Almost everyone walks the loop in one of three ways. A guided trek: an operator books the huts and a guide walks with the group. A self-guided trek: a booking agency reserves the nights and sends the route notes, and you walk on your own. Or one stage at a time: you base yourself in Chamonix or Courmayeur and walk a day of the trail on your own.
168 km, three countries, walked on your own or with an operator
Tour du Mont Blanc
Quick answerThe Tour du Mont Blanc is a 168 km loop round the massif through France, Italy and Switzerland, walked in 11 stages over 9–14 days while the huts are open, mid-June to mid-September. Our partner sells no guided TMB stage or TMB trek (checked 30 Sep 2026): you walk the loop yourself or book an operator, and test your legs on a guided day near the trail.
Key takeaways
- 8–20 km a stage: the shortest is Tré-le-Champ → Refuge de la Flégère, the longest Rifugio Bonatti → La Fouly
- 8,917 m of ascent and 9,119 m of descent across 11 stages
- 9–14 days mid-June to mid-September, while the huts are open; July and August are the peak
- €140–190 a day on your own: a bed with half board, lunch and the odd transfer
- 0 guided TMB stages or TMB treks on sale on GetYourGuide when checked on 30 Sep 2026
- 2,665 m the highest passes on the loop: Col des Fours in France, Fenêtre d’Arpette in Switzerland
Three ways in — the same three words as the menu above
Tour du Mont Blanc Tours: Guided, Self-Guided or One Stage
Source: Bookatrekking cost guide · World Discovery · GetYourGuide listings ·
Anticlockwise from Les Houches, the way most people walk it
Tour du Mont Blanc Stages: All 11 of the Loop
The standard route runs anticlockwise in 11 stages, from Les Houches through Italy and Switzerland and back to Les Houches. Stages run from 8 km to 20 km; the kilometres below add up to the 168 km of the loop. Nine days means joining some of them, fourteen means rest days or splitting the long ones.
Stage 1 · Les Houches → Les Contamines
16 km in France, from the traditional start at Les Houches to the first night at Les Contamines.
Stage 2 · Les Contamines → Les Chapieux
18 km in France — the last night on the French side before the border.
Stage 3 · Les Chapieux → Rifugio Elisabetta
15 km, crossing into Italy to Rifugio Elisabetta, where the Val Veny e-bike ride from Courmayeur also ends.
Stage 4 · Rifugio Elisabetta → Courmayeur
18 km in Italy, down the Val Veny side into Courmayeur, the one town on the loop.
Stage 5 · Courmayeur → Rifugio Bonatti
12 km in Italy along the Val Ferret balcony, past the Bertone lodge — the stage to walk if you only have one day.
Stage 6 · Rifugio Bonatti → La Fouly
20 km, crossing into Switzerland — the longest stage of the loop.
Stage 7 · La Fouly → Champex
15 km in Switzerland, where half board runs €100–130 a night, the dearest side of the loop.
Stage 8 · Champex → Col de la Forclaz
16 km in Switzerland, the third of the three Swiss nights.
Stage 9 · Col de la Forclaz → Tré-le-Champ
13 km, crossing back into France.
Stage 10 · Tré-le-Champ → Refuge de la Flégère
8 km in France — the shortest stage of the loop.
Stage 11 · Refuge de la Flégère → Les Houches
17 km in France, back down to Les Houches, where the loop closes.
168 km· 11 stagesbar length = kilometres · arrow = the stage in the trek hub
Source: TMB stage data ·
No guided stage is on sale — what you can do instead
TMB Stage: On Your Own, or a Guided Day Nearby
GetYourGuide sells no guided TMB stage or TMB trek: the guided TMB stage days sold this summer were taken off GetYourGuide (checked 30 Sep 2026). They may return when the 2027 season opens.
The point
For a taste of the TMB before committing to 9–14 days, walk stage 5 yourself: 12 km from Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti on a balcony path past the Bertone lodge, with Mont Blanc across the valley. For a guide on the trail itself, book a full-trek operator.
The nearest guided day in the same valleys is the Val Veny & Val Ferret tour from Courmayeur: a small-group day by e-bike, €199 per person, ★5.0 from 2 reviews. On 30 Sep 2026 it had only two open dates, 1 and 2 October, and no 2027 dates yet.
Guide Chamonix Tour du Mont Blanc
No guided TMB stage is sold from Chamonix on GetYourGuide. What is sold are private guided hikes with Mont Blanc views: the Personalized Guided Hike from €320, 3.5–8 h, new; the Sunset Hike & Fondue at €250 (★5.0 from 6 reviews); the Guided Hike with Local Cheese & Wine Tasting at €235 (★5.0 from 2 reviews). In Megève the guided hike is €205 per group, up to 8.
from€199pp
Val Veny & Val Ferret tour
A day in Val Veny and Val Ferret from Courmayeur in a small group.
1 dayduration
Courmayeurstart
—cable car
coachgroup
Height not confirmed · check the itinerary before booking
from€250pp
Chamonix: Sunset Hike & Fondue in the Alpine Land with Guide
A sunset walk with a guide above Chamonix and a fondue after it.
3.5 hduration
Chamonixstart
—cable car
guidewith guide
Height not confirmed · check the itinerary before booking
from€235pp
Chamonix: Guided Hike with Local Cheese & Wine Tasting
3.5 hduration
Chamonixstart
—cable car
guidewith guide
Height not confirmed · check the itinerary before booking
from€320pp
Chamonix: Personalized Guided Hike with Views of Mont-Blanc
3.5–8 hduration
Chamonixstart
—cable car
guidewith guide
Height not confirmed · check the itinerary before booking
from€205per group · up to 8
Guided hike with a view of Mont Blanc in Megève
3 hduration
Megèvestart
—cable car
guidewith guide
Height not confirmed · check the itinerary before booking
from€180pp
Courmayeur: Guided E-Bike Tour in Val Veny and Val Ferret
A guided e-bike day under the Italian face.
6 hduration
Courmayeurstart
—cable car
coachgroup
Height not confirmed · check the itinerary before booking
Source: GetYourGuide listings, 1 adult ·
Two Chamonix hikes with dates for next summer
Near the TMB: Live Dates for a Guided Day
Everything bookable round the trek, sorted by reviews
Around the TMB: All 9 Compared
Start
in the price
paid option on the same listing
not included — the price to add is written
not listed — the listing does not say
9 of 9 tours shown · Source: GetYourGuide listings, 1 adult, cheapest option ·
Three countries, one direction, two high passes
Tour of Mont Blanc Route: France, Italy, Switzerland
The route circles the whole massif. The first two and the last two stages are in France; stages 3 to 6 cross into Italy, with Courmayeur in the middle; 7 to 9 run through Switzerland, by La Fouly and Champex, and end back in France. The total is usually given as 168 km; depending on the variants you take it comes out between 165 and 170 km.
Source: TMB stage data ·
Huts, packages and a daily figure, 2025–2026 prices
Plan and Budget the Trek
An older estimate by an operator puts a fully independent trek at about €840 for 10–11 days in huts, or €330 with a tent. It was built on hut prices below today’s; with the current half-board range, ten nights on your own cost well above that.
Source: Bookatrekking TMB cost guide · World Discovery · Trekking Mont Blanc ·
Who sells what — operator, agency or a guide for one day
Tour du Mont Blanc Companies: Three Kinds
The companies fall into three kinds. Full-trek operators run guided departures and sell their own packages; World Discovery, behind toursdumontblanc.com, prices from €1,089 to €4,995, and Mont Blanc Treks sells in pounds sterling. Self-guided agencies and consultants book the huts in your name and send the route. Local guides sell single days — that is the only kind GetYourGuide carries near this trek, and none of them walks a TMB stage (checked 30 Sep 2026).
Tour du Mont Blanc package
A package means the nights are booked for you. Self-guided runs €1,595–1,750 for 10 days and 9 nights in huts, €1,900–2,250 in comfort hotels, and €750–900 for half the loop in 5 days. Guided packages add the guide, which is why the upper end reaches €4,995.
Source: Bookatrekking cost guide · World Discovery · Mont Blanc Treks ·
The start is Les Houches, the airport is Geneva
Geneva to Tour du Mont Blanc: Reaching the Start
Geneva is the nearest big airport to the start. The public bus from Geneva to Chamonix takes 1 h 25 min and costs from €12, with at least four departures a day to Chamonix Sud and Chamonix Centre; the road is 88–100 km on the A40. For the last leg to Les Houches, the start of stage 1, see our Chamonix page.
Source: Bus operators ·
The race that runs the loop in under a day
Tour du Mont Blanc Marathon: The UTMB
The loop’s ultra marathon — the UTMB — is an annual race on the route at the end of August. The winners cover the loop hikers walk in 9–14 days in about 18–22 hours.
For runners who want the terrain without the race, the Trail Running Coaching in the Mont Blanc Massif is a 3 h private outing between Chamonix, Megève and Saint-Gervais, €205 per group of up to 8. It is new, with no reviews yet.
from€205per group · up to 8
Trail running coaching in the Mont Blanc Massif
3 hduration
Saint-Gervaisstart
—cable car
guidewith guide
Height not confirmed · check the itinerary before booking
Source: GetYourGuide listing ·
Six things the trek pages leave for later
The TMB: What Catches People Out
- 1No one sells the full trek on GetYourGuide Book the loop with an operator or a self-guided agency; to try one day first, walk stage 5 from Courmayeur on your own.
- 2The guided stage days were taken off The guided TMB stage days sold this summer were taken off GetYourGuide (checked 30 Sep 2026) — do not plan the trip around them.
- 3The huts close in mid-September The season is mid-June to mid-September; outside it, walk single days from Chamonix or Courmayeur instead.
- 4Switzerland costs more Half board is €100–130 a night there against €60–85 in Italy — budget the three Swiss nights separately.
- 5The UTMB runs at the end of August Walking then, check the race dates before you book beds, or shift the trip a week.
- 6The €840 estimate is old It uses earlier hut prices; plan on €140–190 a day instead.
Questions exactly as people ask them
Tour du Mont Blanc Questions
How long is the TMB?
About 168 km, or 165–170 km depending on the variants you take. The standard route has 11 stages from 8 km to 20 km, with 8,917 m of ascent and 9,119 m of descent. Most people walk it in 9–14 days, anticlockwise from Les Houches, through France, Italy and Switzerland. The longest stage is Rifugio Bonatti to La Fouly at 20 km; the shortest is Tré-le-Champ to Refuge de la Flégère at 8 km.
When can you walk the TMB?
From mid-June to mid-September, when the mountain huts are open; July and August are the peak months. Exact opening dates differ from hut to hut, so check each one when you book your nights. Outside the season the trek is not practical with huts, but single days still work — the Chamonix guided hikes carry reviews from November to March.
Is a self-guided TMB package worth it over booking the huts yourself?
Yes if you want the nights booked for you, because it costs about the same: a self-guided package in huts is €1,595–1,750 for 10 days and 9 nights, while ten days on your own at €140–190 a day come to about €1,400–1,900. The package adds the route notes and the hut bookings in your name. Check whether bags are moved between stages; in comfort hotels the package is €1,900–2,250.
Can you do one stage of the TMB with a guide?
No, not on GetYourGuide: it sells no guided TMB stage or TMB trek, and the guided TMB stage days sold this summer were taken off (checked 30 Sep 2026). You can walk a stage yourself, such as stage 5, 12 km from Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti, or book a full-trek operator whose packages include a guide, from €1,089 at World Discovery.
Can you join the Tour du Mont Blanc anywhere on the loop?
Yes: it is a loop, so any stage can be your first, as long as you walk all 11 and end where you began. Most people start at Les Houches and walk anticlockwise, with Les Contamines the first night. Courmayeur, where stages 4 and 5 meet, is the natural start on the Italian side and the one town on the loop. Our TMB from Chamonix page covers the classic start in detail.
What is the highest point of the TMB?
2,665 m. Two passes on the loop reach that height: Col des Fours on the French side and Fenêtre d’Arpette in Switzerland. The total climb over the 11 stages is 8,917 m. How hard that feels depends on the weather and your fitness more than on any single pass — our page on whether the TMB is dangerous walks through it for beginners.
Is there an official Tour du Mont Blanc website?
No: no single organisation runs or sells the trek: it is a trail through three countries, and the sites that rank for it are operators and consultants. toursdumontblanc.com, despite its name, is the site of World Discovery, an operator selling its own packages from €1,089 to €4,995. For stage data, costs and huts, use independent pages, and book huts or packages directly with whoever runs them.
Do you need a guide for the TMB?
No: the TMB is a long walk on a maintained path, not a technical climb, and many people walk it on their own or with a self-guided package that books the huts and sends the route. A guide makes sense if you want someone else to set the pace and handle the logistics; guided packages at World Discovery run €1,089–4,995. GetYourGuide sells no guided TMB stage or trek (checked 30 Sep 2026).
Which TMB stage is best for a single day?
Stage 5, from Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti: 12 km along the Val Ferret balcony, past the Bertone lodge, with Mont Blanc across the valley. It starts in the one town on the loop, so you need no hut night before it. Stage 10, Tré-le-Champ to Refuge de la Flégère, is shorter at 8 km, but stage 5 is the one to test your legs on before you commit to 9–14 days.
Is the TMB hard?
Yes in length, no in technique: 168 km and 8,917 m of climbing, with passes up to 2,665 m and stages of up to 20 km a day. Most walkers take 9–14 days. If you are unsure, walk one stage first on your own — stage 5 from Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti is 12 km of the real trail. Our page on whether it is dangerous covers the beginner questions.
Should I stay in huts or hotels on the TMB?
Huts are the cheaper and the classic choice, €60–130 a night with half board depending on the country. Hotels cost more: a self-guided package in comfort hotels is €1,900–2,250 against €1,595–1,750 in huts. Our TMB hotels page sets out the choices stage by stage, and a hut night on the Italian side, €60–85 with half board, is the cheapest bed on the loop.
A guided day in Chamonix, before the eleven stages