My Tour du Mont Blanc in 7 Days: A Shortened TMB Itinerary Using Buses, Trains & Cable Cars

The Tour du Mont Blanc, or TMB, had been on my list for quite some time. But like many people working a full time job, there was one problem: annual leave.

My friends and I only had around seven days available for the actual trek, so doing every kilometre of the traditional Tour du Mont Blanc wasn’t realistic for us.

Instead of abandoning the idea, my friend planned our own version.

We kept the sections that mattered most to us — Col de Tricot, Col du Bonhomme, Col de la Seigne, Grand Col Ferret, the Bovine route and Lac Blanc — while using buses, trains and cable cars to shorten several valley sections.

So before you copy this itinerary, there is one important disclaimer:

This is not a continuous full TMB circuit. The traditional TMB is roughly a 10–11-day trek for many hikers, although itineraries vary substantially depending on variants, fitness and accommodation.

We intentionally skipped some sections, including the traditional Switzerland-to-France crossing over Col de Balme and used public transport several times.

How Much Does a 7-Day Tour du Mont Blanc Cost?

Planning your TMB adventure and wondering how much to budget?

I spent RM 9,134 in total, including return flights from Malaysia. Excluding flights, my spending came to RM 5,526.70, covering accommodation, transport, food and other travel expenses.

👉🏻Read 🔗My full Tour du Mont Blanc cost breakdown for a detailed look at where my money went and tips to help you plan your own TMB budget.

I would definitely recommend arriving in Chamonix at least one day before starting the TMB if your schedule allows.

Flying long haul and immediately starting a full hiking day would have made an already demanding itinerary unnecessarily stressful. Having one evening to buy last minute supplies, reorganise our bags and simply walk around town made the start much easier.

This was the first official day of our TMB adventure!

To avoid carrying unnecessary weight throughout the trek, we decided to leave some of our luggage at La Folie Douce Hotel in Chamonix (Bag storage: €25 per bag for six days), keeping only the essentials we needed for the journey.

From Chamonix, we took a local bus to Les Houches Tourist Office (€2.20 per person), followed by a short 10-minute walk to the Téléphérique de Bellevue (Bellevue Cable Car).

Instead of hiking uphill from Les Houches, we decided to take the cable car up to Bellevue, which cost €18.90 per person during our visit. This is a popular option among TMB hikers who want to skip the initial uphill climb, save some energy, and get straight to the more scenic part of the trail.

From Bellevue, we followed the route towards Col de Tricot before continuing to Les Contamines.

Col de Tricot is a more challenging alternative to the standard TMB route, but we specifically wanted to take this path for its dramatic mountain scenery. Looking back, I’m really glad we made that choice!

Rather than using our energy hiking uphill from Les Houches, I preferred taking the cable car and saving our legs for the more scenic mountain trails. After all, with limited time to complete the TMB, I wanted to make the most of the sections we chose to hike.

We spent around 9 hours on the trail, including plenty of photo stops, snack breaks, and time to simply enjoy the views.

Once we reached Les Contamines, we stopped by a local supermarket to stock up on food for the following day’s long hike before checking in at Gîte le Pontet, where we stayed overnight to rest and recharge for another day on the TMB.

Another long but rewarding day on the TMB!

We started our hike from Les Contamines, following the trail towards Refuge de la Balme, where we stopped for a short break before continuing higher into the mountains.

From there, we tackled one of the major climbs of the French section, making our way up to Col du Bonhomme, followed by Col de la Croix du Bonhomme. After crossing both mountain passes, we began our descent towards Les Chapieux.

After spending around 9 hours on the trail, including photo stops and rest breaks, we finally reached Les Chapieux.

We originally planned to stay overnight in Les Chapieux, but unfortunately, we couldn’t secure a booking at any of the mountain accommodations there. So, we had to adjust our itinerary and head to Bourg-Saint-Maurice instead.

From Les Chapieux, we took a shuttle bus to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, which took approximately 30 minutes and cost €8 per person.

Although it meant travelling a little further away from the TMB trail, it worked out as an alternative for the night. Once we arrived, we had dinner before checking in at 🔗Hotel Base Camp Lodge, where we could finally rest and recharge after another long day of hiking.

Day 3 was an exciting one because we would finally be crossing the border from France into Italy on foot!

We started our morning by taking the €8 shuttle bus from Bourg-Saint-Maurice back towards Les Chapieux. To save some time and energy, the five of us then shared a taxi (€12 per person) to Le Gollier, allowing us to skip part of the section and get closer to the mountain trail.

From there, we continued through the beautiful Vallée des Glaciers, gradually making our way uphill towards Col de la Seigne, one of the highlights I had been looking forward to most on the TMB.

There’s something special about crossing an international border on foot, especially when it’s surrounded by breathtaking Alpine scenery. No immigration checkpoints, no passport stamps — just mountains, trail signs, and the simple excitement of knowing that one moment you’re in France, and the next you’re in Italy!

After crossing Col de la Seigne, we descended into Italy, passing Rifugio Elisabetta before continuing through the scenic Val Veny valley towards La Visaille.

By the time we reached La Visaille, we had spent around 7.5 hours on the trail, including our usual photo stops and breaks. From there, we hopped on the free Val Veny shuttle bus towards Courmayeur, saving ourselves another stretch of walking.

We ended the day at Hotel Funivia in the Courmayeur area, ready to rest after another memorable day on the TMB.

This is exactly the kind of shortcut I don’t regret.

We could have continued walking all the way into Courmayeur, but after already crossing Col de la Seigne and hiking through Val Veny, taking the bus for the final valley section didn’t make the day feel any less meaningful to me. For me, crossing Col de la Seigne mattered much more than being able to say I walked the road all the way into town.

After three consecutive days of long hikes, we decided to slow things down a little on Day 4 and give our legs a well deserved break.

For once, there was no need to rush off early in the morning. We enjoyed a slightly longer sleep, had a proper breakfast, and took our time getting ready.

At around 10:30 am, we hopped on the Val Ferret bus into Courmayeur town, where we spent some time wandering through its charming streets, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and, of course, treating ourselves to some Italian gelato! After all, we were in Italy, and there’s no way I was skipping gelato!

At around 1:30 pm, we took the Val Ferret bus again, this time heading towards Arnouva, where we would begin our short hike for the day. One of the nice surprises was that the local buses connecting Courmayeur and Val Ferret were free during our 2026 visit, making it easy to get around without spending extra on transport.

From Arnouva, we followed the uphill trail towards Rifugio Elena, surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery and we took our time enjoying the views along the way.

Compared to the previous few days, this felt like a much needed recovery day. We still got to enjoy the mountains, but without pushing ourselves through another full day of hiking.

We spent around 2 hours on the trail, including our relaxed pace and photo stops, before settling in at Rifugio Elena for the night.

It was also the perfect place to rest before our next adventure — crossing Grand Col Ferret from Italy into Switzerland!

Originally, it felt slightly strange to have such a short trekking day in the middle of a seven-day itinerary.

But it turned out to be one of the better decisions. When people plan an ambitious multi-day trek, it’s tempting to maximise every single day. But accumulating fatigue doesn’t disappear just because the itinerary says you’re capable of another 20 km.

This shorter day allowed us to enjoy Courmayeur, eat properly and reach Rifugio Elena without rushing. And the next morning, we had a major international mountain pass ahead of us.

Another exciting day on the TMB as we prepared to cross our second international border, this time from Italy into Switzerland!

We started our morning at Rifugio Elena, following the uphill trail towards Grand Col Ferret, one of the major mountain passes along the Tour du Mont Blanc.

After a steady climb, we finally reached Grand Col Ferret, the natural border between Italy and Switzerland. Just like our previous crossing at Col de la Seigne, there were no immigration checkpoints, only breathtaking mountain views and the excitement of walking from one country into another!

From the pass, we officially entered Switzerland and began our long descent through the beautiful Swiss Val Ferret. The scenery gradually changed as we made our way down into the valley, surrounded by green pastures, traditional Alpine chalets, and towering mountains.

We spent around 7 hours on the trail, including plenty of photo stops and breaks to soak in the scenery.

Instead of continuing all the way to La Fouly, we decided to end our hike a little earlier at Hotel du Col de Fenêtre in Ferret, approximately 2 km before La Fouly. After another long day of hiking, we were more than ready to check in, rest our legs, and enjoy a peaceful evening in the Swiss Alps.

With limited time to complete the TMB, we decided to skip another section of the valley trail and save our energy for the more scenic parts of the hike.

Instead of walking the entire stretch from Ferret to Champex-Lac, we made use of Switzerland’s convenient public transport system.

From Ferret, we took Bus 272 to Orsières via La Fouly, then changed to Bus 271 at Orsières Gare, which brought us to Champex-Lac.

The journey cost us approximately CHF 12 per person, and honestly, taking the bus was one of the ways we managed to make our shortened TMB itinerary work without feeling too rushed.

Once we arrived at the beautiful lakeside village of Champex-Lac, we had one very important mission before hitting the trail again.

Eat pie first. Hike later! HAHA 😆

After satisfying our cravings, we continued our adventure towards Col de la Forclaz, following the route through Bovine which suited our schedule and allowed us to enjoy the mountain scenery.

The hike took us around 5.5 hours, including our usual photo stops and breaks along the way.

By the time we reached Col de la Forclaz, we were more than ready to call it a day. We checked into Hôtel du Col de la Forclaz, where we spent the night before continuing our TMB journey.

Looking back, I don’t regret skipping some of the valley sections. With only a limited number of days available, our goal wasn’t to walk every single kilometre of the TMB, but to experience as much of its beautiful mountain scenery as possible while still enjoying the journey.

At this point I had stopped feeling guilty about using public transport.

The TMB is incredibly well connected compared with many long distance treks I’ve done. Instead of seeing that as “cheating”, I started seeing it as one of the route’s biggest advantages. It lets people design the trek around their available time, fitness, interests and energy level.

For someone like us with limited annual leave, that flexibility was exactly what made the trip possible.

This was probably our biggest deviation from the classic Tour du Mont Blanc route, but it was also one of the decisions I was most excited about.

Normally, the TMB continues from the Trient/Col de la Forclaz area towards Col de Balme, where hikers cross the border from Switzerland back into France before descending towards Montroc and the Chamonix Valley.

But we decided to skip this section entirely. Why? Because we only had one trekking day left, and there was one place we absolutely didn’t want to miss — Lac Blanc.

So, instead of hiking over Col de Balme, we took a different approach to our final day on the TMB.

From Col de la Forclaz, we travelled towards Le Châtelard-Frontière, then continued by train through Vallorcine and into France, eventually arriving at Les Praz de Chamonix.

The entire transport journey cost us CHF 14.80 per person, which we booked through the SBB CFF FFS app.

Once we arrived at Les Praz, we walked to the La Flégère gondola station, where we purchased our return tickets for €25 per person.

The gondola took us up, saving us a significant amount of uphill walking and allowing us to spend more time exploring the mountains.

From the upper gondola station, we followed the trail towards Lac Blanc, one of the most iconic viewpoints in the Chamonix Valley.

Along the way, we were rewarded with stunning views of the Mont Blanc massif. After reaching Lac Blanc, we spent some time soaking in the scenery, taking photos and simply enjoying the mountains.

Since this was our last hiking day, we weren’t in a hurry to leave. We wanted to make the most of every moment before saying goodbye to the TMB.

Eventually, we retraced our steps back to La Flégère, completing the La Flégère → Lac Blanc → La Flégère hike in approximately 4.5 hours, including our breaks and photo stops.

From there, we took the gondola back down to Les Praz and hopped on a local bus towards Chamonix, which cost €2.20 per person.

Our final stop was 🔗La Folie Douce Hotels Chamonix, where we checked in and officially wrapped up our TMB adventure.

It wasn’t the traditional way to finish the Tour du Mont Blanc, but I was happy with our decision. We might have skipped Col de Balme, but in return, we got to experience Lac Blanc without rushing through the day.

And honestly, ending our TMB adventure with those incredible views of the Mont Blanc massif felt like the perfect finale.

Honestly, a little.  Skipping Col de Balme was probably the biggest compromise of our entire TMB itinerary. By doing so, we missed the traditional Switzerland-to-France border crossing on foot, which is one of the memorable experiences of the classic route.

So, if completing the entire TMB and crossing all three international borders on foot is important to you, I wouldn’t recommend following our Day 7 itinerary.

But with limited time, we had to make a choice. Lac Blanc was one of the places we had been looking forward to the most, and we would rather spend our final afternoon enjoying its incredible views than rush through both sections just to tick another mountain pass off the list.

Would I love to return one day and hike the section we missed? Absolutely. Maybe next time!

After all, the mountains aren’t going anywhere, and there’s always a reason to come back. That’s how I approached our entire TMB journey:

Prioritise experiences, not kilometres.

For me, the goal was never just to complete the route. It was to enjoy the adventure, make the most of our time and return home with memories worth keeping.

And just like that, our 7-day Tour du Mont Blanc adventure had come to an end.

It’s funny how quickly time flies when you’re out in the mountains. It felt like we had only just started our journey, and suddenly, seven days of hiking, breathtaking views, tired legs and unforgettable memories had passed in the blink of an eye.

After one last goodbye to Chamonix, we hopped on a bus back to Geneva (Bus fare: CHF 15 per person), marking the official end of our TMB adventure.

Our TMB might have been shorter than the classic route, and we might have skipped a few sections along the way, but every day brought something memorable. Seven days went by far too quickly. And honestly? I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the mountains just yet.

With so many different TMB itineraries, route variations and recommendations available online, it was honestly quite overwhelming trying to figure out which one would work best for us.

But after experiencing the trek myself, I realised one thing: there’s no single right way to do the Tour du Mont Blanc.

Some hikers prefer to walk every kilometre of the classic route, while others choose to shorten certain sections to fit their available time, fitness level and personal interests. And that’s perfectly fine!

There are so many ways to experience the TMB. What matters most is finding the route that works best for you.

Instead of asking which itinerary is the best, I think the better question is:

What do you actually want from your TMB adventure?

If you have ten or eleven days and want to complete every stage of the classic route, that’s amazing!

But if you only have seven days and would rather prioritise the mountain passes, breathtaking scenery and places you’ve always wanted to see, that’s perfectly valid too.

Our Tour du Mont Blanc wasn’t the textbook version, and it was never meant to be.

We planned our route around our limited annual leave, our own hiking pace and the places we personally didn’t want to miss. Not to mention, I’m also someone who loves stopping along the way for photos, good food, gelato and the occasional slice of pie!

Sure, we skipped a few sections, but we still came home with seven days worth of unforgettable memories. And that’s what made this journey special to me.

It wasn’t just another TMB itinerary copied from a guidebook. It was our own version of the Tour du Mont Blanc.

Because at the end of the day, it’s not about how many kilometres you cover, but the experiences you enjoy and the memories you bring home along the way.

One Last Thought Before You Plan Your TMB Adventure

If there’s one thing I hope you take away from sharing our itinerary, it’s this: use other people’s itineraries as inspiration, not as a checklist you must complete.

Take the time to understand your own expectations, priorities and physical limits. Think about what excites you most, what you’re comfortable with, and what kind of experience you want to remember years from now.

Of course, plan responsibly, respect the mountains and give yourself enough flexibility for unexpected changes. But don’t get so caught up in planning the perfect itinerary that you forget why you wanted to do this adventure in the first place.

You don’t need to follow someone else’s footsteps to have an incredible journey.

The best TMB itinerary isn’t necessarily the longest, the toughest or the most popular. It’s the one that lets you experience the mountains in a way that’s meaningful to you.

So plan your own adventure, embrace your own pace, take those extra photo stops, and enjoy every little moment along the way.

After all, the goal isn’t just to complete the Tour du Mont Blanc. It’s to come home with a story that’s uniquely yours.

Now that you know how I completed my modified 7-day TMB itinerary, the next question is probably: How much does it actually cost?

I’ve shared my real expenses, including accommodation, transport, food and flights from Malaysia.

👉🏻Read 🔗My 7-Day Tour du Mont Blanc Cost Breakdown to help you plan your budget before hitting the trails!

Wishing you beautiful trails, good weather, safe adventures and unforgettable memories on your own Tour du Mont Blanc! Happy trekking! 🏔️