A view of Mont Blanc from the Tour du Mont Blanc, 2007

The Tour du Mont Blanc or TMB is one of the most popular long-distance walks in Europe. It circles the

Mont Blanc massif The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indepen ...

, covering a distance of roughly with of ascent/descent and passing through parts of Switzerland, Italy and France. It is considered one of the classic long-distance hiking trails. The circular route is normally walked in a counter-clockwise direction in 11 days. It is also the route of an annual mountain marathon in which the winners normally cover the entire distance in less than 26 (women's race) or 20 hours (men's race).

Route

Usual start points are

Les Houches Les Houches () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Eastern France. In 2017, it had a population of 2,943. Overview Les Houches, located 6 kilometres from Chamonix, is a ski resort with a domain whic ...

in the

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

valley or

Les Contamines Les Contamines-Montjoie () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Etymology The original name of the village, ''Les Contamines,'' is from the word ''contamines'', which in the ...

in the Montjoie valley (in France),

Courmayeur Courmayeur (; Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in northern Italy, in the autonomous region of Aosta Valley. History The toponym ''Courmayeur'' has been mentioned as ''Curia majori'' (1233–1381), ''Corte Maggiore'' (1620), ''Cormoyeu'' (164 ...

from the Italian side, and either

Champex Champex (; also Champex-Lac) is a village located in the French-speaking Swiss canton of Valais, part of the municipality of Orsières. The village lies at 1,470 metres on the shore of Lac de Champex, at the foot of the Mont Blanc Massif. It is ...

or a point near

Martigny Martigny (; german: Martinach, ; la, Octodurum) is the capital city of the district of Martigny, canton of Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of , and its population is approximately 15000 inhabitants (''Martignerains'' or "Octodurie ...

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, Vallée des Glaciers,

Italian Val Veni Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Val Ferret Val Ferret is the name shared by two valleys separated by the Col Ferret, a pass on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The valleys lie southeast of Mont Blanc Massif. The Swiss valley drains northeast towards Orsières and on into the Rh� ...

, Swiss Val Ferret, and either the Arpette or Trient valley in Switzerland, dependent on the route chosen. The "official" route has changed over the course of the years and many alternatives, or "variantes", exist to the standard route. Some can take an intrepid walker onto paths requiring greater fitness, awareness and skill. Others provide 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 The GR 5 is a GR footpathThe acronym GR stands for "Grande Randonnée" (in French), meaning "Great Hike". that starts in the Netherlands, crosses Belgium and Luxembourg before crossing France from north to south. It is part of the European wal ...

as it makes its way from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. A link can also be made with the walkers'

Haute Route The Haute Route (or the High Route or Mountaineers' Route) is the name given to a route (with several variations) undertaken on foot or by ski touring between the Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France, and the Matterhorn, in Zermatt, Switzerland. Fir ...

from Chamonix to

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). ...

in the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...

. The highest points on any variant of the trail are the Col des Fours in France and the Fenêtre d'Arpette in Switzerland, both at an altitude of . This is not high enough to cause altitude sickness for most people, nevertheless the trail provides a tough physical challenge. Experience of walking in mountain country is vital and, because mountain weather can change very rapidly, participants on the Tour du Mont Blanc should be suitably equipped. Plentiful accommodation exists along the entire route, allowing it to be broken into segments to suit any fit person. This takes a variety of forms, from separate bedrooms to large mixed-sex dormitories. Cooked meals are available at most. 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. Despite the abundance of choice, the popularity of the trail can lead to problems finding accommodation, even if booking in advance.

Legs

UltraMarathon

The route of the Tour du Mont Blanc is used for an annual ultramarathon event called the

Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is a single-stage mountain ultramarathon, first held in 2003, that follows the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Since UTMB Group's partnership with IRONMAN Group in 2021, UTMB World Series will formally launch ...

. The winning time is usually around 20 hours to complete the entire circuit.

References

External links

Tour du Mont Blanc website
{{coord missing, Italy

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...

Hiking trails in France

Mont Blanc