Discipletrek

Live the Adventure

Tour du Mont Blanc (Sept 7-18, 2025)

Dates: Sept 7-18, 2025

We are excited to be taking a team to do one of the most iconic hikes in the world…the famous Tour du Mont Blanc. This 105 mile trek passes through 3 countries (France, Italy, and Switzerland), and will offer spectacular views of the Alps and unparalleled food options while on trail. There is almost no place else in the world where you can enjoy a world class cappuccino with breakfast, spend a full day on trail amidst rugged peaks, and then enjoy a glass of wine with your dinner. We have been looking forward to offering this adventure for a long time, and we can’t wait explore the Alps.

We are offering two options for this adventure–1) Full TMB (Sept 7-18) & 2) Half TMB (Sept 7-13). Both options are explained below:

  1. Full TMB–Team members choosing this option would arrive in Geneva on September 8th (this means departing the States on Sept 7) and make their way to Chamonix to begin the 105 mile 9 day trek around Mont Blanc. Those choosing the Full TMB option would depart Geneva September 18th. The Full TMB Option includes 4 nights in a hotel and 6 nights in a tent, and costs $4,200 including flights from a major US Airport.
  2. Half TMB–Team members choosing this option would arrive in Geneva on September 8th (this means departing the States on Sept 7) and make their way to Chamonix to begin their 56 mile 4 day partial trek around Mont Blanc. Those choosing the Half TMB option would travel by train from Courmayeur to Geneva via train on September 12th and then depart Geneva on September 13th. The Half TMB Option includes 3 nights in a hotel and 2 nights in a tent, and costs $3,600 including flights from a major US Airport.

Full TMB Cost: $4,200 (Including flights from major US airport)

  • A non-refundable $840 deposit (20%) is required at the time of registration to secure your spot on the team. Please read our Trip Cancellation and Refund policy before registering for your adventure.
  • $1,680 (40%) is due before March 1st, 2025
  • $2,520 (60%) is due before May 1st, 2025
  • $3,360 (80%) is due before July 1st, 2025
  • $4,200 (100%) is due before September 1st, 2025

Half TMB Cost: $3,600 (Including flights from major US airport)

  • A non-refundable $720 deposit (20%) is required at the time of registration to secure your spot on the team. Please read our Trip Cancellation and Refund policy before registering for your adventure.
  • $1,440 (40%) is due before March 1st, 2025
  • $2,160 (60%) is due before May 1st, 2025
  • $2,880 (80%) is due before July 1st, 2025
  • $3,600 (100%) is due before September 1st, 2025

What is included:

  • International flights from a major US Airport (San Francisco/Dallas/Houston/Chicago/New York) to Geneva. We can accommodate other departure airports, which may result in an additional fee to cover the flight difference.
  • One night hotel in Chamonix at the beginning of the trek; two nights hotel in Courmayeur in the middle of the trek (Half TMB team members will only have one night in Courmayeur), and one night hotel in Geneva after the trek.
  • Six/two nights in a tent, depending upon Full or Half option. Discipletrek will provide the trekking tents, though you should be prepared to carry half of a tent (~2.5lbs) on the adventure. We can accommodate those who do not wish to share a tent for a small upcharge, but you will need to be prepared to carry the full tent weight (~5lbs).
  • Ground transportation from Geneva airport to the start and finish of the trek in Chamonix/Courmayeur.
  • All food throughout the the trek. We will purchase supplies along the trek for our breakfasts and lunches, and we will eat a combination of camp style meals and restaurant meals for our dinners. You will definitely not go hungry on this adventure.

What is NOT included:

  • You are required to bring your own trekking gear (sleeping bag, trekking pack, clothes, trekking poles, hiking shoes/boots, etc.). We will provide an extensive and detailed packing/gear list for all of our participants.
  • The Tour du Mont Blanc is a foodie’s paradise. Though we will cover the costs of all meals, you are responsible for drinks (coffee/soda/alcohol) and any other snacks/additional meals you want along the trail. This is not the kind of trip where you need to pack endless snacks. There will be many options to buy snacks and drinks along the trek.

Trek Difficulty: Very Difficult/Difficult

We rate the Full TMB as “Very Difficult,” and the Half TMB as “Difficult.” It is not as challenging as our Everest Base Camp or Kilimanjaro adventures; however, you will be covering quite a lot of miles each day (ranging from 9 to 14 miles per day) with a full pack. Additionally, though this trek does not tackle very high max elevations (~8,500ft), it does involve very significant elevation gain and loss every day.

We expect all members of our team to take the season of preparation seriously and devote themselves to a minimum of 3 months of physical training that should include a mix of smaller training hikes, strength work, and significant cardiovascular exercise.

Itinerary:

Day 1 (Sept 7)

Depart USA for Geneva, Switzerland (GVA).

Day 2 (Sept 8)

Arrive in Geneva in the morning, transfer to Chamonix, France and check in to our team hotel. We should arrive in Chamonix with plenty of time to rest up from our travel, do a final gear sort, arrange our next few days of food, and ready ourselves to begin the hike the next morning.

Day 3 (Sept 9)

We will travel by bus from Chamonix to the official start point of the TMB in Les Houches. Our first day of trekking will be a pretty challenging one. We will begin with a cable car ride up the mountain before trekking a little more than 11 miles from Les Houches to Les Contamines. Like most days on the TMB we will encounter significant elevation gain and loss (~3,500ft). We will pass just beyond the Les Contamines to setup our camp at Les Pontet campground where we will enjoy a camp style dinner.

Day 4 (Sept 10)

This ~11 mile day of trekking is mostly uphill from Les Pontet to Les Chapieux with nearly 4,500ft of elevation gain. This will be a difficult day on trail, but the good news is the views of Mont Blanc are spectacular, especially from the top of Col de la Croix du Bonhomme the highest point of this segment (8,200ft). Sometime around midday we will pass from France into Italy, and the day will finish with a descent into the village of Les Chapieux where we will setup camp and enjoy a camp style dinner.

Day 5 (Sept 11)

We will begin this day with a short bus ride from our campsite in Les Chapieux to Les Ville des Glaciers which skips a couple of hours of road walking. From Les Ville des Glaciers we will begin our 14 mile trek into the Courmayeur valley. The day starts with a bit of a climb, but most of the day will be gradually downhill and though the mileage is significant, this won’t be one of the more difficult days of the TMB. We should arrive in Courmayeur in mid afternoon and we will be checking into a hotel. We will enjoy a celebratory dinner together in a local restaurant and get a good night’s sleep.

This is the last night the Half TMB and Full TMB teams will be together. The itineraries diverge on the next morning.

Day 6 (Sept 12)

Half TMB team members will enjoy a lazy morning in Courmayeur before making their way via train back to Geneva in the afternoon and checking into their hotel near the Geneva airport. The afternoon/evening is free so some team members may decide to do some sightseeing in Geneva. This group will depart early the next morning on their international flights.

Full TMB team members will have the blessing of staying in the same hotel in Courmayeur for two consecutive nights. They will be able to leave a bit of their gear in the hotel so they can hike very light on this day. The team will hike 11 miles to Arp Nouvaz. The trail has significant elevation gain at the beginning of the day as we ascend out of the Courmayeur valley, but most of the day is spent on the ridge with excellent views of Mont Blanc. Near the end of the day we will make a sharp descent down to Arp Nouvaz where we will catch a shuttle bus back to Courmayeur and our team hotel. We will enjoy another restaurant dinner and ready ourselves for the next section of the trail.

Day 7 (Sept 13)

Half TMB team members will fly home on this day.

Full TMB team members will begin by taking the shuttle back from Courmayeur to Arp Nouvaz where we will have finished the prior day. This will be a 9 mile day that we rate as moderately difficult. The first two miles is a challenging ascent with (surprise surprise) more stunning views of Mont Blanc to Col Ferret (~8,200ft) where we will cross the border into Switzerland. The rest of the day will be an extended descent into the village of La Fouly where we will setup camp and enjoy a camp style dinner.

Day 8 (Sept 14)

This 9 mile hike will be one of our easier days on trail, though it does finish with a good climb into the lake side town of Champex. Some team members may choose to enjoy a quick swim in the lake before we setup camp. Champex is our last significant town on the trail, so we will restock our supplies here for the rest of the trek, and eat a restaurant dinner. We have a couple of different camping options here and we will make our choice on the spot pending the next day’s weather. If the weather looks good, we will camp at Relais d’Arpette to set ourselves up to take on a more challenging variant route. If not, we will stay at Les Rocailles and stay on the traditional TMB route.

Day 9 (Sept 15)

If weather is good, we will take on the Fenetre d’Arpette, a challenging but spectacular 9 mile variant route that stays much higher than the traditional route from Champex to Trient. If the weather is poor, we will take the traditional 10 mile route via the Alp Bovine which stays lower and skirts the foothills. Both routes are incredibly scenic, but the Fenetre d’Arpette has some very challenging and rugged sections. Regardless of which route we take, we will finish the day setting up camp in Le Peuty and eating a camp style meal.

Day 10 (Sept 16)

Ok, no sugar coating it. This will likely be the most difficult day of the trek. We will begin early as we embark on a 14 mile trek with nearly 7,000ft of gain that will finish at Le Flegere on the balcony trail high above the Chamonix valley where we will set up camp and eat our last camp style meal of the adventure. This trail has a little bit of everything, including alpine lakes, a border crossing back from Switzerland into France, and even a couple of sections of vertical ladders. In the case of poor weather, we will descend the cable car from Flegere to Chamonix and camp in the valley.

Day 11 (Sept 17)

Our last day on trail is short, but spectacular. We will traverse the 5 mile High Balcony Sud trail from Flegere to Brevent Summit before descending the cable car into Chamonix and completing our circuit of Mont Blanc. We will enjoy a very well deserved celebratory dinner together and depending upon the next day’s flight schedule we will stay in a hotel either in Chamonix or Geneva.

Day 12 (Sept 18)

We will depart Geneva in the morning on our international flights and make our way back to the States.