This famous Europe trek can be easier – and more pleasurable

It’s one of Europe’s most famous long-distance hikes: a 170-kilometre trek around the Mont Blanc massif that winds its way through France, Italy and Switzerland. Called the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB), it’s both scenically spectacular and deceptively tough. It traverses seven valleys and numerous mountain passes with almost 10,000 metres of knee-testing ascents and descents.

If only there were a way to experience some of the TMB’s best bits without the gruelling climbs, the hassle of moving hotels every night and the lack of flexibility that comes with having to stick to a rigid schedule. Introducing Explore Worldwide’s Highlights of Mont Blanc itinerary, an eight-day guided trip that showcases many of the TMB’s most dramatic sections but with the convenience of staying at one hotel and plenty of logistical wiggle room if the weather doesn’t play ball. Sign me up.

Hiking highlights

The Tour du Mont Blanc allows hikers to see the massif from all angles.

Our trip starts with a welcome briefing at Hotel du Bois, a comfortable three-star property in Les Houches, a small town at the start of the Chamonix Valley, that will be our base for the week. Over a drink in the hotel’s atmospheric bar, our experienced English guide, Oli Carr, explains that while this itinerary is considerably less taxing than the full TMB, it’s still very much dependent on the region’s notoriously fickle weather, which even in summer can be a Melbournesque four-seasons-in-one-day affair.

As if to prove the point, the next day, we start our first outing, a gentle 12-kilometre riverside amble along the valley floor from Les Houches to Les Praz under grey skies and light drizzle. The forested foothills of the region’s scenic superstar, the Mont Blanc massif, are shrouded in mist, the range’s snow-smothered peaks tantalisingly hidden by a thick doona of cloud.

Hikers on a trail above Chamonix.Credit: Shutterstock

By the time we reach Chamonix, the mist has burnt off, the cloud has lifted, and the massif is revealed in all its description-defying wonder. It’s hard to overstate just how impressive it is – a 46-kilometre-long granite colossus that erupts violently from the valley floor. Its spruce-covered lower flanks soon give way to sweeping, glacier-filled valleys and top out in a dramatic profile of extravagantly serrated needles and peaks.

Over the course of the week, we see it from countless different angles, and never once does it fail to leave me utterly awestruck.

An amble to Les Praz, passing cottages and a historic chapel.Credit: Explore Worldwide

It’s not until day three that we catch our first glimpse of the massif’s most famous summit, the 4805-metre-high Mont Blanc, and, to be honest, it’s a tad underwhelming. It turns out that Western Europe’s highest point is more of a rounded, snowy dome than a soaring lone peak.

Thankfully, the rest of the massif more than makes up for it, and we get to admire it in all its glory during a hike to Lac Blanc in the Aiguilles Rouges, the red-tinged range on the other side of the Chamonix Valley. After catching a cable car to Flegere, thereby saving ourselves a taxing 818-metre ascent from the valley floor, we meander along a gently ascending rocky trail lined with colourful wildflowers and lichen-splattered boulders. At around 2100 metres, we start passing lingering patches of winter snow. Each bend brings a new perspective of the massif and its snaking, mint-blue glaciers, not to mention another photo opportunity. By the time we reach the lake, I’ve set a new one-day selfie record.

Aside from hiking there is also time explore the boutique-lined streets of Chamonix.

This hike was originally scheduled for our last day, but after checking the forecast, Carr decides to bring it forward. The ability to swap hikes around is one of the many advantages of this single-hotel format, and it means we enjoy our lakeside picnic lunch with clear skies and bright sunshine rather than the torrential rain that arrives at the end of the week.

Getting around the valley is a doddle thanks to a network of buses, trains, gondolas and chairlifts. In winter, they would be full of ski gear-sporting snow bunnies; in summer, they’re packed with hikers, climbers, trail runners and paragliders. The bus back to Les Houches at the end of each day is an especially aromatic affair, infused with the pungent whiff of eau de exertion.

Alpine treats

Picnic perfection … the 2352-metre-high Lac Blanc.Credit: Getty Images

One of the great pleasures of an active holiday is the justification it provides for calorific indulgence. And there are few countries better equipped to oblige on this front than France. At the start of the trip, my breakfast is a relatively restrained single bowl of cereal; by the end, it’s an expansive buffet of pastries, fruit and yoghurt accompanied by several hearty wedges of Nutella-slathered baguette.

Each morning, Carr distributes the day’s lunch provisions (ham, local cheeses, salad, fruit and fresh baguettes from a nearby bakery) between our group of eight, which we enjoy during an alfresco picnic in a succession of scenic locales – on the banks of a glacial river or surrounded by a sea of pink rhododendrons in a high alpine meadow.

Our lunch on the shores of the 2352-metre-high Lac Blanc is the trip’s picnic highlight, both for the dramatic backdrop of snow-covered escarpments and also for the entertaining people watching. As one of the valley’s most popular day hikes, it attracts an eclectic crowd, from a group of singing Koreans and a meditating yogi to a glamorous Eastern European woman in an all-in-one pink jumpsuit. Above us, paragliders arc gracefully towards the valley floor while glossy black alpine choughs (a type of crow that legend claims are the spirits of deceased alpinists) scavenge for leftovers.

Four dinners are included at the hotel, meaning we can work our way through its menu of French classics (think goat’s cheese salad and wine-cured sausage) plus local specialities, such as raclette, tartiflette (creamy bacon and potato dauphinoise) and a gooey fondant so good it causes one of our group to have a When Harry Met Sally-style cheese-gasm.

Summer playground

View from the glass box suspended over Chamonix.Credit: iStock

While hiking is the main focus of the trip, the itinerary includes a free day so that guests can explore the valley’s other attractions. For some, that means a meander around the attractive, boutique-lined streets of Chamonix; for others, it’s a chance to experience the region’s two most popular tourist drawcards.

First is the Aiguille du Midi, an improbable attraction quarried out of the summit of a 3842-metre-tall mountain that’s reached via two engineering-defying cable cars, the second of which soars almost three kilometres without a supporting pylon. The complex contains several interesting exhibitions on mountaineering and the effects of altitude (which you’ll experience firsthand as soon as you tackle some stairs), plus a nerve-testing glass box suspended above a 1000-metre drop. On a clear day, outdoor observation decks provide panoramic views of Mont Blanc and some of the massif’s other 4000-metre-plus peaks.

The second tourist magnet is the Mer de Glace, France’s longest glacier, which is reached via a three-stage journey that begins with a scenic train ride from Chamonix to Montenvers, continues with a cable car plunge into a glacial valley and finishes with a 170-step descent on foot. Inside the glacier is an impressive labyrinth of tunnels that have been chiselled out of the ice flow every year by the same local family since 1946.

After visiting the glacier, I decide to walk back down to Chamonix, rather than take the tourist-packed train, and find myself on a quiet track that gently descends through a fragrant forest of pines, larch and spruce. Halfway down I stumble across Buvette de Caillet, a simple chalet restaurant hidden among the trees so adorably picturesque it should be in a fairytale. Ordering a pint of Monaco (a refreshing mix of lager, lemonade and grenadine), I take a seat on its flower-filled terrace and bask in the view of the dramatic snow-streaked peaks of the Aiguilles Rouges range opposite. I’m sure tackling the full Tour du Mont Blanc brings many rewards, but right now, I can’t think of anywhere else on the planet I’d rather be.

The details

Fly
Emirates flies to Geneva via Dubai. Mountain Drop-offs operates a regular shuttle service from Geneva Airport to Les Houches. Cost from €42.50 one-way. See emirates.com; mountaindropoffs.com

Tour
Explore Worldwide’s eight-day Highlights of Mont Blanc trip includes seven nights accommodation at the Hotel du Bois in Les Houches, most meals, public transport within the valley and five days of guided hikes. From $3490 a person. See exploreworldwide.com.au

More
en.chamonix.com

The writer was a guest of Explore Worldwide.