Tour du Mont Blanc – France, Italy and Switzerland

It is demanding through accumulation: nine consecutive days on the circuit, with eight hiking days of 6 to 8 hours, stages of 12 to 19 km and up to 1,350 m of ascent in a single day. No high-mountain or glacier technique is required, but you should arrive trained and have walked several consecutive days before. Halfway through we take a full rest day in Courmayeur, which makes a real difference for the second half.

September is the end of the season on the circuit and, for many, the best part of it. The trail is far quieter than in July and August, and the dry end-of-season air leaves the massif clearer. The trade-off is that nights are already cold and there can be fresh snow on the passes, so you walk with more layers than in midsummer and some days can be genuinely cold. The huts close at the end of the month: after that you cannot do the circuit sleeping in the mountains, which is why September is one of the first months to sell out.

The difference is how you get there and back. Paquete Full includes the Buenos Aires – Geneva – Buenos Aires tickets and the transfers between the airport and Chamonix, so you leave and return with the group without arranging anything. On Site is for those who prefer to issue their own flights or travel on miles: you make your own way to Chamonix, join the group on day 2 and the programme ends there on day 13. The itinerary, the refuges, the guide, the internal transfers during the trek and the meals are exactly the same in both options. If you choose On Site we send you the group's schedule and explain how to get there from Geneva airport, so you can time your arrival with everyone else's.

It depends on the group size. With 5 travellers or more, a MONS guide accompanies the group for the whole trip, from Buenos Aires to the return. If the departure does not reach that minimum, the trip still runs with exactly the same itinerary: the full trek is led by a professional Spanish-speaking mountain guide and all the logistics remain coordinated by MONS, but without a MONS guide accompanying you for the entire journey. We confirm this up to 3 months before departure, with plenty of time to issue your flights or request time off work.

It depends on when. Up to 30 days before departure, and as long as the operator in France allows it, you can reschedule or apply what you paid as credit towards another international trip; any costs the rescheduling generates are yours. Within 30 days of departure there are no refunds, because by then the huts, the guide and the services with the operators on the ground are already committed. It is all written in our terms of sale, on the How to book page: https://www.monsactividadesdemontana.tur.ar/en/how-to-book/

If we do not reach the minimum number of participants, or if something beyond our control comes up such as adverse weather, we cancel the departure and you choose: move to another date, or get the full deposit back. That is the general MONS policy for every expedition. Note this is different from having a MONS guide travel with the group from Argentina, which is confirmed with 5 travellers: below that the trip still runs, with the same itinerary and a professional Spanish-speaking mountain guide on the ground.

We combine both sides of the TMB. In the towns —Chamonix and Courmayeur— we stay in urban accommodation with private rooms and bathrooms. In the mountains we sleep in alpine refuges and hostels, usually in shared dormitories with common bathrooms and a set dinner menu of local cuisine. The refuges are an essential part of the experience: basic but comfortable, and where the social life of the trail happens.

No. Your main bag is transferred to the accommodations that can be reached by vehicle, so you walk with just your daypack. On some mountain stages the transfer cannot reach, and you carry what you need for that night; the guide lets you know in advance in each case.

Much further ahead than you would expect. September is one of the first months to sell out and TMB refuges fill almost a year ahead: places like Bonatti or Les Mottets are often fully booked twelve months in advance. That is why we work with closed group sizes and early booking: the deposit secures your bed in the mountains, not just your place in the group.

Message us on WhatsApp at +54 9 3512 11-3842 to confirm availability for your date. The deposit locks in your place and your price, and from there we handle all the logistics: refuges, transfers, flights and paperwork. You fill in your form, pack your bag and train.

Yes, but it must be requested in advance. TMB refuges and hostels work with set menus and need to know about special diets before departure in order to prepare them. Tell us when you book and we arrange it with each accommodation.

The Mont Blanc valley is very well connected: there are buses, trains and cable cars at almost every point of the route. If your body or the weather does not cooperate on a given day, the guide adapts the stage by shortening it or using local transport, and the next day you pick up the trail without missing the route.

You will need an Argentine passport valid for at least six months at the time of travel. Entry requirements for the Schengen area can change, so we confirm the current ones when you book and support you through the process. On money: France and Italy use the euro and Switzerland the Swiss franc, although in the Mont Blanc area most Swiss refuges also accept euros.