Hiking - Authentic Tour du Mont Blanc

Day 1 : Chamonix - Col de de la Forclaz                                            

Our hiking adventure starts from the village of Le Tour. Once at Col de Balme (2 191m), our first hiking goal, we will say goodbye to the king of the Alps, Mont Blanc, and the nearby needles, and discover the Swiss Alps and pastures. We follow the trail down to Alpages des Grands and lower down to the Trient glacier creek. The Col de la Forclaz (1 527m) and our hotel are only 2 miles away.
Elevation gain: 880m - Elevation drop: 700m   
 

Day 2 : Croix de Bovine - Champex - La Fouly

As we hike up to the alpine pastures of La Giète (1 884m), the Swiss Herens cow breed welcomes our arrival with a typical cowbell melody. While we leave behind us the busy cheese maker, the trail leads to Croix de Bovine. There the panorama rewards our efforts with an incredible view over the upper Rhone valley. The Bernese Oberland and the Penian Mountains border the Swiss Wallis region. It is time to hike down to the charming alpine village of Champex, from where we transfer to the hamlet of La Fouly by bus. After a few more minutes of hiking, we reach La Léchère mountain inn where we stop for the night.
Elevation gain: 850m - Elevation drop: 740m    

 
Day 3 : Grand Col Ferret - Maison Vieille hut               

Today we are on our way to the Grand Col Ferret (1 537m), the border between Italy and Switzerland. The view from the pass over the southern side of the Mont-Blanc range is breathtaking ! The Mont Dolent, the emblematic summit joining Italy, France and Switzerland is just on our right. As we hike back down, the Glacier of Pré de Bar seems so close, and in the distance the Miage Glacier looks so imposing ! Once we’ve reached Arnuva we will use the local bus to reach Courmayeur.  After a quicky visit of the town, a last climb will leads us to Rifugio Maison vieille (2000m). To shorten the climb we might considerate taking Dolone's gondola.
Elevation gain: 1 100m - Elevation drop: 760m
 

Day 4 : Col Chécrouit - Les Chapieux

After breakfast, we leave the Rifugio Maison vieille and the Col Chécrouit. we hike past the Combal lake and Elisabetta hut, and finally up to Col de la Seigne (2 516m), the border between Italy and France. As we hike down into the green pastures of the Beaufort region, the grazing goats, and herds of light brown velvety-eyed Tarine cows liven up this remote and uninhabited landscape. We spend the night at the mountain hut, Refuge de la Nova.
Elevation gain: 1 015m - Elevation drop: 1 250m
 

Day 5 : Col du Bonhomme - Prés hut                             

We hike up to Col de la Croix du Bonhomme and to Col du Bonhomme (2 479m). The trail runs across both passes and offers splendid natural terraces for us to enjoy our picnic under the indifferent eyes of ibexes. We descend down to les Prés hut, where we will spend the night.
Elevation gain: 930m - Elevation drop: 1 000m
 

Day 6 : Col du Tricot - Bellevue - les Houches                         

In the morning, we gradually descend all the way to Notre Dame de la Gorge. We walk across the small alpine town of Les Contamines and soon head up to Le Truc and the alpine pastures of Miage. The views that surround us are stunning ! Then we will test our calves on the steep switchbacks up to Col du Tricot (2120m), one of the reasons why we trained for this trip … Our loop ends at the summit of Bellevue. Happy to see the Chamonix valley again, we ride the tram down to the valley bottom and meet civilisation again ! We transfer to Chamonix in the afternoon.
Elevation gain: 1 300m - Elevation drop: 1 000m

The guide may have to adapt the route to weather conditions and/or to group physical and/or technical ability.