In July 2025, I fastpacked the Tour du Mont Blanc with my husband over 5 nights and 6 days. Without a doubt, it was an amazing experience; we loved every minute!
This was our first fastpacking experience, so we spent many hours plotting our route & overnights. Ultimately, we had no idea if 5 nights was realistic, but it turned out to be perfect, just the right combination of challenging & enjoyable.
We booked our mountain hut accommodation almost a year in advance, so we managed to find private rooms in all but one hut. Our other priorities were to stay in remote & rugged locations rather than down in Courmayeur, for example.
My husband is Celiac, so gluten-free was a must. All huts more or less confirmed they could cater for him when we booked, while asking for a reminder a week or so before arrival. Every single one also asked for dietary requirements on check-in, and we were pleasantly surprised; of course, some meals were better than others, but he didn’t go hungry!
Gluten-free TMB blog post coming soon!
We finished in Chamonix so we could run the UTMB route to the ‘finish line’. As we started in Les Houches, strictly speaking, we didn’t complete the full Tour du Mont Blanc circuit (by approx. 6km). Although we missed out on the Grand Balcon Sud, the low clouds on our final day meant we would have missed the views anyway.
Our final Tour du Mont Blanc route:
- Distance – 166km
- Direction – anticlockwise
- Elevation gain – 10,163m
- Duration – 5 nights / 6 days / 41 hours moving time
Day 1 – Les Houches to Refuge de la Balme
- Distance – 27.5km
- Elevation gain – 2071m
- Elevation loss – 1352m
Read Day 1 blog post here.
Day 2 – Refuge de la Balme to Cabane du Combale
- Distance – 29.6km
- Elevation gain – 1922m
- Elevation loss – 1660m
Read Day 2 blog post here.
Day 3 – Cabane du Combale to Rifugio Bonatti
- Distance – 25.64km
- Elevation gain – 1663m
- Elevation loss – 1633
Read Day 3 blog post here.
Day 4 – Rifugio Bonatti to Auberge des Glaciers
- Distance – 20.33km
- Elevation gain – 977m
- Elevation loss – 1515m
Read Day 4 blog post here.
Day 5 – Auberge des Glaciers to Refuge de la Peuty
- Distance – 32km
- Elevation gain – 1478m
- Elevation loss – 1736m
Read Day 5 blog post here.
Day 6 – Refuge de la Peuty to Chamonix
- Distance – 29.8km
- Elevation gain – 2052m
- Elevation loss – 2352m
Read Day 6 blog post here.
Our packing list
For details of the packs we used and their contents, click here.
Pre & post TMB logistics
We flew into Geneva and booked a shared minibus transfer to Chamonix with Mountain Dropoffs (what a coincidence that the guy at the Mountain Dropoffs desk was someone I used to rep with 20 years ago!). This was quick and easy, and they dropped us right at the door to the Lykke Hôtel & Spa. We also booked the same hotel for 2 nights at the end of the TMB so we could store our main luggage here for € 5 per bag per night.
The Lykke Hôtel & Spa was the perfect choice for us:
- The central location meant we could make the most of our limited time in Chamonix, but – be warned – take earplugs if you’re planning an early night before an early TMB start! No sooner had our heads hit the pillow at 9.00 pm than a live band kicked off at the music festival across the street.
- Breakfast starts at 6:30 am, and it was literally a 2-minute walk to the train station, allowing us to catch the early train to Les Houches at 7:15 am (the Chamonix Guest Card covers this journey)
- The morning after the TMB, we enjoyed an hour or two relaxing in the hotel pool, hot tub and sauna, all of which were completely empty.
Departing Chamonix
Following our TMB and full day recovery in Chamonix, we had a week booked in Switzerland. So we departed Chamonix by train, taking the Mont-Blanc Express to Martigny. This was a slow but spectacular journey (1 hour 40 minutes), even in the wet weather. Up and over the French-Swiss border, we passed precipitous gorges, sweeping forests and tiny villages perched high up on the valley sides. All in all, it was a very dramatic way to depart Chamonix.
Preparation and packing list – coming soon!
My book – It’s a Wunderbar Life – now available on Amazon
My love affair with the Alps began when I moved to Switzerland to be a holiday rep. You can read about my repping adventures in my travel memoir – It’s a Wunderbar Life. Available in paperback and ebook. Click here for sample chapters.
