Classic hut-to-hut routes · France, Italy, Switzerland

Tour du Mont Blanc

The loop around the highest massif in the Alps: three countries, a dozen cols, and a bed with a view every night.

In short

The Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) is a loop of about 170 km around the Mont Blanc massif through France, Italy and Switzerland, taking 7–11 walking days with about 10,000 m of ascent. The season runs from mid-June to mid-September, and bookings for a summer open in mid-October the year before. Our table holds 59 huts and shelters along its stages, with altitude, beds and warden season.

Also written as: TMB · Tour of Mont Blanc

Distance
~170 km
Days
7–11
Total ascent
~10,000 m
High point
Fenêtre d'Arpette, 2,665 m
Season
mid-June to mid-September

The Tour du Mont Blanc circles the massif rather than climbing it, which is why it is the most walked long route in Europe. Every day ends in a valley or at a refuge, every pass opens onto a different face of the mountain, and you cross from France into Italy and Switzerland on foot.

It is not a technical route, but it is a long one. The cols come daily, the descents are steep on the knees, and in July and August the huts on the popular stages are full weeks ahead. Booking before you commit to dates is the whole game.

Who it suits
Level: Confident walkersFirst-timers with a solid week of fitness, families with teenagers, and anyone who wants the classic before the variations.
The nights
Refuges and rifugi most nights, with village hotels in Les Contamines, Courmayeur and Champex if you want a bed with a door.

Stage points and the shelters near them

Published path grades around the stage points run T1 to T5, from 10 of 10 stages. That describes the terrain there, not the exact line of the route.

59 shelters within 4 km of the stage points, from the shelter table. Distances are from the stage point, not walking distances.

  1. 01Les Houches

  2. 02Les Contamines-Montjoie

  3. 03Les Chapieux

  4. 04Rifugio Elisabetta

  5. 05Courmayeur

  6. 06Rifugio Bonatti

  7. 07La Fouly

  8. 08Champex-Lac

  9. 09Trient

  10. 10Tré-le-Champ

How booking works

Alpine Club huts on this route take reservations through hut-reservation.org, the shared system of the German, Austrian and Swiss clubs. We link straight to it and earn nothing from a hut booking.

Members of any Alpine Club pay a reduced rate at all club huts, whichever club they joined, and membership usually includes mountain rescue cover. On a week of hut nights it pays for itself. Join the SAC

When and how to book

Most huts on the tour are booked through one wardens' platform, montourdumontblanc.com, which covers 43 refuges, gîtes and hotels. Bookings for summer 2027 opened there on 15 October 2026, exactly as the year before: mid-October of the previous year.

A few of the most wanted huts are not on the platform and are booked on their own sites: Rifugio Bonatti, Rifugio Elisabetta, Refuge du Lac Blanc and Refuge de la Flégère, which opens bookings on 5 January 2027. Bonatti and Elisabetta are usually the first to fill.

The platform takes a deposit. Cancelling more than 30 days before arrival refunds 80% of it, and cancelling later refunds nothing. Dates can be changed online up to 30 days before.

What changes in 2027

The French Alpine Club's Croix du Bonhomme refuge has been closed for renovation since 17 August 2026 and reopens only in summer 2029, so there are no beds there for the next two seasons. Nearby beds at Nant Borrant, La Balme, Les Chapieux and Les Mottets are expected to fill earlier.

On 16 September 2026 the French partners of the tour agreed in principle to require a booking for every night on the French side and to ban wild camping, aiming for spring 2027. The charter is not signed yet, but it is wise to plan as if the rule is in force. About 90,000 people walk the tour each year, nearly half as many again as before COVID.

What it costs

A night in a shared room with half board (dinner and breakfast) costs roughly 70–90 euros per person in the tour's refuges. At the Refuge des Mottets, for example, it is 85 euros in a four-bed room in 2027. A private room with half board runs about 180–270 euros per room.

At the French Alpine Club's Chalet des Contamines a bed costs 19.50 euros, half that for Alpine Club members, and half board is 56 euros. For ten nights in shared rooms, plan on roughly 700–900 euros per person for beds and meals alone.

Getting there from Tel Aviv

The nearest airport to Chamonix is Geneva, about an hour away. The Italian side, from Courmayeur, is easiest from Milan, which had direct flights from Tel Aviv in summer 2026, Wizz Air among them.

After the disruption of 2026, direct routes from Tel Aviv open and close often, so check the current schedule before fixing dates, and book the huts before the flight.

Plan Tour du Mont Blanc around my datesOpens the planner with this route's area and length filled in.

Common questions

Every answer below is counted from the 59 shelters our table holds along this route. Where a shelter does not state something, it is counted as not stated rather than assumed.

How long is Tour du Mont Blanc, and how many days does it take?
About 170 km, usually walked in 7–11 days. Total ascent is around 10,000 m. The highest point on the route is Fenêtre d'Arpette, at 2,665 m.
When can you walk it?
The season is mid-June to mid-September. Of the 59 shelters along the way, 25 publish when a warden is present, and the most common season among them is June to September, stated by 16 of them.
Where do you sleep?
In 59 shelters within 4 km of the stage points, of which 59 are run by an Alpine Club. 1 of them can be booked online through the clubs' own system; the rest take a phone call, and every number we hold is on the shelter's own page.
Do you need to book ahead?
0 of the 59 shelters state that a reservation is required and 0 that it is recommended. The other 59 do not say either way, which is not the same as saying no.
What if you arrive out of season?
5 of the 59 shelters state that a winter room is left open. That is a room, not a service: no warden, no meals, and you carry what you need.
What is the highest place you sleep?
The highest shelter we hold on this route is Bivouac Mario Jachia, at 3,360 m.
When do bookings open for the Tour du Mont Blanc?
On the refuges' platform, in mid-October the year before: for summer 2027 they opened on 15 October 2026. Huts off the platform open on their own dates, for example Refuge de la Flégère on 5 January 2027.
How much does the Tour du Mont Blanc cost?
For beds and meals in the huts: roughly 70–90 euros a night per person in a shared room with half board, so about 700–900 euros for ten nights. Flights, lunches and valley transport are extra.
Do you need to book every night on the TMB in advance?
In July and August, yes, because huts on the popular stages are full. On the French side it is expected to become compulsory from spring 2027 under the tour partners' agreement in principle, together with a ban on wild camping.

Guides for planning it

Other classic routes

Distance, days, ascent, high point and season are approximate and taken from Wikipedia, Tour du Mont Blanc. Shelters from refuges.info (©Les contributeurs de Refuges.info, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR) and OpenStreetMap (ODbL).

Facts last checked: 25 October 2026

Sources