EASY DESTINATION
         HOME      WORLD TRAVEL GUIDE       INDIA TRAVEL GUIDE      ADVERTISE           TRAVEL FORUM

  INDIAN CUISINE     SKI RESORTS     TREKKING      MEDICAL TOURISM      WORLD CITY GUIDE    CYCLING


                 TOUR DU MONT BLAC


The Tour du Mont Blanc or TMB is one of the most popular long distance walks in
Europe. It circles the Mont Blanc Massif covering a distance of roughly 170 km with
10 km of ascent and passes through parts of Switzerland, Italy and France.

It is rightly considered one of the classic long distance walking trails. The circular
route is normally walked in an anti-clockwise direction in 7 – 10 days. It is also the
route of an annual mountain marathon in which the winner normally covers the entire
distance in less than 24 hours. Usual start points are Les Houches in the Chamonix
valley or Les Contamines in the Montjoie valley (in France), Courmayeur from the
Italian side, and either Champex or a point near Martigny in Switzerland. The route
passes through seven valleys around the Mont-Blanc massif, an anti-clockwise start
in Chamonix would lead through the Chamonix (or Arve) valley, then Montjoie, Vallee
des Glaciers, Italian Val Veni, & Val Ferret, Swiss Val Ferret, and either the Arpette or
Trient valley in Switzerland, dependent on route taken.

The ‘official’ route has changed over the course of the years and many alternatives,
or ‘Variantes’, exist to the standard route. Some of these take the intrepid walker onto
paths requiring greater fitness, awareness and skill. Others provide conveniently
less demanding options, which are often quicker than the accepted route but provide
lesser viewpoints onto the mountain ranges. For a part of the way, between the
summit of Brevent and the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme, the route coincides with
the European long distance footpath GR5 as it makes its way from the North Sea to
the Mediterranean Sea. A link can also be made with the walkers Haute Route from
Chamonix to Zermatt in Switzerland.

Plentiful accommodations exist along the entire route, allowing the route to be
broken into segments to suit virtually any fit person. The accommodation takes a
variety of forms, from separate bedrooms to large mixed sex dormitories. One can
normally obtain cooked meals at many of these places. With a start at Les Houches
one might expect overnight stops at Les Contamines, Col de la Croix du Bonhomme
refuge or Les Chapieux (depending on variant route taken), Elisabetta Soldini refuge,
Courmayeur, Elena refuge, Champex, Trient village, Argentiere, La Flegere refuge
and finally back to Les Houches. The sheer abundance of accommodation makes
for very flexible route-planning and many options exist besides these. Despite this
wealth of choice the tremendous popularity of the trail can lead to problems finding
accommodations, especially towards the end of the day. It is, however, possible to
book accommodation in advance.

The highest points on any variant of the trail are the Col des Fours in France and the
Fenetre d'Arpette in Switzerland, both at an altitude of 2,665m. Although, for most,
this is not high enough to cause altitude sickness, the trail nevertheless represents
a tough physical proposition. Experience of walking in mountain country should be
considered vital. In addition the weather can change very rapidly indeed and one
should always be suitably equipped for the challenge.

The route of the Tour du Mont Blanc is used for an annual ultramarathon event called
the Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc. The winning time is usually around 20 hours to
complete the entire circuit.