Tour du Mont Blanc Camping Trek

Trek one of the world’s most scenic mountain trails, with three rest days to enjoy the stunning views

Complete the Tour du Mont Blanc, Europe’s greatest long-distance mountain trail, with the expert guidance of an International Mountain Leader. Trekking through France, Switzerland and Italy, we cross six mountain passes, view colossal glaciers and wander through Alpine meadows. Our 15-day itinerary is honed for balance: 10 full trekking days and three well-placed rest days, in which you can explore unique Alpine towns, including Chamonix. Spend nights on trek at scenic campsites, enjoy camp life camaraderie, starlit skies, and views you simply won’t get from a hotel.

Sustainability and Impact

As a certified B Corp, we’re on a mission to improve our social and environmental impact across all our adventures.

We do this through our innovative Thriving Nature, Thriving People plan.

This ‘nature positive’ approach is designed to help nature and communities thrive in harmony through practical solutions, such as reducing carbon and waste on our trips, supporting conservation projects through the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation, and rewilding 100 square metres for every Exodus traveller.

Is this trip for you?

This trip is graded Activity Level 4 (Moderate & Challenging) – it involves 10 days of walking; two days at a Moderate level and eight days at a Challenging level. For more information on our trip gradings, visit the Activity Level Guidelines page. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip, please contact us.

Walking profile: Most days are long, quite often involving an ascent of 900m-1,200m (or 3,000ft-4,000ft), equivalent to three to four hours walking uphill, followed by a similar descent. On Day 2, there are two metal ladders to descend from Lac Blanc. These are secured against the rock, consist of approximately 12 steps and are not difficult to climb down. The route throughout is non-technical; however, we will be walking mountain paths and this trip is not advised for severe vertigo sufferers. Please be aware that on Days 6 and 8, we take a short bus transfer to avoid trekking on busy roads.

Terrain: Although the paths are well maintained, there are sections that are rough underfoot with sometimes loose rocks, so you need to be confident in your footing and balance.

Route: Most people trek the Tour du Mont Blanc anticlockwise. From years of experience, we have discovered that trekking the route clockwise allows for quieter trails and avoids a tough ascent on the first couple of days. The views and walks are just as beautiful in this direction.

Preparation: As this is a group adventure, you need to be confident your fitness will allow you to enjoyably walk at a consistent and steady pace that matches the group average, allowing the group to finish the day at a reasonable time. You will also enjoy the trek a great deal more if your fitness allows you to walk the route in relative ease. A Challenging-graded day would be equivalent to walking between three and five hours uphill and a similar time downhill, so up to nine hours in total depending on the pace (including breaks).

Due to the lower altitude, climate and overall comfort of this trek, it is graded Activity Level 4 (Moderate & Challenging). The Activity Level reflects the overall endurance required for this trip, not just the ease of any particular walk. Other treks with a higher Activity Level, requiring a higher overall endurance due to their remoteness, lack of facilities or average weather etc, may have shorter, easier walks. Please read the daily itineraries below when making comparisons to other walks/trips you may have done before.

Opting out: If you are unable to walk during the itinerary and want to opt out of a day, please note this can sometimes be a little tricky, depending on your position on the circuit. To reach the next point, you will need to take a public bus (which run at limited times) or taxi (which can be expensive in more remote locations). Our support vehicle is not suitable for carrying passengers so please be aware of this when deciding to book this trip. If you miss a part of the itinerary, any extra transport, hotel and food cost will be at your expense.

GPS measurements: All ascents, descents and walking distances listed below are approximate. We have decided the most accurate method is to map the routes carefully using Google Earth. That said, it is impossible to obtain a completely true figure of the distances walked. Due to the inherent inaccuracies of defining an exact waypoint with a GPS and the cumulative overall inaccuracy this causes, you may find that our distances and GPS distances you obtain on trek with your personal GPS/phone may differ by quite a margin. Timings stated include lunch and photo stops and will vary depending on the pace of your group.

Following a review of all our trips we have categorised this trip as generally not suitable for persons of reduced mobility. However if you are a regular traveller on such trips, please contact customer services to discuss the trip and your personal condition.

Vaccinations and Health

France

There are no required vaccinations. However, you may want to consider vaccinations for tetanus, rabies and tick-borne encephalitis. Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic.

Italy

There are no required vaccinations. However, you may want to consider vaccinations for tetanus, rabies and tick-borne encephalitis. Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic.

Switzerland

There are no required vaccinations. However, you may want to consider vaccinations for tetanus, rabies and tick-borne encephalitis. Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic.

Visa

France

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter France. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.
Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.
• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/france
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/france
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france/entry-requirements
• USA:  www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/France.html

Italy

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Italy. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/italy
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/italy
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy/entry-requirements
• USA:  www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Italy.html

Please note: it is compulsory to carry ID with you at all times in Italy.

Switzerland

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Switzerland. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/switzerland
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/switzerland
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/switzerland/entry-requirements
• USA:  www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Switzerland.html

Food & Drink

We provide 14 breakfasts, 10 picnic lunches, eight home-cooked three-course group meals in camp and four group meals in local restaurants. Due to the small size and remoteness of several of these restaurants, and for speed when serving a large group, these will be set menus.

Breakfast: Usually consist of coffee, tea, cereal, yoghurt, fresh fruit, bread and conserves.

Lunch: Picnic-style lunches will normally include bread, cold meat, cheese, sometimes boiled eggs or tinned fish, fresh salad and fresh fruit. You may wish to bring (or purchase locally) snack bars for an extra energy boost during the day.

Evening meal: Whether in camp or in a nearby restaurant, we endeavour to make dinner something to look forward to. Each day there will be a freshly prepared menu for the whole group, consisting of a soup, salad or similar; a main course of meat, fish or vegetarian served with a selection of vegetables and carbohydrates; and a dessert.

Beer, wine, bottled water, coffee, tea or other drinks are not included in the price of evening meals taken in restaurants. Coffee and tea are included with the evening meal when we eat in camp and beer and wine are also available for purchase at a modest cost.

Vegetarians: We happily cater for vegetarians – please inform us at the time of booking.

Vegans: If you adhere to a vegan diet, you may find the variety of food offered to be limited, since veganism is relatively uncommon in this region.

The feedback we receive for the food we serve is great but please be aware that facilities are limited and practicality forces us to put our efforts into making one excellent group meal with a vegetarian option. Of course, any allergies will be respected.

Weather

From late June to early October, expect fair weather. However, all mountain ranges create their own weather patterns and the Alps are no exception. It does rain and can be surprisingly cold at times, especially on the high passes. Daytime temperatures are in the range of 15C-25C (59F-77F) in the valleys, although it can sometimes reach 30C (86F) in July and August; 5C-15C (41F-59F) on the passes, though it will feel colder if wet and windy; and 5C to 15C (41F-59F) in the valleys at night, possibly a little lower early and late in the season. There is always the possibility of lying snow, especially in the early season, and snowfall even in August and September, when we may find new snow on the passes. Please note, the days are shorter on September treks, so we start early to make the most of the available daylight.