Tour du Mont Blanc Self-Guided Trek

• 7 nights 2 and 3-star hotels, 3 nights auberges and 1 night mountain refuge
• 10 days point-to-point self-guided walking with baggage transfers
• 8 days challenging and 2 days moderate walking
• Altitude maximum 2537m, average 1525m
• Self-guided holiday. Min. age 12 years
• Not possible for Solo Travellers (guided options possible)

Included in the trip are all breakfasts and 7 dinners. Evening meals are taken in the hotel in which you are staying or in a nearby restaurant. For dinners not included expect to pay €20 for a good 3 course menu (not including drinks). Lunch prices can vary depending on whether you have a picnic or eat in a restaurant, but €15 is a good estimate for a sit down meal. You can order a packed lunch from the hotel in which you are staying when you check in. Typical Meals: Continental Breakfast will normally include coffee, tea, hot chocolate, French bread, croissant and conserves. Evening meal: a first course of soup, salad or charcuterie, a main course of meat with one or two vegetables or rice or pasta, a dessert course. Beer, wine, bottled water, other drinks, coffee or tea are not included in the price of evening meals taken in restaurants. Vegetarians: Although vegetarianism is not common in this part of Europe and most meals are based on meat and fish there are no problems catering for vegetarians as long as they are prepared to be flexible. If you eat a vegan diet you should expect that the variety of food may be limited whilst on this trip. As this kind of diet is relatively uncommon in this region we cannot guarantee that the hotels and restaurants will provide meals that have the necessary variety to be considered satisfying when on a more restricted diet. Drinks: Please note that drinks are not included and you will be expected to pay directly for any wine/tea/coffee taken at dinner.

From late June to early October fair weather is to be expected, but all mountain ranges create their own weather patterns and the Alps are no exception. It can and does rain and especially on the high passes it can be surprisingly cold at times. Expected daytime temperatures are in the range of 15 to 25ºC in the valleys (although it can sometimes reach 30ºC in July/August), 5 to 15ºC on the passes (though it will feel colder if wet and windy) and 5 to 15ºC in the valleys at night; possibly a little lower early and late in the season. There is always the possibility of snow, even in August, and in September trips may find snow on the passes. Please note that on late season treks (September) the days are shorter and you will need to make early starts to make the most of the available daylight hours.

Activity level 5 - Challenging

10 days walking; 2 days Moderate, 8 days Challenging

Trekking the Tour du Mont Blanc is a wonderful experience and challenge. Many choose to enjoy this trek with a guided group and this offers numerous advantages. If you think you would prefer trekking within a group being led by a qualified and informative mountain leader, Exodus run one and two week versions of this trip, either camping or hotel based. Please see trip codes TWO, TWB and TWP. Some people prefer to trek independently, without the constraints of a group. Please consider carefully if this trip is for you. Although the Tour du Mont Blanc is a well trekked route please only book an self-guided trek if you are an experienced mountain walker and have trekked independently in challenging mountain terrain. Bearing this in mind, this trip must have a minimum of 2 people on each booking as solo travellers are not permitted.

Please consider if you have the skills to remain safe in bad weather, bad visibility, snow and snow covered paths, steep, loose or slippery ground, possibly all at the same time. Although comprehensive route notes and local information will be provided, we would still expect travellers on this trip to have good navigational and first aid skills and be able to find and understand a weather forecast for the region and assess the dangers. Finally please be aware that not everyone will speak English. It is your responsibility to assess your own abilities and choose if it is safe to trek on any given day. On bad weather days you may need to turn back and take public transport to the next hotel. We will provide suggestions for this in the route notes.

The Tour du Mont Blanc has many variations and options and is not one set route. We have provided notes for what we believe is the best route. That said you may choose to follow variations and in which case our estimated timings and distances will no longer be valid.

Most of the days are long, quite often involving an ascent of 900-1200m (3000-4000 feet), equivalent to 3 to 4 hours walking uphill, followed by a similar descent. Although the paths are well maintained there are sections that are rough underfoot. You need to be confident that your fitness will allow you to enjoyably walk at a consistent and steady pace allowing you to finish the day at a reasonable time. You will also enjoy the trek a great deal more if your fitness allows you to walk the route in relative ease.

This trek is graded Activity level 5 - Challenging as it has 2 easier moderate graded days and 8 challenging graded days. A Challenging graded day would be equivalent to walking up Scafell Pike or Ben Nevis and take between 3 to 5 hours of walking up hill and up to 9 hours in total depending on the pace. We recommend that you make a special effort to get in good physical condition for the trip. Walking hours stated are given as approximates only. Timings stated include lunch and photo stops and will vary depending on the pace of your group.

We suggest this as a family trip for children over 12. That said, although there are on some days options to take public transport, please consider carefully the fitness of you children before booking this trip. If you would like further advice please do ask a sales consultant.

Please note: We book hotels when you book the holiday so there will be approximately a weeks delay before you receive a definitive confirmation. This adds a lot of flexibility as it allows you to select any departure date you want well as add free days to the trip enroute if you wish. We need to contact 10 different hotels and we don’t always get our first choice and may have to look for other similar hotels locally and the price may increase or decrease marginally because of this. It is also the case that occasionally on the refuge night (night 6) and also in Les Chapieux (night 8) there may only be dormitory accommodation available. If this is the case we will book a dormitory for you and put you on the wait list for a room. If there are any discounts because we have had to use a dormitories or cheaper hotels then we will refund you locally in cash at the start of your holiday. If there are any moderate additions to the price due to an upgraded room or hotel then you will be charged this addition when you make final payment.

We ask you to pay a deposit before we book the hotels. We also require you to accept the risk that there may be up to two dormitory nights. If after you have asked us to make the booking you choose to cancel or change the dates then there will be a £50 per person admin fee charged. If we can’t make the booking for you due to no availability, or there are more than 2 dormitory nights, or we could not find a hotel at only a moderate increase in price then you can cancel with no penalty.