Trekking the Tour of Mont Blanc

Complete two-way hiking guidebook and map booklet

By Kev Reynolds

ISBN

9781786310620

Availability

Published

15 Jun 2020

Reprinted

22 May 2023

Edition

Fifth

Pages

240

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.40cm

Weight

350g

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Guidebook for walking the Tour of Mont Blanc, one of the world's classic treks. The 170km TMB route typically takes 11 days and is described in both anti-clockwise and clockwise directions, with optional variants. Includes information about refuges and facilities and a separate booklet showing the entire route on IGN 1:25,000 maps.

Seasons

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

Centres

Chamonix (not on the actual 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 offered). 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.

ISBN

9781786310620

Availability

Published

15 Jun 2020

Reprinted

22 May 2023

Edition

Fifth

Pages

240

Size

17.20 x 11.60 x 1.40cm

Weight

350g

Overview

This guidebook contains in-depth route description and mapping for both the classic 11 day anti-clockwise circuit and an alternative 10 day clockwise TMB circuit. This well-signed but demanding 170km route, starting from Les Houches or Champex, is suitable for fit walkers.

The guidebook comes with a map booklet containing official 1:25,000 IGN mapping for the TMB route, and urban maps for the major centres of Chamonix, Courmayeur, Les Contamines, Les Houches and Champex.

Complete with a French-English glossary, comprehensive notes about accommodation, facilities and transport, this guide provides all the information needed for planning and completing your trek. The Tour of Mont Blanc is one of the world's classic treks. Visiting France, Italy and Switzerland, the TMB passes through some of Europe's most spectacular mountain scenery, with views of the peaks and glaciers of the magnificent Mont Blanc massif.

Table of Contents

Contents
Overview map
Overview profile
Map key
Mountain safety
Route summary table
Introduction
The Tour of Mont Blanc
The route
Clockwise or anti-clockwise?
Suggested itineraries
How to get there
When to go
Accommodation
Languages
Maps and waymarks
Preparation and equipment
Safety in the mountains
Using this guide
The Tour of Mont Blanc – anti-clockwise
Stage 1 Les Houches – Bionnassay – Les Contamines
Stage 1A Les Houches – Refuge de Miage – Les Contamines
Stage 2 Les Contamines – Croix du Bonhomme – Les Chapieux
Stage 3 Les Chapieux – Col de la Seigne – Rifugio Elisabetta
Stage 4 Rifugio Elisabetta – Courmayeur
Stage 5 Courmayeur – Rifugio Bonatti
Stage 6 Rifugio Bonatti – Grand Col Ferret – La Fouly
Stage 7 La Fouly – Champex
Stage 8 Champex – Alp Bovine – Trient
Stage 8A Champex – Fenêtre d’Arpette – Trient
Stage 9 Trient – Col de Balme – Tré-le-Champ
Stage 10 Tré-le-Champ – Refuge La Flégère
Stage 11 Refuge La Flégère – Le Brévent – Les Houches
Places and items of interest on the TMB
The story of Mont Blanc
The Tour of Mont Blanc – clockwise
Stage 1 Champex – Ferret
Stage 2 Ferret – Grand Col Ferret – Rifugio Bonatti
Stage 3 Rifugio Bonatti – Courmayeur
Stage 4 Courmayeur – Rifugio Elisabetta
Stage 5 Rifugio Elisabetta – Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme
Stage 6 Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme – Les Contamines
Stage 7 Les Contamines – Bionnassay – Les Houches
Stage 7A Les Contamines – Refuge de Miage – Les Houches
Stage 8 Les Houches – Le Brévent – La Flégère
Stage 9 La Flégère – Col de Balme – Trient
Stage 10 Trient – Alp Bovine – Champex
Stage 10A Trient – Fenêtre d’Arpette – Champex
Appendix A Route facilities table (anti-clockwise)
Appendix B Accommodation
Appendix C Campsites on the TMB
Appendix D Useful contacts
Appendix E Further reading
Appendix F French–English glossary

Updates

October 2022

Updates October 2022

TMB updates October 2022 (103.353 KB)

October 2022

Col de la Seigne (page 64)

The description should be clarified as follows:

The route of the TMB uses only the right-hand hillside after descending from Elisabetta on the way up and over to Courmayeur.
The description of Col de la Seigne should read: "...care should be taken on the initial descent. On arrival a low cairn can be seen just to the right with yellow signposts. Walk up beyond this to the larger cairn and orientation board for the best views. The route descends directly down from here in an easterly direction towards the valley, initially quite gently before steepening. There are several paths close together, many in deep gullies often carrying small streams. These all descend in the same direction and after 10-15min reach a renovated former customs house, La Casermetta. Pass to the left of the building. From here a single good path descends slightly to the left crossing a side stream on a wooden bridge, then widens to a track leading into the flat pastures of Lée Blanche, the uppermost reaches of the Val Veni."

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Kev Reynolds

Kev Reynolds was a freelance writer, photojournalist and lecturer. A prolific compiler of guidebooks, his first title for Cicerone Press (Walks & Climbs in the Pyrenees) appeared in 1978; he later produced many more titles for the same publisher. A member of the Outdoor Writers' Guild, the Alpine Club and Austrian Alpine Club, his passion for mountains and the countryside inspired a lifetime's activity, and he regularly travelled throughout Britain to share that enthusiasm through his 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.

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