Tour du Mont Blanc: Planning, Packing & What to Expect

Ten days, seven valleys, five cols, 2,650 meters in elevation at our highest point, 85 miles, and one grand adventure. Some blood, sweat, and tears, but mostly mud, definitely still sweat, and cheers. The Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) was all of that and so much more.

This mid-July 2014 trip started off the same way as many of our recent trips have, with a whole lot of research. From blogs to guidebooks to YouTube videos, we exhausted every resource we could find. How long should we take? What gear is essential? Do we need to speak French? Can we bus portions of stages? Camp or stay in refuges? Should we book ahead? Clockwise or anti-clockwise?

The more we read, the more confident we became. We mapped our stages and picked the most highly reviewed refuges for each one. After reading reassuring articles both ways, we decided we'd be less stressed booking ahead rather than winging it on the trail. Most refuges now have online booking — though a few phone calls were made where Evan dusted off his rusty French to secure a bed for the night. We were glad we booked ahead. With the exception of Lac Blanc, we were able to stay at all of our top choices.

Trek mapped, lodging booked, and the Kev Reynolds Cicerone guidebook in hand — the final big detail was packing. Evan and I love camping and do it often in our home mountains, the Adirondacks, but neither of us will claim to be great at packing light when we don't have to be. Having never completed a multi-day trek where you carry everything on your back, we were stepping into new territory. We relied heavily on the packing list assembled by the couple behind the "Walking the TMB" website — an excellent starting point.

After all was said and done, our packs weighed around 35 lbs each — heavy, but Evan was carrying camera equipment and I had all the first aid supplies, sunscreen, and the little things that definitely add up. After a few last-minute details — ordering enough Euros and Swiss Francs through our bank (most refuges are cash only) and picking up small flags for each country along the route — we felt ready for our next grand adventure.

Departure and Arrival

Flying out of Syracuse, we connected to our red-eye overseas flight in Newark. The flights went smoothly, and our baggage was waiting on the carousel in Geneva. One quick note on bags — we checked both backpacks since they were too large for carry-on, and picked up lightweight duffel bags to protect them in transit. They worked great as pack covers and doubled as trail seat cushions once folded up.

After retrieving our packs, we found the AlpyBus station for our ride to Chamonix — an easy service that runs directly from the Geneva airport into the Chamonix Valley and dropped us right at our hotel's door.

Our reservation at Hotel Alpina didn't allow check-in until 4:00, and being too jet-lagged to think straight, we roamed Chamonix until then. We put the time to good use — stopping at the tourism office to sort out transport to Les Contamines the next morning, grabbing lunch, and checking the webcams at Aiguille du Midi (too cloudy for the ride up, unfortunately).

By 4:00 we were more than ready to check in. After a much-needed nap, we made our way to Micro Brasserie de Chamonix for dinner — massive, excellent burgers, though the service was a bit slow. Early to bed from there, banking as much sleep as possible ahead of Day 1.

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Day 1: Les Contamines, France to Col de la Croix du Bonhomme →

Have questions about our trek? Send us an email — we're happy to help.