Tour du Mont Blanc

The Tour du Mont-Blanc circles the massif through three countries, France, Italy and Switzerland, in about 106 mi and 32,808 ft of ascent, the figures of Autour du Mont-Blanc, the portal of the Espace Mont-Blanc; the English Wikipedia counts about 103 mi. The Espace Mont-Blanc, a cooperation between Savoie, Haute-Savoie, the Aosta Valley and the Valais, promotes the route through its portal, and the Association des Gardiens de Refuges du TMB runs the booking platform for its member huts.

A baroque chapel, a pink church and two passes at 8,743 ft

The route never needs mountaineering equipment, but every day crosses a col, and the landmarks the official sites single out are for the most part passes and the villages between them:

• Notre-Dame-de-la-Gorge, the baroque chapel at the head of the Val Montjoie where the path to the col du Bonhomme begins.
• The col de la Seigne, the emblematic crossing from France into Italy, with the Mont-Blanc massif and the Val Veny in view; on the Italian side, the Casermetta, a cross-border environmental education centre with a model of the massif, opens officially from 25 June 2026.
• Courmayeur, a historic centre of alpine character surrounded by villages, the Italian stage of the loop.
• The pink church of Trient, the landmark of the Swiss stage.
• The highest points, according to Wikipedia: the col des Fours in France and the fenêtre d’Arpette in Switzerland, both at 8,743 ft and both on variants, the Arpette one being difficult; the route sheet of Autour du Mont-Blanc gives 8,530 ft as the maximum altitude.

Between the summit of the Brévent and the col de la Croix du Bonhomme the loop shares its path with the GR 5, which runs from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. The same trail hosts the annual Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, whose best runners cover the whole distance in under 24 hours.

Three countries, three waymarks, and the same good practice

The markings change at each border, but a green TMB logo, round or square, is common to the whole loop:

• France: the white and red marks of the GR.
• Italy: yellow marks.
• Switzerland: yellow marks, or white-red-white.

The official sites distinguish a bivouac, one night from sunset to sunrise without a fire, from wild camping, several days away from any site, and the rules for each differ by valley. Everywhere, the same requests: no swimming in the mountain lakes, no picking plants, no fires, and all waste carried down, even biodegradable, because not every refuge is equipped to sort it. In the huts, shoes come off at the door and dormitories stay quiet.

80,000 hikers a year, and rooms sold out months ahead

The FFRandonnée reported in August 2026 that some 80,000 hikers walk the loop each year, at times less than a metre apart, and that agencies monopolise bookings at the expense of independent hosts. Local press counted 44,322 walkers between 6 June and 1 September of one season. The platform’s own notes on the season:

• June is the adventure version: residual snow, paths hard to make out, map navigation essential, flowers at their peak.
• July and August bring the most hikers and the most services open; some huts are full months ahead.
• September means short, cool days and quieter paths: the period the refuge wardens themselves prefer.

The classic anticlockwise direction is the best waymarked; walking clockwise can free up beds. First-timers are advised to try a two-day, one-night discovery stage before committing to the full loop.

Trains to Chamonix and Martigny, buses through the tunnel, free shuttles in the Italian valleys

The loop can be reached by train and bus from all three countries, and the public transport along it lets you shorten or skip a stage:

• French side: the Martigny to Vallorcine, Chamonix and Saint-Gervais railway, valley buses, a shuttle from Les Contamines to Notre-Dame-de-la-Gorge, and the lifts of the col de Balme at Le Tour, the Flégère and the Brévent.
• Les Chapieux: shuttles to the Ville des Glaciers and to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, which take no dogs and cannot be booked ahead.
• Italian side: Courmayeur through the Mont-Blanc tunnel by the Chamonix, Courmayeur and Aosta bus; free shuttles into the Val Veny (La Visaille) and the Val Ferret (Arp Nouvaz).
• Swiss side: La Fouly and Champex-Lac by the Swiss buses and trains (Champex to Martigny; Martigny to the col de la Forclaz and Trient), a network reliable enough to adjust stages on the way.