Refuge de la Balme and Refuge des Prés off-route).

    If planning to continue over Col des Fours to Refuge des Mottets or Rifugio Elisabetta, then these interim refuges are recommended.

    Clockwise route:

    Les Chapieux to Les Contamines

    It is unlikely that the closure of the Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme will affect your accommodation plans, however, make sure you have adequate food and snacks to get safely over the high cols and down into the Montjoie valley.

    For more information:

    https://ffcam.fr/projet-de-renovation-croix-du-bonhomme.html

Meet the authors

A lifelong passion for the countryside in general, and mountains in particular, drove Kev's desire to share his sense of wonder and delight in the natural world through his writing, guiding, photography and lecturing. Spending several months every year in various high-mountain regions researching guidebooks made him The Man with the World's Best Job.

Kev enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Cicerone from the 1970s, producing 50 books, including guides to five major trekking regions of Nepal and to numerous routes in the European Alps and Pyrenees, as well as walking guides for Kent, Sussex and the Cotswolds. 'A Walk in the Clouds' is a collection of autobiographical short stories recording 50 years of mountain travel and adventures. He was also the contributing editor of the collaborative guide 'Trekking in the Himalaya' and Cicerone's celebratory anniversary compilation 'Fifty Years of Adventure'.

A frequent contributor to outdoor magazines, Kev also wrote and illustrated brochures for national tourist authorities and travel companies. When not away in the mountains, Kev lived with his wife in a small cottage among what he called 'the Kentish Alps', with unrestricted walking country on the doorstep. But he also travelled throughout Britain during the winter months to share his love of the places he wrote about through a series of lectures.

Sadly, Kev passed away in 2021. He will be remembered fondly by all who knew him and by many more he inspired through his writing and talks.

Lesley Williams

Lesley Williams

View author

Originally from Oxfordshire, Lesley's lifelong passion for walking, trekking and, more recently, cycle touring has taken her to many corners of the UK, Europe and occasionally further afield. Although now mostly retired, she has been a director of Cicerone for over 25 years, leading its sales and marketing team. Lesley is a qualified marketing professional, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the author of Walking the Tour of the Lake District. Lesley shares a passion for alpine walking and trekking with husband Jonathan and together they have written several guidebooks. Based between the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, they relish every excuse to spend days exploring and writing.

Jonathan Williams

Jonathan Williams

View author

A proud Yorkshireman, Jonathan first climbed a mountain before he was born. Although he first met Lesley at sea, they have spent many years exploring mountains and trails in Britain and Europe. After nearly 25 years as Cicerone's publisher and managing director, he now supports the team whilst exploring, updating and writing guides. He has developed UK guides and walked throughout Europe, but his special subject is the Alps and Switzerland. He has worked on guidebooks including Chamonix to Zermatt: the Walker's Haute Route, Trekking in the Vanoise, the Swiss Via Alpina and the Tour du Mont Blanc, as well as walking guides to Zermatt and Saas Fee, Arolla and Zinal and the Bernese Oberland.