Tour Du Mont Blanc: Self-Guided

Mont Blanc stands as the tallest peak in Europe and the 100-mile trail (known as Tour du Mont Blanc, or TMB) surrounding it is renowned as one of the most iconic hut-to-hut journeys in the world. Throughout the trek, which passes through France, Italy, and Switzerland, you'll be mesmerized by breathtaking vistas and glaciers, cozy mountain rifugios (huts), and delicious homemade food.

I immediately began planning my solo-hike on the TMB after a New York Times article described the adventure as "100 miles, 10 days, 3 countries, and a lot of cheese."

The TMB was my first solo multi-day international hiking adventure. I planned the trip and booked accommodations on my own, without luggage transfer or agency support. While it's a logistical undertaking for sure, the trail has a history of over a hundred years, so there's plenty of documentation and resources for planning the trip that works best for you. The trails are clearly marked, and there are train stations or buses nearby for assistance nearly every day on the trail. As a solo female hiker I felt very safe throughout my trip and in fact came across far more women hiking on their own than men.

Fitness

I followed the traditional anti-clockwise route and each stage as outlined in the Ciccerone guidebook, which meant I hiked between 8 and 14 miles a day, with an average daily elevation gain of about 3,000 feet. There are many ways to experience the TMB - you can hike the full 100 miles, make it more challenging by taking "alternative routes" or combining stages, or pursue shorter options by using the gondolas, buses, and trains to skip sections. The myriad different starting points and proximity to transportation that allow trekkers to accelerate and shorten paths mean there are many different options to chose from as your time, comfort, and fitness level allows. You can even just do sections if you don't have the time or the will to do the full hundred miles.

No matter your approach, TMB trails are without a doubt challenging and solid baseline fitness is a must. Every day you'll be traversing up and down mountain trails at elevation between 8,000 and 10,000 feet (2,500 to 3,500 meters).

Planning Considerations

There are numerous options for planning and going about your trip:

Guided Group Trip: Chamonix is a central tourist hub for everything from skiing, biking, parapenting, mountaineering, to hiking and there is no shortage of guiding companies. Booking your trip with a group means all of the logistics and day to day travel will be taken care of - you will never need to worry about looking at a map. This is a great option for new distance hikers, folks who prefer not to go solo, or simply don't have the time and energy to put into planning the whole thing out themselves. This does, however, tend to be the priciest option.
Self-Guided: Hire a service to do all your planning and booking for you. This typically includes the option to go alone, or to have a personal guide go with you and any friends you plan to bring along. This is a great option if you have limited time and interest to do the planning and logistics, or want a custom option with the extra comfort of planning alongside an expert.
Self-Guided and Self-Planned: Plan and book it all yourself. I chose this option and loved the process! The nature of moving to a new destination every day made the planning process very time consuming, but allowed me to make the choices I wanted and to get to know the route quite well before I ever stepped foot it in.

Self-Planned Trip Resources & FAQs

As mentioned, I did not use a service to book or plan my trip and I did not do luggage transfer. If that sounds like something you're up to, here are my suggestions and tips for planning:

I hiked the TMB in the traditional counter-clockwise direction over 9 days, staying at rifugios (mountain huts) each night. TMB is broken down into "stages" of about 8 - 14 miles each. If you are running (or a very expedient, ambitious hiker) some of the shorter stages can be combined. These were the two resources I leaned most heavily on to determine each day's route and where I would stay:

Cicerone guide book: My primary source in planning beforehand and navigtating once on the trail. Cicerone provides a clear breakdown of each stage, milestones to note, and suggestions for where to stay.
TMB website: An excellent resource to map out lodging options for each stage.

How important is booking in advance? Very! Some stages have only one or two options for beds, and even in the small towns things book up well in advance. Knowing I always had a bed at the end of long day was a must for me.

Can you camp? There are options to camp along the TMB, but in my humble opinion, the delicious food and company of strangers in the unique and quirky rifugios is an indelible part of what makes the TMB so special.

When to go

I started Aug 30 and found the conditions ideal - it was sunny and cool (high 60s) with one full day of absolutely torrential rain, but otherwise perfect conditions. Things to note:

Going early in the summer means you will likely encounter snow.
The season closes mid Sept (rifugios shut down)
You'll want to avoid being there during UTMB (Ultramarathon Tour Du Month Blanc), the biggest ultramarathon race in the world which attracts hundreds of thousands of people to Chamonix over the course of a week. You can find dates for upcoming UTMB here.

Trail navigation

Trails are well marked and well trafficked, so if you're ever unsure of the route, there's usually someone 30 minutes behind you who can help. Otherwise, Gaia and CalTopo are good options. A SPOT device is always a good idea if you’re going solo.
There are lots of TMB “alternative” routes (recorded in the Cicerone book). I didn’t do most of them and I have no regrets. In fact, there were a few times where there was an option to skip some downhill on a chairlift and I gladly took it up to save my tired knees. No shame.

Food and Accommodations

Rifugios are traditional accommodations found throughout the Alps, catering to hikers, climbers, and mountaineers. Along the TMB you'll find hotel-like options offering private rooms and bathrooms to very simple, rustic dormitory-style lodgings. Being a troubled sleeper, I preferred privacy whenever possible, but rifugios such as Elizabetta and Bonatti, although massive with dorm beds, are legendary for good reason and ended up being some of my most memorable experiences. The cuisine was exceptional and the camaraderie with fellow travelers was unparalleled. Rest assured everyone still goes to bed by 9pm.

I recommend every trekker step a little beyond their comfort zone and enjoy the charm of the rifugio, with its breathtaking views and wonderful sense of togetherness on the trail.

Most (if not all) huts offer a “Half-Board” option which will include dinner, breakfast and a packed lunch for the next day. Sometimes you can book it in advance when you book your room, sometimes you’ll need to request it when you check in. I opted for this whenever it was offered.

Bring your snacks, bars, and electrolyte tablets, but you'll also pass through some towns that have grocery stores and shops to buy your baguette, cheese, meat, etc.

The trail community on the TMB is one of a kind. Even as a solo traveler I met wonderful people. We'd see each other every few days, hike some sections together, and we all celebrated together back in Chamonix at the end of our trek.

Gear

There are outfitters that will transport your gear for you if you so choose (or if you are running), but I opted to carry everything myself. I brought a 30L Osprey pack and found it to be the perfect size.

Key items of note:

Poles - a must-have. If you aren't used to using trekking poles, they can provide added stability as well as additional anchor points to better distribute your weight, making ascents and descents a little bit easier.
Tide packets to do laundry in the sink once or twice.
Clothes to wear at night/dinner that you didn’t hike in. I made the mistake of forgetting this and it’s not the best feeling to take a shower after a long day and change back into your stinky, sticky hiking clothes. If nothing else, a light sweater for the evening is good to have.
Sleeping bag liner: Dormitory style rifugios (including Elizabetta and Bonatti) require you to have one.
Crampons/spikes: Not necessary if you go late in the season. I did not bring them and wouldn't have needed them.
I left a bag at my hotel in Les Houches/Chamonix with a change of clothes, razor, deodorant, etc so I'd have clean stuff to come back to. Most hotels will happily hold this for you. Opening that bag of clean, "civilized" clothes after ten days on the trail was like Christmas.
Back up phone: My iPhone broke during the trip. This meant I didn’t have a phone, a camera, or an alarm clock. It was not ideal, but I became "Girl with No Phone" to my fellow trekkers and they kindly let me use theirs when I needed to send a note home and emailed me any shots they took of me so I'd have some record of my trip. I now often bring a backup phone with me when I travel just in case (ie an old iphone I don't use anymore but could swap in a sim card into if need be).

If you're not eating copious amounts of bread, cheese, and pastries you're doing it wrong.

Key Highlights

Halfway through my trip I spent a full rest day in Courmayeur. An upscale Italian ski town, it has great shops and food options. A friend gifted me an afternoon at the QC Terme Spa which was spectacularly beautiful. Fun fact: Italians get very dressed up to to go the spa. I, naturally, showed up in my Patagonia jacket and leggings.

QC Terme Spa, an excellent way to spend a rest day in Courmeyeur

Alpage de Bovine (stage 8, Champex to Col de la Forclaz) - On this stage I stumbled on a tiny little cottage in the middle of the trail with ancient ovens cranking out beautiful pies. I stopped to have a slice while overlooking a stunning valley. It was a delightful day.

Pie at Alpage de Bovine (stage 8, Champex to Col de la Forclaz)

Rifugio Bonatti - probably the most famous rifugio of the TMB, Bonatti is a one of kind community atmosphere with exceptional food. Elisabetta, another refugio on the Italian side, is also renowned and very beautiful. Both require an eye mask and some ear plugs if you're a light sleeper, but it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

Auberge (Gite) la Boërne was such a fun, quirky surprise on my last night on the trail. A Tim Burton-esque cottage with a sweet atmosphere and the best quiches I've ever eaten. It's definitely tight quarters with teeny rooms (which I personally loved and found full of character) but if that's not your thing, just stop by for lunch!

At the end of the trip I spent two days relaxing in Chamonix. I splurged on a hotel with a nice view of Mont Blanc and soaked in the experience. I even went paragliding with a couple I befriended on the trail (a wonderful but terrifying experience). On my last day I took the gondola up to the very top of Mount Blanc and took in the history and views of the mountain I'd just circumnavigated.

“The beauty of adventure is dreaming it, giving air to the imagination - only then can one attempt to realise one’s dreams.” - Walter Bonatti