Express Tour du Mont Blanc
Dates | Duration |
|---|---|
| Jul 26, 2025 - Jul 31, 2025 | 6 days - 5 nights |
The Tour du Mont-Blanc is the most famous trail running route in the world, and for good reason. The “TMB” includes some of the most iconic mountain terrain anywhere.
Please note! This guided Express edition is designed for very experienced trail runners looking for a faster pace and longer days. If you’d like something less intense, please see our Classic Tour du Mont Blanc. The days on this level 4 tour are consistently big, with lots of vert. Be sure to review the trip statistics below carefully, so we can assure a group that is ready for a big adventure in the mountains!
We start in the world capital of trail running, Chamonix, France and run the TMB in four days, typically covering 20 – 30 miles and two or three high mountain passes each day. Our overnights will include comfortable hotels around the Mont Blanc Massif. As well as staying in Chamonix and Les Contamines in France, you will stay one night at beautiful Champex-Lac in Switzerland, and one night in the quaint town of Courmayeur, Italy.
Some sections of our route differ slightly from the standard Tour du Mont-Blanc and the famous ultra trail race of the same name. Where the race course takes less scenic routes, we diverge for better views and more enjoyable trail running at a few points along the way.
Our typical day on the Express Tour du Mont Blanc starts with a continental buffet breakfast at our inn, and we’ll aim to be out the door and right onto the trails, first thing. With many passes to cross, the route is challenging, but there are options to use public transport to enable shorter running routes on each day. Our tour will go counter-clockwise around Mont Blanc, starting in Chamonix, then through northernmost Italy and into Switzerland, before returning to Chamonix.
Your bags will be transferred separately each night. In the evening, we’ll enjoy dinner together at our inn or a nearby restaurant. These are multi-course meals featuring local French, Italian and Swiss specialties, and will be hearty, filling and delicious.
Book this tour
Single Supplement: $800
Itinerary
Chamonix train station. (Photo: Kim Strom)
Day 1
Arrive in Geneva, and take the 1.5 hr shuttle transfer to Chamonix, the world-famous French mountain resort. Later, you’ll join your group for a trip meeting and welcome dinner.
The end of a good first day. (Photo: Sam Hill)
Day 2
We’ll set off on the tour on valley trails, then up through alpine pastures and pine forests, over a high pass and through the Miage valley. We’ll run right to our destination hotel in Les Contamines. Our luggage will meet us here.
Smiling through long TMB miles. (Photo: Sam Hill)
Day 3
Today we’ll run to Italy! Following an old Roman trail, we continue the tour with a long, steady ascent across two lofty passes. A third pass, Col de la Seigne, leads us into Italy. Here we’ll be greeted by an amazing view into the Veny valley and the Mont Blanc range. After arriving at Col Chécrouit, there’s a final descent to the medieval village of Dolonne.
On the TMB, hiking up to the Grand Col Ferret from the Italian side (Photo: Toni Spasenoski)
Day 4
We’ll head up to Rifugio Bertone, then run single-track before stopping at Rifugio Bonatti, with its stunning view, for coffee and treats. Next, we’ll tackle the big ascent of Grand Col Ferret, where we’ll cross into Switzerland. We’ll run down to the quiet village of La Fouly, along a river and through old hamlets, with a final climb to the pretty lakeside village of Champex-Lac.
Coming back to Chamonix after a big loop. (Photo: Kim Strom)
Day 5
Today we complete the loop around Mont Blanc, bringing us back to Chamonix. We’ll run past farms and through woods, climbing to Bovine alpage with views of Switzerland’s Rhône valley far below. After the village of Trient, we’ll climb over the border and into France’s Chamonix valley. The full TMB route makes a final ascent to Tête aux Vents before arriving in Chamonix. It’s also possible to finish with a run down the Chamonix valley if the group prefers this choice, or even hop on a bus or train for the ride back to Chamonix, where we’ll enjoy a delicious celebratory dinner at a favorite local restaurant.
Breakfast before parting ways. (Photo: Sam Hill)
Day 6
With tired quads and smiling faces, today we’ll say au revoir to the Tour du Mont-Blanc and Chamonix, and depart for our post-Mont Blanc destinations.
Regional map
What's included
5 nights at 3- and 4-star village hotels, all breakfasts, trail nutrition, food at stops, all dinners, guided runs daily, round-trip Geneva-Chamonix transfers, all transfers to and from trailheads, certified International Mountain Leader, and luggage transfers between stops.Plan to arrive the day your tour starts, at the latest. Note that flights from the US usually arrive on the following day, so schedule accordingly. The closest airport is Geneva, Switzerland. This tour includes a shared shuttle pickup at the Geneva Airport. If you’d like to arrive a day or more before the tour starts, the shuttle is still included.
On a tour of this intensity, we strongly recommend arriving a day earlier if possible to help get over jet lag.
Plan your departure for the day the tour ends at the earliest. Since Geneva airport is only ninety minutes away by shuttle, it is possible to leave the day the tour ends. If your flight departure time is before 10am, a private shuttle is required at an added cost of $240.
More options for this tour:
Self-guided: Everything but the guide… custom tour design, trail runs, and all the details.
Private: Make it private! Your companions, your dates, your tour– we do the rest.
Contact us for details.
Additional nights before or after your trip can be booked at Run the Alps’ unique deluxe chalet for trail runners visiting Chamonix, The Hub. Please contact us if you would like to stay with us at The Hub.
All Run the Alps guests receive a copy of our Guide to Trail Running in the Alps to assist in preparing for their trip.
Terms and Conditions: Read up on Run the Alps’ Terms and Conditions and travel insurance.
Concerned about being ready? We can help! We’ve teamed up with the wonderfully supportive team at Vert.run to offer customized training plans tailored to each Run the Alps trip. Once you’ve signed up for a trip, we’ll email you all the details and your unique code for your FREE first month of training! In the meantime, you can start exploring the plans here.
Tour Balance: Your tour balance is due 90 days before your tour starts. We will send you an invoice about a month before that due date. However, you can pay your balance at any time. If you’d like the simplicity of paying in full sooner, or would like to pay in installments, please contact us.
Guides for this Tour
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Book this tour
Single Supplement: $800
