02 8319 2266 from Australia
416-548-4819 from Canada
04 889 4515 from New Zealand
646-757-1102 from the USA
Tour du Mont Blanc South
Your trip starts on arriving at your hotel in Chamonix. This is an Alpine centre like no other, bustling in Summer with trekkers, mountaineers and tourists passing through. Enjoy dining out at restaurants in the town centre.
Hotel in Chamonix (breakfast)
Blue 3 (grade)16.7km with 960m ascent, 800m descent
On the first day on trek there is time to make last-minute adjustments to kit and to buy food for the day ahead. Take the local bus or train to Les Houches where the TMB meets the valley. Start with a stiff climb up to Col de Voza (with optional cable cars). The normal TMB route drops through Val Montjoie, but a harder optional high route takes wilder paths over the Col de Tricot. Arrive in the French resort village of Les Contamines.
Hotel in Les Contamines (dinner and breakfast)
Red 3 (grade) 19.7km with 1350m ascent, 960m descent
Today's stage is reasonably tough with an ascent to Col de la Croix du Bonhomme at 2,483m. The ascent is gradual to a first col, after which we traverse to the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme. Leaving the col, the route heads downhill through pastures to the most Southerly point on the TMB route at the peaceful hamlet of les Chapieux.
Auberge in Les Chapieux (dinner and breakfast)
or
Taxi to Hotel in Bourg St Maurice (breakfast and taxi included)
Red 3 (grade) 14.4km with 1000m ascent, 3700m descent
Climb through the Vallée des Glaciers to Refuge des Mottets and continue up to the Col de la Seigne on the Italian border. We descend to Rifugio Elisabetta (Italy) walking towards the best views of the route so far, obliquely across the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif.
Mountain hut (dinner and breakfast)
Red 3 (grade) 16km with 540m ascent, 1500m descent
The route to Courmayeur is now straightforward but involves a surprising, short uphill section to gain a terrace path. This gives high views of what is now called Monte Bianco. From Maison Vieille we drop steeply to the stone village of Dolonne and then Courmayeur. This is in some ways the Italian equivalent of Chamonix with an Italian holidaymaking atmosphere.
Hotel in Courmayeur (breakfast)
Relax over breakfast and explore Courmayeur, before catching the bus through the Mont Blanc tunnel to Chamonix and travel onwards to Geneva Airport. If you'd like to stay another day (or more!) to explore Courmayeur (or Chamonix), please do just let us know. Or, if you are embarking on further travels in Switzerland or elsewhere in the Alps, again please just ask us for recommendations. Congratulations on the completing the TMB South! ✈️
Make the trip shorter
Our normal 4-stage trek can be made quicker, for strong walkers only, by merging the middle 2 stages into 1 with an overnight at Refuge des Mottets. This is a notably tough hike with 3 long days, so we tend to recommend our classic 4-stage trip to most clients.
Make the trip longer
Making a trip longer is certainly possible and we can do this in a few ways. Perhaps the most popular is to add a stage at the end by walking from Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti, and either spending the night there or dropping down to the road and catching the bus back to Courmayeur. This would make a great 5-stage trek. Alternatively, you could break up the long and solidly uphill stage from Les Contamines to Les Chapieux with a night at Refuge de la Balme. Both options work well so please let us know your preferences. If you are looking for an even longer trip, why not have a look at our 7-stage Tour du Mont Blanc North or Tour du Mont Blanc Highlights trips?
Add a rest day
We don’t normally recommend taking a rest day on this trip, due to the remote nature of the Southern part of the Tour du Mont Blanc trail. Many of our clients enjoy spending additional nights in Chamonix or Courmayeur before or after their hike, so please do just let us know if you’d like to do the same.
Hike with a guide
Hike with confidence in the company of our fully qualified International Mountain Leaders (IMLs), with the navigation, accommodation and arrangements taken care of. If your group would like a guide for your trip, please get in touch for more details or view our scheduled guided trips.
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Tour du Mont Blanc South 1 July to 18 Sept 2025 |
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| Hutty | Classic | Comfy | Self-guided |
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4 stages (5 nights) |
GBP 780 Singles 120 |
GBP 1,280 Singles 250 Main Trip |
GBP 1,380 Singles 345 |
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5 stages (6 nights) |
GBP 850 Singles 120 |
GBP 1375 Singles 310 |
GBP 1,475 Singles 410 |
| Options | |||
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Baggage transfer |
Please ask us | ||
Classic
Our Classic mix of accommodation gives a great mix of family-run hotels in the towns and villages with characterful huts in the mountains, striking a good balance between comfort and the authentic hut-to-hut Alpine trekking experience. As standard, our TMB South trip has 1 hut night, 1 night in an auberge (simple hotel) and 3 nights in comfortable 3* hotels.
Comfy (Private rooms)
On our comfy mix we book private rooms on every night. In some cases this means travelling off-route to reach nearby accommodation. For example, instead of staying in Rifugio Elisabetta we book another hotel night in Courmayeur. The walking distances change slightly to allow for the transport options.
Hutty
Our Hutty mix of accommodation gives 3 nights in huts (we add Refuge de Miage or an auberge in place of Les Contamines and Refuge de la Croix de Bonhomme instead of Les Chapieux), all in dormitories as standard, plus 2 nights in 2* hotels at the beginning and end of your trip. This gives a more basic and economical trip and is great for those who prefer to stay high in the mountains for more nights.
Mountain Huts
The mountain huts are situated in awe-inspiring places and we'd recommend including them in your itinerary if you are up for the experience! They offer accommodation in shared rooms and dormitories (as well as some private rooms). These are often bunk bed rooms, but they can be rooms with sleeping platforms. Shared room sizes can vary from 4 or 6 people, to bigger dormitories sleeping around 20 or so. We'll always book places in the smallest rooms available at the time of booking. To avoid dormitory accommodation completely, please book our comfy trip.
Single Room Supplement
If you would like to to book a room for single occupancy, we add our single supplement fee. This covers the additional cost of booking single occupancy room, compared to a double occupancy room. The single supplement is only applied to nights where single rooms are available (8 nights on our classic trip, and all nights on the comfy trip). It is not applied to hut or auberge nights which do not offer single rooms.
Solo Travel
We do not take bookings for solo walkers on self-guided trips. If you are still interested in this trip, we do have availability on our guided trips.
Our approach to the Tour du Mont Blanc South
This walking holiday takes you on a 4-day adventure around the Southern edge of the Mont Blanc Massif, starting in Les Houches near Chamonix and finishing in Courmayeur, crossing 3 high mountain passes along the way. Our routecards stick to the generally accepted Tour du Mont Blanc route, with some optional variants such as that which crosses the Col des Fours between Col du Bonhomme and Col de la Seigne. These variants are described on your daily routecards, allowing you to pick your route as you go. For those with limited time this is an excellent introduction to the full Tour du Mont Blanc, and many clients will come back another year to walk the Northern section, from Courmayeur back round to Les Houches.
The Terrain
The Tour du Mont Blanc is a very popular trail in summer and the good solid footpaths reflect this. The trail itself is quite varied, comprising wide tracks through forests, the odd country lane, zig-zagging hillside paths and some rockier sections.
The Tour du Mont Blanc South takes you to some higher and more remote locations, where the trail becomes rockier and in places quite exposed, than on the Northern part of the trail. This requires a head for heights and some steady footwork, particularly in descent. In early or late summer there is a good chance of snow patches lying on the higher paths requiring care, but the lower paths are likely to be snow-free.
Is it for me?
The route is generally well signposted and waymarked, aiding navigation, though a map and compass will be needed for navigation in bad weather and it is essential that at least one person can navigate using a map and compass. We provide all of the maps needed, along with our detailed routecards.
A level of self-sufficiency on the TMB is necessary as transfer bags (optional) cannot be delivered to the huts, requiring you to carry everything you’ll need for 2 days on your back. Please do ask us for more detailed information about the options available to you.
Difficulty
We grade our Tour du Mont Blanc South as a Red 3. If comparing the Southern and Northern parts of the TMB, we would say that this Southern section is a little harder, with longer days and more time spent in higher and more remote areas. There are no glacier crossings, via ferrata or rock climbing, however there are a few sections of steep and rocky ground. There is one Himalayan-style wire bridge on the Col de Tricot alternative on the first stage, easily avoided by taking the main route described on your routecard that day.
We explain the relative difficulties of the route and the variants in your routecards, giving you the freedom each day to choose your route and tailor it to your ability. Although it is possible to shorten some days by selecting different stopping points, the distances are generally dictated by the location of the villages and huts along the trail. Some days (but not all) can be shortened or skipped by taking buses and cable cars and your routecards advise where this is possible. Please do ask us for more details.
Tour du Mont Blanc Walking Guide - more about the trail
The making of our Tour du Mont Blanc - photos from our research trips
Your holiday starts and ends in the lively town of Chamonix in France; a hot spot for hikers, mountaineers and outdoor enthusiasts. The most convenient airport is Geneva with several transfer options available by minibus, coach or scenic Swiss trains; Zurich and Basel airports also work.
On the return, there are regular buses which run through the Mont Blanc tunnel from Courmayeur to Chamonix, again meaning that Geneva is the most convenient airport to fly out of. From Courmayeur it is also feasible to take buses through the Aosta valley to Turin and onwards to Milan.
Travel to and from the trip is not included in the holiday price. We do however take care to give the most useful notes possible about all of the available travel options. We supply these both on booking in your Trip Notes and in your info pack. We also offer personalised tips at any point; please do just ask us for advice and we’d be happy to help.
- Bespoke accommodation itinerary - tailored to suit your particular requirements
- Breakfast every morning
- Dinner at the huts and auberges and in Les Contamines (3 nights on our 4-stage 'classic' trip)
- Detailed Routecards TMB1-4 of the Exploratory system, printed on waterproof paper
- The 2 topographical maps needed
- Downloadable GPX Tracks covering the route
- Expert advice and local information
- A comprehensive 'Season Update' following our pre-season recce
- Full support during your trip from the Alpine Exploratory team (9am until 9pm in the Alps)
- Travel to and from your trip
- Local transport whilst on the trip unless specified
- Travel insurance
- Lunches, snacks, drinks and evening meals in Chamonix and Courmayeur (this would be 2 nights on our 4-stage 'classic' trip)
- Baggage transfers (available as an extra)
Baggage transfer
Let us move your bags for you! We offer a partial baggage transfer service on the Tour du Mont Blanc South, as an extra, to all stops except the huts. Whilst at the huts, we will transfer your bag to your next hotel. Please contact us for a price or for advice on baggage transfer.
 
Enquiry Form
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If you prefer, please feel welcome to email or call us. Thanks!
| Contact Alpine Exploratory | |
| info@alpineexploratory.com | |
| Phone | +44 (0)131 214 1144 |
| Our times |
9am to 5pm UK time Monday to Friday |
| Australia | 02 8319 2266 |
| Canada | 416-548-4819 |
| New Zealand | 04 889 4515 |
| USA | 646-757-1102 |
Open to the world
Since Alpine Exploratory started in 2005 we have loved getting to know our clients from around the world. Along with the UK, our best-represented countries are the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Please use our national-rate numbers for a cheaper call to contact our office in Edinburgh.
Keep up with us on Facebook, Instagram, and our Blog for photos and updates from our own travels and clients' trips.
Cabane du Combal at the end of Stage 4
Alpine Exploratory
+44 (0)131 214 1144
