France, Italy and Switzerland · July 2026
Tour du Mont Blanc, a group trip
188.3 KM · 8 DAYS · 10,300 M
At a glance
- Where
- France, Italy and Switzerland
- Distance
- 188.3 km (117.0 miles)
- Days
- 8 days, 6 on foot
- Climbing
- About 33,800 ft (10,300 m) up and the same down
- Season
- Mid-June to mid-September
- Difficulty
- Long climbs every day; no climbing skills needed
- Start and end
- Les Houches
- When I went
- July 2026
Also on this route: Tour du Mont Blanc trail run, a group trip, 2022, Tour du Mont Blanc, 2019.
Everything I made about it
Photos
The Italian side of the Col de la Seigne, with La Casermetta, Day 3 (2026). 
At the Grand Col Ferret, the border with Switzerland, Day 6 (2026).
The guide · 77-page PDF + GPX files · 2027 season edition
Do it yourself
11 days hut to hut around Mont Blanc.
- All 11 days
- GPX files from my own recordings
- Booking the refuges for 2027
- Buses and lifts
- The refuges
Free sample
Try Day 4 free
The whole Day 4, Rifugio Elisabetta to Courmayeur page from the guide as a PDF, plus my hut-to-hut packing list: the 35 things I carry, with a note on each. Both come by email. You'll also get my emails about new guides and trips, a few a year.
What I'd take now
My current kit
- PackHyperlite Mountain Gear Waypoint 35
- Sleeping-bag linerNaturehike ZY20 Sleeping Bag Liner
- Rain shellArc’teryx Beta AR Jacket
- Warm layerArc’teryx Cerium Hoody
- ShoesOboz Katabatic LT Low GTX
- PolesBlack Diamond Alpine Carbon Z Poles
The Alps bundle
This guide is in The Alps Hiking Guide Pack: 7 guides for $39. Or all 62 guides for $59.
Short answers
- How many days do you need for the Tour du Mont Blanc?
- The official site says 7 to 12, usually 10 to 11 stages. This guide splits it into 11 days of 7 to 14 miles. In 2019 I did the loop alone in five and a half days, but I was going fast.
- When is the best time to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc?
- Mid-June to mid-September, when the passes are clear and the refuges are open. July 14 to August 15 is the busiest stretch. My trips were in July and August, with clear, warm days.
- When do Tour du Mont Blanc refuge bookings open for 2027?
- Bookings for summer 2027 open on the official platform, montourdumontblanc.com, on October 15, 2026. A few refuges, like Elisabetta and Bonatti, book on their own sites. Book the smallest refuges first.
- Can you camp on the Tour du Mont Blanc?
- Only in a few places. Italy bans camping, and bivouac below 2,500 m, Switzerland mostly bans it outside campsites, and France allows a one-night bivouac in some communes.
- How do you get to the start of the Tour du Mont Blanc?
- Fly to Geneva. Shared shuttles and FlixBus reach Chamonix in about 1.5 hours, or take the train via Saint-Gervais to Les Houches. It's a loop, so you finish where you started.
I make my guides with AI, from my own films and GPS recordings. How.