TMB-11 Guaranteed Itineraries

Accommodation

Our guaranteed Tour du Mont Blanc itineraries include a mix of accommodations—from remote, rustic mountain huts to comfortable hotels. Here's a simpler breakdown of what to expect along the route:
•    Larger Towns:
There are about four larger towns offering a range of hotels similar to what you might be used to.
•    Small Villages:
Between these towns, you'll find small villages with very basic accommodations. These typically offer private rooms with shared bathrooms.
•    Remote Trails:
In the more remote stretches between the villages, mountain huts are your only option. Some of these huts have private rooms (which our itineraries try to include as much as possible), while others offer dormitory-style lodging.

On our guaranteed itineraries, you'll have just one (or at most two) nights in dormitory-style accommodation. For more details about the mountain hut experience, please visit our Staying in Mountain Huts webpage. All of the accommodations we work with have received great feedback from our customers. The best place to stay is really a matter of personal preference.

Meals

Breakfast and dinner will always be available at, or near, your accommodation. It is not necessary to carry your own food for these meals. The mountain huts allow us (and usually require us) to book half-pension for our customers, which includes a multi-course set menu for dinner (usually with a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option) and breakfast. Drinks are never included. In the towns, where a selection of restaurants is available, we typically do not include dinner.

Read about dietary restrictions at the huts

For lunches, there are three options. We recommend planning a combination of these:

1. There are so many huts along the way, that depending on your itinerary, you’ll likely have options to sit down for a warm lunch on each day. While this sounds appealing, it is also very expensive and time-consuming. This is not a great option on long hiking days or for slower hikers who are already concerned about covering the planned route.
2. Most huts offer sack lunches that you can bring with you on the trail. We find these to be overpriced, repetitive to breakfast, and this option generates a lot of trash. At the mountain huts, we are able to book these in advance for you. But, there is no advantage to that, and our recommendation is to decide on-site when you want to purchase a sack lunch. Sack lunches should be requested immediately upon arrival at the hut for the next day. There are a couple of huts that require sack lunches to be ordered the day prior. We will include this information for you in your eGuidebook on the Service Provider Summary, along with a phone number. Huts are generally not very flexible in honoring dietary restrictions with their sack lunches. Note that we are not able to book these in advance for you at hotels. So, if your itinerary has more hotels than mountain huts, there will be less sack lunches that we are able to book for you.
3. The third option, and our favorite option, is to bring your own food. Since this route travels through so much civilization, there are plenty of opportunities along the way to resupply.

The Tour du Mont Blanc is likely to have the best conditions between mid-July and the end of the August. Huts are generally open from mid-June until mid-September, which defines the hiking season for the Tour du Mont Blanc for most of our itineraries. Some lifts and shuttles only operate in July and August, which limits the season of our itineraries that use these shuttles and lifts.

Here's what conditions to expect at different times of year:

Late June: Huts are open and routes from the valleys to the huts are clear. Problematic snow is likely on the passes and at high elevations, but it is usually tracked. The higher elevation variants, and the approach up the back side of Le Brevent (at the end of our itineraries) usually are not doable. Some form of traction for your shoes is advisable. Even if the passes are clear in time for your hike, they usually clear at the very last minute, and June hikers always have a couple of stressful weeks leading up to their hike as they check webcams and eagerly wait for the snow to melt in time for their hike. In almost every year, it is not possible to predict what trails are going to be like in June until one or two weeks before. The shuttle between Les Chapieux and Mottets, as well as the chairlift down from Maison Vieille are not operating.

July and August: Problematic snow can remain on the route through the first two weeks of July, but it is less likely than in June. By mid-July, trails are almost always clear. Summer settles in and on some days there may be afternoon thunderstorms. These thunderstorms rarely interfere with hiking itineraries and are not usually problematic. Of course, thunderstorm safety should be practiced. The wildflowers at the higher elevations should be all out by mid-July. Hiking conditions during this time are often favorable, and it’s a great time to be on the trail.

Early September: The first snow of the winter usually falls in the first week of September. The snow rarely sticks around for more than a day, but the visibility can be very low, making navigation problematic on this one day. Most days in early September are beautiful and perfect, and the thunderstorms are less, but there is a higher risk of snowstorms and conditions that may prevent you from completing your hike during this time. Many hikers have incredible weather in September, but some do not. It’s simply a matter of luck. The later you push into September, the higher the risk that unfavorable conditions (usually snow, but sometimes extremely cold temperatures) can interfere with your hiking itinerary. We notice that customers who are on the trail beyond September 15^th are much more likely to quit their hike early due to conditions. In early September, the wildflower season is mostly over, with the exception of brilliant bursts of fireweed that mark the end of summer. The shuttle between Les Chapieux and Les Mottets, as well as the chairlift descent from Maison Vieille, do not run at all in September. Other buses and lifts start to close down as the month goes on, and some buses begin to operate reduced schedules.

In all months, it’s reasonable to expect 1 to 2 rainy days on the trail.

To research more detailed information about average temperatures, precipitation, etc., we recommend checking Meteoblue (go to “History & Climate” and then “Climate (modelled)”) for Le Brevent, Col de Voza and Col de la Seigne. These are high points on the tour. The low points on the tour are Chamonix and Courmayeur.

Important note about availability on the Tour du Mont Blanc: Many authors and bloggers have published information that June and September are the shoulder seasons and are less crowded on the Tour du Mont Blanc than other times of the summer. The word is out and now huts tend to fill up early in June and September. July also fills up early. For the past couple of years, August has had the most availability for last-minute bookings, which is somewhat unexpected. The UTMB race takes place on the trail, usually right at the end of August and beginning of September. This may increase prices for hotels in places like Chamonix, Les Houches, and Courmayeur, but it generally does not affect availability at the huts. While we have heard of many people wanting to avoid the route during the time, the hikers we have spoken with who actually have done the route during the race have said that it was not a hindrance to hiking and that they actually enjoyed the energy of the event while they were on the trail. It’s not for everyone though, and some hikers may want to avoid the trail during this time.

The Tour do Mont Blanc is a very popular route, and the huts are going to be full during the entire season. If your goal is to avoid the crowds (although in most places the trail does not feel crowded at all), then we recommend choosing a route that is less famous, but just as, if not more, incredible. There are well over 800 mountain huts in the Alps, and hut to hut possibilities are endless. Here are some great tours to look at:

Best of the Dolomites Trek
Culinary Delight Hut Hiking Tour
Hut to Hut Light in the Austria Alps
Tour of the Vanoise
Hut to Hut in Switzerland

Read more about Understanding the hut-to-hut hiking season in the Alps.