The Euro Journey Coach Group not too long ago accomplished the Tour du Mont Blanc. It was a very wonderful expertise. The hike was a problem, each bodily and mentally, with unbelievable rewards together with spectacular views, unbelievable camaraderie, and the sensation of accomplishment once you’ve achieved a objective you’ve been planning for months and months.
We’ll be posting new blogs on the Tour du Mont Blanc, however it’s price reposting this one, initially written in September 2019, only a few months earlier than we ever heard of coronavirus. The hike described right here was the inspiration for us to finish the tour all collectively. It’s one thing we talked about throughout lockdowns brought on by the pandemic, and dreamed about earlier than we might journey freely once more.
The important thing to creating this journey profitable is nice planning. Plan forward, guide your refuges early within the fall and early within the spring for a tour the next summer time. Additionally, pack mild, carry blister bandaids and get your digital camera able to take wonderful photos and create recollections that can stick with you the remainder of your life.
We hope you get pleasure from this reposting of Chelsea’s weblog from her first time on this space.
4 days on the tour du mont blanc
My husband Sam and I dwell in Bristol, UK, and we sometimes select our trip locations based mostly on flight worth and timing. Once we have been looking out Skyscanner not too long ago for a spot to go over the August financial institution vacation, a cheap flight to Geneva popped up that left on a Friday morning and returned on a Tuesday evening. We knew it was meant to be! Sam solely had to make use of two days of trip and we acquired practically 5 full days of journey time. We knew we didn’t wish to spend the entire time in Geneva – it’s a phenomenal metropolis however it may be costly and there’s not all that a lot we wished to see within the metropolis itself – so we began brainstorming choices close by. We mentioned renting a automotive and trying out the Jura wine area, and exploring the Vanoise Glaciers (each issues that I’d nonetheless actually love to do), earlier than finally deciding on doing a portion of the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB). The TMB is a 170 kilometer mountain climbing route that passes by means of Switzerland, Italy and France, encircling the Mont Blanc massif. The total tour sometimes takes round 7-10 days to finish. Since we have been restricted on time (we hiked for 3 and a half days, and spent our last day in Geneva) we have been solely in a position to full about 1/3 of the route (plus slightly detour), from Les Houches to Courmeyeur. It was an unbelievable technique to spend our lengthy weekend!
Practicalities
We used Cicerone’s The Tour of Mont Blanc Full Two-Means Trekking Information by Kev Reynolds each prematurely of our journey to assist plan our schedule and through our time on the path. It was completely invaluable and I might suggest it to anybody within the TMB. We stayed at mountain “refuges” whereas we have been on the path, that are lodges dotted across the TMB which offer beds (most have dorms and personal rooms accessible), water, and meals. We packed every part we wanted into two mountain climbing backpacks and carried them with us on the path. There are corporations that can present baggage transfers, but it surely does restrict the place you’ll be able to keep, because the lodging should be accessible by automotive. If attainable, I might extremely suggest carrying your personal pack – pack mild and do sink laundry if mandatory. You may all the time retailer bigger baggage in Geneva in case you’re incorporating the TMB into an extended European journey.
Day 1
Les Houches to Refuge du Fioux